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///My Euro Road Trip (pics page 5)

Planned road trips and road-trip reports go in here
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Popey
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Re: ///My Euro Road Trip

Post by Popey » Wed Mar 02, 2016 10:49 am

So we are going to now go to Barcelona after spending a week at the Villa in Colonge, we have spent a lot if time in Barcelona but this will be the first time driving. I think the RPI's will sound crazy round the city :o :evil: .

This is the hotel we are looking at staying in as our favourite hotel is booked up.

http://www.hotelclaris.com

Looks nice, good rates and private parking.

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markos
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Re: ///My Euro Road Trip

Post by markos » Wed Mar 02, 2016 11:25 am

For reference on fuel costs:

2011, trip to Spa, 911 miles, £250 in fuel
2012, Classic Le Mans, 857 miles, £236 in fuel
2015, Barcelona, 1965 miles, £361 fuel

Not bad at all I think. Tolls do add up. If you allow the cost of fuel again that might cover it... not got any notes of toll charges.

EDIT: stayed in the Eurostars Grand Marina in Barcelona, safe parking and lovely hotel too.
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Re: ///My Euro Road Trip

Post by E86montego » Wed Mar 02, 2016 11:45 am

I'm going to be embarking on a huge road trip around Europe stopping off in Monaco in June (albeit not in a Z4, a Supra) , and there is no cheap way of doing it. Save up some extra cash and really enjoy it, skimping isn't possible on road trips.

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Re: ///My Euro Road Trip

Post by jimmybell » Wed Mar 02, 2016 12:38 pm

I'll reply to the original thread, then read the rest :p

I did this, or similar, 2 years ago. It cost me around £700 in fuel in a fully loaded M coupe (including around 200 euros worth of tolls we chose to use), but that included a few spirited days in the pyrenees. I averaged around 27mpg through the 2800 miles we did (London -> Valencia, and back, via some random destinations + mountain roads).

Get yourself a pay tag here: https://www.saneftolling.co.uk/ - (just hold it to the windscreen when passing, dont stick the bugger down - still cant get mine off..!) give it some time to be delivered (whatever the webby says). This will stop you having to stop and pay at each toll booth with change you dont have etc - also skips huge queues (most of the french seem to not bother with these so you end up with your own premium lane! hilarious the amount of hours we saved). Worth mentioning the tolls roads can be SUPER fast, on teh way back we did Carcassonne -> London in 1 day, toll roads were invaluable for this, but if youre happy crusing around you dont have to use all of them.

French police used to demand you had a breathalizer cartridge/tube set, i think this was dropped as a requirement but we still carried it. You need warning triangle + high viz vests.

We did the Eurotunnel, no problems - they actually put me on the truck/supercar carriage for clearance which gave some wider carriage space.

Other observations: the french are 10x better at lane discipline than us. The french love Z4M's, all their cars are .. french and slow. The Spanish have normal cars, and dont care.

If you're looking to do some stops on the way (rather than blast most of the way there) i'm sure we can all recommend some places, have been holidaying/driving around central/southern france since i was a baby. IF you want a funky camping stop overnight before crossing the border towards Barca, checkout Belrepayre Airstream Camping - funky place, cool couple that run it.

Oh - and remember 2k+ miles is a lot - check oil (maybe change it if you plan some spirited drives), and tyres.. i replaced my rears before going with some fresh PSS as i knew sub 3mm wasnt going to last my idea of mountain road cornering... ;)
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///My Euro Road Trip

Post by Popey » Tue Mar 29, 2016 8:11 am

Jobs to do to the car before I go:

Full check over
Oil and Filter change
Diff oil change
4 Wheel Alignment
Remove Clutch Delay Valve
Switch headlights to the wrong side

All the above to be done Graham Martin BMW Specialist St, Helens.

Any other advice or advice on the above?

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///My Euro Road Trip

Post by mattwaltersz4m » Tue Mar 29, 2016 11:33 am

Popey wrote:Jobs to do to the car before I go:

Full check over
Oil and Filter change
Diff oil change
4 Wheel Alignment
Remove Clutch Delay Valve
Switch headlights to the wrong side

All the above to be done Graham Martin BMW Specialist St, Helens.

Any other advice or advice on the above?
If none of those need doing don't do any of them apart from the lights, do them on your return.
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Popey
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///My Euro Road Trip

Post by Popey » Wed Mar 30, 2016 5:02 pm

Just got prices back from Graham Martin Automotive

Oil and Filter £160
4 wheel alignment £100
Full check over £50
Diff oil change £177
Remove clutch delay valve and break fluid service £125

Wowzers!!

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///My Euro Road Trip

Post by mmm-five » Wed Mar 30, 2016 7:31 pm

Popey wrote:Just got prices back from Graham Martin Automotive

Oil and Filter £160
4 wheel alignment £100
Full check over £50
Diff oil change £177
Remove clutch delay valve and break fluid service £125

Wowzers!!
They did my clutch & flywheel last year (and some other bits).

Just use man maths and think of the 70% saving you've made over a main dealer technician who wont give a damn about your pride & joy :P
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///My Euro Road Trip

Post by Popey » Wed Mar 30, 2016 8:40 pm

I have been once before and was very happy.

Just seems like a lot but it adds up very quick

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///My Euro Road Trip

Post by Popey » Fri Apr 08, 2016 8:46 am

So the Ferry is booked for 9.25am on a Saturday morning from Dover, not using the euro tunnel as this is how I did the crossing as a kid.

Im traveling down from Blackpool, what time should I set off considering I need to arrive by 8.25am?

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///My Euro Road Trip

Post by mmm-five » Fri Apr 08, 2016 10:05 am

Popey wrote:So the Ferry is booked for 9.25am on a Saturday morning from Dover, not using the euro tunnel as this is how I did the crossing as a kid.

Im traveling down from Blackpool, what time should I set off considering I need to arrive by 8.25am?
I'd leave by 2am - or do what I do and drive down the night before and stay in a cheap Travelodge/PremierInn in Dover or Ashford.

At that time of the day, barring overnight closures for roadworks - which are frequent, I give myself 4 hours to get to the M25, and then 2 hours to Dover - so 6 hours in total. Include a stop somewhere (Oxford services are decent if you go the M40 route).

If you go early, you can take either the M6-M1-M25-M2 route, or the M6-M40-M25-M20 route - doesn't seem to make much difference at that time of the day.
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///My Euro Road Trip

Post by Popey » Mon Apr 11, 2016 8:30 am

mmm-five wrote:
Popey wrote:So the Ferry is booked for 9.25am on a Saturday morning from Dover, not using the euro tunnel as this is how I did the crossing as a kid.

Im traveling down from Blackpool, what time should I set off considering I need to arrive by 8.25am?
I'd leave by 2am - or do what I do and drive down the night before and stay in a cheap Travelodge/PremierInn in Dover or Ashford.

At that time of the day, barring overnight closures for roadworks - which are frequent, I give myself 4 hours to get to the M25, and then 2 hours to Dover - so 6 hours in total. Include a stop somewhere (Oxford services are decent if you go the M40 route).

If you go early, you can take either the M6-M1-M25-M2 route, or the M6-M40-M25-M20 route - doesn't seem to make much difference at that time of the day.
So I've taken your advice and booked a Premier Inn at eureka park Ashford. Looks a good location for a quick bite to eat then about half an hour to the ferry in the morning.

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///My Euro Road Trip

Post by Popey » Mon Apr 18, 2016 9:06 am

Just looking at luggage space, never been an issue before.

I have seen some bespoke bags but the ///M is restricted further by the battery.

Anyone found any bargain bags / cases that make the most of the room. My shoe obsession tends to take up a load of room :rofl:

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///My Euro Road Trip

Post by Argenta » Tue Apr 19, 2016 1:34 am

Well I actually got all the 3.0si luggage parts to fit my battery under the floor, but haven't got around to it yet. Last summer trip became a bit cramped!

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///My Euro Road Trip

Post by Beedub » Tue Apr 19, 2016 6:48 am

this would be an amazing trip if you didn't have the RPI.... they will drive you nuts by the end of this. Way Way to loud for such a long trip knowing my car i wouldn't last a day.
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