BMW Garage BMW Meets Register Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read
BMW M2 Forum > M2 Photos, Videos and Builds > M2 Tackling Across America (Beware, lots of photo content)

Post Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
      09-02-2017, 11:09 AM   #1
nacaruh
FOUO
nacaruh's Avatar
United_States
413
Rep
873
Posts

Drives: E82
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: LA

iTrader: (5)

M2 Tackling Across America (Beware, lots of photo content)

BIMMERPOST
     Featured on BIMMERPOST.com



Hello fellow M2ers,

I wanted to share my recent experience on a cross country journey from VA to NY to LA ! I know it's a very common trip, and this was the perfect opportunity to do it. It was already unreal to own the car, and it was surreal to gain the opportunity to drive across the US! (Really, I moved to LA for a new job, on short notice).





(I actually started from Northern Virginia, so add like another 300 miles)


I was kind of hesitant at first to drive 3000 miles, but hell, why the heck not. These cars are meant to be driven, and it is definitely not a garage queen. Plus, the M2 had better odds in terms of reliability (Compared to my 1er hah!). Some of you may know me from the 1addicts forum, or IG (@iamhnry), and I look forward to meet enthusiasts out here. Beware for photo overload (none of that photobucket bs).

So, the trip was kind of rushed, only because I was limited on time (dealing with move-in and start date, etc.). With a good amount of stops, we managed to get to California in exactly 4.5 days from Brooklyn, NY.

So I packed everything, left the 1er to a trusted friend, did some photoshoots with the M folks (@iceman7m, @m4mehdi, @day_laborer, @thebookofdom ).


s





On Friday, I started my trip from Northern Virginia, and I made my way up to the Tri-State region. Spent the weekend with family and friends, even managed to do a couple of “final” shoots in the east coast. Bumped into @supadice, @p4ndam4, @m2driven, and @darthvaderm3 !





Sunday came too fast, and it was time to go. It wasn’t the most pleasant start either. I was still partially intoxicated/hungover, which led me to half-ass my effort on the Trakktape that went on the car. If you don’t know what that is, it’s basically a temporary clear bra, preferably used for track/autox sessions.










First leg of the trip was to Chicago, but due to the delay, we had to make a stop near Cleveland, and just get a full night’s rest. Monday morning, we headed out to Chicago to grab some deep dish pizza from the famous Giordano’s. It was almost a 2 hour wait, was it worth it? No. I mean, it was good, but it was too long of a wait.

Then we head out to Omaha. Honestly, I didn’t take many photos/videos for the beginning of the trip. It was pretty much all flatlands. I wish we could have taken more detours, if time allowed it.








Fast forward, and we now hit Colorado. This was probably my favorite state to drive through. The scenery here is unreal. The M2 also struggled to cold start, had to push on the gas to keep it alive. This was around 7000-8000ft. in altitude. Stopped by in Denver for some lunch, checked out the city, and immediately drove down to Colorado Springs.



We were lucky as we were the last car through Pike’s Peak. It roughly gave us an hour and half to drive all the up to the peak, and back down. I think I had to stop the car at least a dozen times for pictures. :P From the bottom to top, every minute of the view was breathtaking. Although having no guardrails near the peak was kinda scary, I’d go back there in a heartbeat! Pike’s Peak top altitude is around 14,000ft.































We stayed in Buena Vista for the night, and we continued to push our way to Aspen the next morning. I think we took route 82 to go through Mt. Elbert and Mt. Shimer. The altitude peaked around 12,000ft.





































































From Aspen, we decided to push for Las Vegas, rather than taking a detour to Grand Canyon/Zion. It seemed to out of the way, and we still had a long way to go. Since GC/Zion is fairly close to California, I figure we can make the trip happen another time.

Found some camo Jeeps. There was a gang of five, and the baby M was messing around










Not much happened to Utah. We got to Vegas around 9PM, grabbed some dinner, gambled a bit. Around 11-12, we decided to just plow through, and make our way to San Bernardino. I don’t regret doing that only because I wouldn’t know what the traffic situation be during the day time. Our final trip time was 3400 miles, and roughly 3000 miles took us exactly 4.5 days (NY to LA). The other 400 miles was VA to NY with some city driving, so I don’t really count that.

Trakktape taken off. There was a couple of residue spots, that might need some light buffing. Overall, I'm satisfied with the product. It did what it's supposed to do!



I’m fortunate that there was no issues. I don’t regret that I bought a DCT model (the 1er is 6spd ), and I couldn’t ask for a better car to drive cross country! Hope you enjoyed the read and the photos! I will have a video uploaded soon!

Last edited by nacaruh; 09-06-2017 at 11:24 AM..
Appreciate 15
///Cardia299.50
*mt*1573.50
BALL3N69.50
mcman19.00
t5pilot974.50
Dackelone10511.00
ksa1047.00
1M Tex240.00
MDriven140.00
BSMF87139.50
      09-02-2017, 11:42 AM   #2
ice7
Captain
ice7's Avatar
371
Rep
915
Posts

Drives: ///M's
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Northern VA

iTrader: (4)

Garage List
2014 BMW M5 Comp  [0.00]
2015 BMW X5M  [0.00]
2022 BMW M5 CS  [0.00]
Great times my friend! Perfect time to move out to the west side too! Need to link up with you when I go out west.
Appreciate 0
      09-02-2017, 12:53 PM   #3
Day Laborer
Lieutenant Colonel
Day Laborer's Avatar
United_States
1735
Rep
1,880
Posts

Drives: M5 CS / iX 50i
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: NY, NY, CT, PA, MD, VA, DE, FL

iTrader: (11)

Garage List
  [0.00]
Thanks for crashing my iphone & my laptop will all these photos. See ya in late October
__________________
http://www.precisionmedals.com/charts1/car.jpg
https://www.instagram.com/day_laborer/ (DM me from this account)
Email: nextlevelautobrokersdc@gmail.com
Part-time with Next Level Auto Brokers, LLC https://www.instagram.com/nextlevelautobrokers/
Appreciate 2
D CHOI580.00
Flying Ace4982.50
      09-02-2017, 01:24 PM   #4
just blaze
First Lieutenant
310
Rep
339
Posts

Drives: 2018 M2 Alpine White
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: The Bay, CA

iTrader: (2)

Beautiful pictures! Enjoyed them, and welcome to California!
Appreciate 0
      09-03-2017, 04:05 AM   #5
///Cardia
///M Power
///Cardia's Avatar
United_States
300
Rep
279
Posts

Drives: N55 F87
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Manhattan, NYC

iTrader: (0)

M Power!
__________________
2018 ///M2 LBB 6MT (Exec Moonroof Apple)
Mods: 3M Tint ~ IND CF Mirror Caps ~ Eibach Springs ~ JR18 Gloss Black Rims ~ CTS Turbo Intake ~ VRSF Chargepipe ~ Raze Canards ~ Fabspeed Sport DP
BootMod3 Tune ~ IND Black Chrome Front and Side grilles ~ IND ///M Emblem ~ Vorsteiner Reardeck Spoiler ~ Eventuri Air Scoop ~ Acexxon Rear Delete
Appreciate 0
      09-03-2017, 07:41 AM   #6
m4mehdi
Second Lieutenant
m4mehdi's Avatar
United_States
121
Rep
210
Posts

Drives: 2021 M4 - 2019 X4 M40i
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: NoVA

iTrader: (0)

Thanks for the great times bro. Hope CA is good to you. Best of luck and come back soon.
Appreciate 0
      09-03-2017, 07:58 AM   #7
daftsham
Private
United_States
30
Rep
76
Posts

Drives: 17 F87 MG DCT
Join Date: Jun 2017
Location: Santa Clara, CA

iTrader: (0)

Welcome to California...now go home! jk
Appreciate 2
      09-03-2017, 08:36 AM   #8
DelGriffith
Second Lieutenant
DelGriffith's Avatar
United_States
325
Rep
240
Posts

Drives: 2019 SO M2C
Join Date: Sep 2016
Location: Illinois

iTrader: (0)

Great story and pics. Thanks for a good read.
Too bad about that hungover tape job....
__________________
'02 E39 M5-Gone
'07 E60 M5-Gone
'07 E64 M6 Cab-Gone
'17 F87 MG M2-Gone
'19 F87 SO M2C
Appreciate 0
      09-03-2017, 09:35 PM   #9
P4rD0nM3
youtube.com/rodoabadtv
P4rD0nM3's Avatar
155
Rep
248
Posts

Drives: 2017 Dinan M2, 2023 X3MC
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Illinois

iTrader: (0)

Garage List
Nice pictures! Come on man, wrap that M2 with PPF! Hahaha.
__________________
Appreciate 0
      09-03-2017, 11:01 PM   #10
geogerf
First Lieutenant
geogerf's Avatar
116
Rep
306
Posts

Drives: MY17 LBB M2
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Pasadena

iTrader: (1)

Garage List
2017 BMW M2  [0.00]
Welcome to LA! btw: i totally agree with you about Colorado. Awesome state.
Appreciate 0
      09-04-2017, 07:16 PM   #11
nacaruh
FOUO
nacaruh's Avatar
United_States
413
Rep
873
Posts

Drives: E82
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: LA

iTrader: (5)

Quote:
Originally Posted by ice7 View Post
Great times my friend! Perfect time to move out to the west side too! Need to link up with you when I go out west.
Yes, thank god we had no bad weather along the way. Maybe a little bit of rain in Nebraska, but other than that, it was smooth sailing. Let me know when you visit! I'll have a list of food places by the time you get here

Quote:
Originally Posted by Day Laborer View Post
Thanks for crashing my iphone & my laptop will all these photos. See ya in late October
It crashed mine too

Quote:
Originally Posted by just blaze View Post
Beautiful pictures! Enjoyed them, and welcome to California!
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed the content! I have a video coming shortly

Quote:
Originally Posted by ///Cardia View Post
M Power!
Quote:
Originally Posted by m4mehdi View Post
Thanks for the great times bro. Hope CA is good to you. Best of luck and come back soon.
So far other than crappy traffic, it's been great. I'm honestly a little nervous about bringing the 1er here.

Quote:
Originally Posted by daftsham View Post
Welcome to California...now go home! jk
Thanks, and lmao! Honestly, I wouldn't mind driving back. Maybe to Colorado, and then just ship the car.

Quote:
Originally Posted by DelGriffith View Post
Great story and pics. Thanks for a good read.
Too bad about that hungover tape job....
Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it! Video coming soon! And I was surprised that the tape held up the entire way. However, I did have to make a hole in the tape that covered the headlights. The lights could not get the full range.

Quote:
Originally Posted by P4rD0nM3 View Post
Nice pictures! Come on man, wrap that M2 with PPF! Hahaha.
Thank you! And if you mean clear bra, I was going to wait until I re-did my front bumper. The dealership managed to drill six holes in the front. Plus there are a couple of dings here and there.

Quote:
Originally Posted by geogerf View Post
Welcome to LA! btw: i totally agree with you about Colorado. Awesome state.
Thank you! And yes, I need to go back there. But canyon roads and mountains will suffice here Now to find a dope photoshoot location.
Appreciate 0
      09-04-2017, 09:54 PM   #12
P4rD0nM3
youtube.com/rodoabadtv
P4rD0nM3's Avatar
155
Rep
248
Posts

Drives: 2017 Dinan M2, 2023 X3MC
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Illinois

iTrader: (0)

Garage List
Forgot to say, you're making me miss Colorado already. Colorado interstates are notorious for having a lot of cars getting tested.
__________________
Appreciate 0
      09-05-2017, 02:48 PM   #13
Zeroblade
Explodes on impact
Zeroblade's Avatar
United_States
209
Rep
552
Posts

Drives: 2006 Mazda3
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Behind the wheel

iTrader: (0)

Some pics stolen for wallpaper use. Thanks.

Dat M2 looks so good. You have it in the config I'd like to have it. Maybe with manual even though I have low experience with stick XD
__________________
Yea... yea I got an M(azda)3.... <.<

*work in progress*
Appreciate 0
      09-05-2017, 02:50 PM   #14
TurboAL47
Colonel
TurboAL47's Avatar
Philippines
1023
Rep
2,023
Posts

Drives: M4 / X5
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Queens, NYC

iTrader: (27)

Garage List
driving the 1 series back to SEMA for battle of the builders?? awesome road trip and content.
__________________

'22 G82 M4 - Individual Marina Bay Blue 6MT | MBB G82 Ongoing Build Thread
'21 AW G05 X5 xDrive40i MSport

'15 SS/SO F82 - M4 - SOLD| Industry City Shoot
'08 AW E92 - 335xi - SOLD[/b] | Mods and Photoshoot
Appreciate 0
      09-05-2017, 02:57 PM   #15
BALL3N
Private
BALL3N's Avatar
United_States
70
Rep
89
Posts

Drives: 2020 G20 330xi, 2019 X3 x30i
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Annapolis

iTrader: (0)

Garage List
2020 330xi  [0.00]
Zion is bucket list worthy. You definitely need to make a trip back out to see it. Not as much for the driving, but the hike to the top of Angel's Landing is extremely cool and worth the effort so long as you're not scared of heights. The hike up the Narrows is amazing, too. You'll trash whatever footwear you use, so prepare for that.

Thanks for sharing all the great pics-awesome journey.
__________________
Current: '17 MSport 330e, '16 X1 xDrive 28i.
Previous: '16 328d xDrive SW, '14 328xd, '13 MSport AH3, '11 328xi sedan.

I've handled lots of ///M's, Euro Deliveries, PC Deliveries, Dual Deliveries, some Individual Orders, an M4 GTS, an M760xi.
Appreciate 0
      09-05-2017, 03:12 PM   #16
mrmoua2u
Captain
mrmoua2u's Avatar
United_States
655
Rep
877
Posts

Drives: 2018 MW F80 ZCP
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: CA

iTrader: (0)

Dang...those drilled holes on your bumper.
Appreciate 0
      09-05-2017, 04:54 PM   #17
Flying Ace
Lieutenant General
Flying Ace's Avatar
4983
Rep
11,891
Posts

Drives: G05 45e, 997.1 & 991.1 GT3s
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: SF, CA

iTrader: (5)

nice! I did a similar trip in my M3 back in 2013. Started in N. Virginia, ended up in SF. (also on bimmerpost front page).

In any case, we went to Arches, Yellowstone, Grand Tetons and Crater Lake on my trip.
__________________
Appreciate 0
      09-05-2017, 05:33 PM   #18
2000Z3M
Captain
639
Rep
847
Posts

Drives: 2016 435i ZHP
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: IL

iTrader: (0)

great pics. what did you think of the one lane section coming off the pass into aspen? I have never taken the BMW to Aspen we normally fly or take the mom car, a kia sorento.
Appreciate 0
      09-05-2017, 08:02 PM   #19
Detailers Domain
BimmerPost Supporting Vendor
Detailers Domain's Avatar
United_States
1985
Rep
6,916
Posts


Drives: 20 M2C / 22 X3MC
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: New Jersey

iTrader: (24)

great shots!
Appreciate 0
      09-05-2017, 08:15 PM   #20
duky
The Tanzanian
duky's Avatar
United_States
1313
Rep
1,508
Posts

Drives: BMW M3, Audi RS6, Mini Cooper
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Los Angeles, CA

iTrader: (9)

Garage List
Glad you enjoyed the trip and thanks for sharing the photos! Did this last year in our F80 and miss every moment of it. I too was a bit on the rushed side but managed to stop off at some awesome places. Makes you appreciate how much diversity there is on this land of ours
__________________

2023 F56 MINI Cooper SE Midnight Black II on Carbon Black
2021 C8 Audi RS6 Avant Mythos Black on Black/Grey
2016 F80 BMW M3 Black Sapphire Metallic on Silverstone
Appreciate 0
      09-05-2017, 08:45 PM   #21
balloonsalesman
Private
balloonsalesman's Avatar
Canada
48
Rep
53
Posts

Drives: 2011 1M BSM
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: Montreal

iTrader: (0)

My brother and I drove my 1M from Montreal to San Francisco last summer, this brought back some good memories. So awesome!
Attached Images
  
Appreciate 1
nacaruh412.50
      09-05-2017, 10:05 PM   #22
Calvin36
Lieutenant Colonel
Calvin36's Avatar
United_States
1062
Rep
1,876
Posts

Drives: F30 335i M Sport
Join Date: May 2017
Location: San Francisco

iTrader: (2)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Day Laborer View Post
Thanks for crashing my iphone & my laptop will all these photos. See ya in late October
Same. I can't see the last 70% of the photos.

Welcome to California! But you went too far south and ended up in LA. You'll learn your mistake and come up to the Bay Area soon enough!! Haha
__________________
Mine: BSM F30 335i M Sport
Hers: AW F30 328i M Sport
Appreciate 1
nacaruh412.50
Post Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 03:55 PM.




m2
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
1Addicts.com, BIMMERPOST.com, E90Post.com, F30Post.com, M3Post.com, ZPost.com, 5Post.com, 6Post.com, 7Post.com, XBimmers.com logo and trademark are properties of BIMMERPOST