[Mail4loys]

Day 9 (July 26): From Pigeon Forge, TN to Jackson, MS - 535 miles

We were planning to complete the drive in 2 days with 8hrs drive each day



We were able to get everything set and leave our hotel by 8:30am. The traffic was not that bad with beautiful buildings along the way



Gas prices were cheap in Sevierville, TN ... but I had already topped up to avoid stopping in-between




Most of the roads were open with less traffic



And passed Knoxville, TN on time




Overcast skies and cloud cover were helping us. As the drive felt little cooler and easy to drive



By 2hrs drive we were closer to Georgia border



The roads continued to be clear and open



This section of the road had heavy truck traffic. We crossed Georgia state



This section had nice roads and long clear skies



We had a very short stay in Georgia and crossed over to Alabama



We see clear difference between the road we took onward journey and this. This route clearly looks to be far better due to very less truck traffic.



There was a cloud burst on the way driving back.



It turned from a broad daylight to complete dark



and then heavy downpour



We stopped in Birmingham, AL for quick refuel and food

I was almost going to refuel incorrectly because the order was reversed



No trip is complete without a stop in Chick-fil-A



We continued our drive and crossed over to Mississippi



and reached our hotel in MS




Drive Summary:

Total Miles driven: 535 miles

Re-fuel : 339 miles (Birmingham, AL)
Fuel cost per gallon: 4.599 (Chevron)
Fuel Type : 93 Octane
Mode : Eco Pro, Eco Pro cruise
Speed Maintained: ~75miles/hr
A/C : 73
Milage : 20.1


Re-fuel : 258 miles (Jackson, MS)
Fuel cost per gallon: 4.179 (Kroger)
Fuel Type : 93 Octane
Mode : Eco Pro, Eco Pro cruise
Speed Maintained: ~75miles/hr
A/C : 73
Milage : 20.2

Not sure what was different in todays drive, I was anticipating higher than 20mpg. Also, Kroger was much cheaper compared to other gas stations

[Mail4loys]

Day 10 (July 27): From Jackson, MS to Round Rock, TX - 525 miles

Today is the last leg, Another 500 miles and we'll be back home



By 8am we packed and left our hotel



As we keep driving west, the high trees were slowly transitioning to smaller vegetation



We crossed Mississippi river



And then into Louisiana state



By afternoon we reached TX and planned our break and lunch in Texas



After refueling, we kept driving



From Tyler, TX we exited interstate and started driving on State highways



There were very less to no traffic on the state highway and the speed limits were 70mph



I was happy taking this route, because I know the interstate would have been crowded



Now the trees and vegetations are long gone, with dry lands both the sides



We reached Waco, TX without much of traffic and then joined I-35.



Huge traffic along the highway, unlike the state highway that I was on early



I had some pretty aggressive driving this section due to traffic and reached Round Rock, TX by 4pm




Drive Summary:

Total Miles driven: 525 miles

Re-fuel : 279 miles (Kilgore, TX)
Fuel cost per gallon: 4.359 (Shell)
Fuel Type : 93 Octane
Mode : Eco Pro, Eco Pro cruise
Speed Maintained: ~75miles/hr
A/C : 73
Milage : 21.2


Re-fuel : 241 miles (Cedar Park, TX)
Fuel cost per gallon: 3.959 (Costco)
Fuel Type : 93 Octane
Mode : Sports
Speed Maintained: ~80miles/hr
A/C : 73
Milage : 18.2


I'll post the summary of the trip shortly

[DancyQ]

Do you have ceramic or PPF? it just looks so shinning and perfect in all the photos.

[Mail4loys]

Originally Posted by DancyQ

Do you have ceramic or PPF? it just looks so shinning and perfect in all the photos.

Yes, I have full ceramic, front PPF (hood, bumper, lights, door handle cups and door kick entry) and windshield tint (70%)

[RunMoreMiles]

Great vlog. I really enjoyed it. I don't have the temperament for these types of trips. Thankfully folks like you provide a great summary and exposure through your travels.

[DancyQ]

Originally Posted by Mail4loys

Yes, I have full ceramic, front PPF (hood, bumper, lights, door handle cups and door kick entry) and windshield tint (70%)

Looks awesome! Thanks for sharing your road trip as well. Love the views and especially the ones with the x7 in there. :-)

[Mail4loys]

Summary - Expense

Starting Miles (Odo).: 18,431
End Miles (Odo).......: 20,851

Total Miles driven.....: 2420 in 10days

Expense:

Accommodation......: $2394.96 (10 nights)
Food........................: $1301.19
Entertainment.........: $505.75 (Activities and events)
Gas total.................: $531.49

Total expense.......: $4733.39
Note: we had to cut short the trip and did Hot Springs & Great Smokeys only...


In the next post, I'll log summary of what went well and what didn't go well in the trip

[Mail4loys]

Summary - Issues

Most of the issues were very minor (Nothing major) and below are the list:

1) Map accuracy: Due to issues with AppleCar play I used BMW navigation. it worked good on the Interstates and Highways. But twice it took us to a random spot even though the address input was right. (Food along the exits)

2) Map Update: I again specify this because, on 9th day of driving east of Texas, I got alert that there is update to Navigation and it needed restart to take effect. The car was switched off the entire night on 9th day and the next day when I started driving it kept prompting me to restart navigation. a) I would expect this update much sooner b) Update should not force a restart (should be taken care during switch off/on)

3) Map POI search: Searching POIs on the navigation screen was not working out and difficult. It was much easier to search in MyBMW app and then send it to the car

4) Assisted driving view: The assisted drive view had glitch and was showing vehicles on the road on & off during the last day of driving in Eco Pro mode. It didn't re-occur when I was driving in Adaptive & Sports mode. There was no impact to any of the functionally. Its just that the display in the central console didn't work

5) Brake dust: Wheels were very dirty with brake dust by the end of the trip. It looked excessive

6) HUD reflection: During drive in Great Smokey Mountains, the Gare due to HUD reflection on the windshield was very evident and was a minor irritant

7) Gap between 2nd row seat and Cargo cover: There is a big gap between 2nd row bench seat and cargo cover. We had to use blankets to hid items stored in the cargo area. My older Acura had a good cargo cover that snaps with the 2nd row head rest and cleanly hides all items in cargo. I wish BMW cargo cover to be the same

8) Wireless charging: Wireless charger was useless and iPhone was getting very hot if I use it. I started using usb-c port inside the arm rest to charge the phone and phone was inside arm rest entire driving. (I have AT&T wifi internet activated in the car too)

9) A/C in Eco Mode: There is a trade-off between A/C and Eco mode. Couple of times I had to switch to Adaptive or Sports mode to get cool A/C air. Otherwise it was just blowing ambient air

10) Glass controls & Knob: there was certain angle in which the glass controls were reflecting sunlight directly to my eyes. I was not able to drive without sunglasses in those situation. Most of the time it was noon


In next post I'll write what went really well...