[Fugly M3]

DISCLAIMER: PIC HEAVY

Hi all! Welcome to my 2021 M2C Failed ED PCD road trip thread! Meant to post this earlier, as the trip happened in December, but just finally getting to it. I still haven't gotten through any of the videos I took.

A Teaser Pic...how many M2s make it to Big Bend National Park?



BMW announced the end of European Delivery in early May. I've done ED in the past (https://www.2addicts.com/forums/show....php?t=1315020) and, while I loved my 2018 DCT M4, it took me all of about a day to decide I needed to order a new M2C with a stick and try to shoot for the very last delivery ever. So, I placed the order with Jimmy Bach at Steve Thomas BMW GOLFFRR. We actually didn’t even have an allocation, but Jimmy was sure he’d get one and he did in early June. Let the waiting begin.

I started a thread of the “End of an Era M2 ED” cars. It can be found here: https://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1720376 There ended up being about 15 orders just in that thread and they were, all but one, stick shifts.

My build is as follows:

2021 M2C
Sunset Orange
Orange Stitching
Exec pack
Bi-color wheels (for the bright finish popping off the orange)
M driver’s package (for the 174 mph limiter because I was doing ED)
And…

SIX

SPEED

MANUAL!!!



Last summer consisted of a lot of back and forth and ups and downs on the ED as portrayed in my ED thread. After lots of thought about whether I should go East or West, I decided that the last ED should be an Alps and Western Europe experience. The trip I had planned was to be almost 3 weeks and I was going to take the car all the way down to Gibraltar. I even secured the okay from BMW to take the car on the ferry from mainland Spain to Ceuta, Spain, a walled/fenced Spanish city on the coast of North Africa. Yes, this was allowed and covered by the insurance. I don’t believe anyone ever did it. Mallorca and Menorca were also allowed, along with Sicily (roads are terrible though), Corsica and Sardinia.

I was then going to rush back up through Portugal, wind through the Pyrenees, and sip my way through Bordeaux before getting to the Nurburgring for a one day lapping experience with a group set up by Donnie Isley at the BMW PC willwin2day. I’ve done this before and it’s a blast. Turned out the weekend we were supposed to be there for that event was also the F1 race weekend. Last stretch would be a blast down the autobahn to Munich for drop off and the long wait.

The best part of this planned trip was that my Orange M2C Stick Shift was to be the very last ED car. I had secured a 5 pm delivery on Saturday, September 26, which was supposed to be the last day.

Alas, none of it was to be. Initially, they pushed back all of our delivery dates and mucked up all the schedules. Then I cancelled just before they cancelled on everyone a few days later around early-mid October. I cancelled and opted to ship the car to the PCD, not entirely knowing if I’d take it. I told Jimmy that the car needed to get there in time for me to get it home before serious winter and before Christmas because of scheduling issues.

I needed 2 weeks, one for the car to get treated at Extreme Colors Auto Spa (they do the BMW PC cars) with a full front end clear bra, tint and ceramic coating. During this week, I’d spend 4 days on the track at the BMW PC and one at the Land Rover Off-Road experience at the Biltmore in Ashville, NC. The car finally hit the Brunswick port in mid-November and I secured a December 7 delivery. This was a tad later than I would have desired, but I was told that I’m basically working from home until June (or longer) and I just had to have the stick while traffic wasn’t in the equation.

The cross country route is below!

[Fugly M3]

December 6

Depart LAX for GSP
Turns out Donnie Isley is on the flight from CLT to GSP, so we grab an airport beer and get ready for the week at the BMW PC. Check into Greenville Marriot.





December 7

Delivery Day! Shuttle to the BMW PC. Day starts with morning track drive, off-road course and factory tour, the latter of which is limited due to Covid. There's a Misano CS lurking and awaiting delivery!













A great lunch follows and then it’s time for delivery! She doesn’t disappoint! The Sunset Orange is no mistake and just incredible in person! I've decided that she will be named Ilse.







Donnie played a little trick on me…I told him and the BMW PC separately no sanitizers or alcohols near my new car. I open the door to find a can of Lysol spray…nice try!

Josh is a super friendly delivery specialist, but doesn’t get to do much with me because I’m more interested in pulling the mirror apart to install the radar detector wiring. We ended up talking about the older couple who gave up on the off-road course and walked down the hill, wouldn’t let Josh help them set up the car because of Covid and then complained they didn’t have enough training with the car.

It’s time to start up and set off for Extreme Colors! Can I still drive the 6MT? How many stalls will I have over to the shop? I slowly start to rev and pull the clutch out…nothing. Still nothing. Is there any pedal left? WTF? Even Josh is wondering now. Oh, woops, forgot to put it in gear!!! DOH!

After that event, there weren’t any…no stalls on the way to the shop and none on the entire trip home. BMW’s are so smooth, came right back. Have had a couple accidental stalls since…but none whilst trying to get rolling. All were after parking and forgetting to push the off button. Something, I don’t think ever happened with the good ‘ol key system.

Anyway, car gets dropped off at Extreme Colors and I’m back to the hotel for the night. There was a great GT4 in Python Green at Extreme Colors that I got to drool over!

[Fugly M3]

December 8

Today I have all day private track training with Donnie Isley. Basically, it’s open structure…what would you like to work on? I chose skid pad/drifting, J turns (yes, really!) and lapping, of course!

The J turns and lapping were great, but the absolute highlight was getting the M5 around the skid pad in a continuous drift for almost 2 whole circles! The new 440i coupe is disappointing.







December 9

A little break from BMW today. Well not totally, Donnie let me drive his E24 635 today. The rest of the day was spent with Land Rover at the off-road course on the grounds of the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC. I recently replaced bought a 2020 Discovery Diesel for my mother and am absolutely in love with it, so I figured I’d spend some time on a slower driving experience. They let me drive the new Defender, which is an absolutely awesome vehicle, totally deserving of the MT SUVOTY award it earned. I was so impressed by the course and the experience, that I will definitely be doing some Land Rover excursions, hopefully in Namibia later this year. Most interesting, however, was how similar the principles are to track driving, with the primary difference being how much more slowly things happen! Some photos!

Dinner tonight is at Donnie’s buddies place in downtown Asheville. A true French dining experience in the American South, how about that!















December 10

Back to the BMW PC. Today I subbed out my M Driver’s Pack one-day whatever for the one-day M School the PC had going. Three highlights. First, I get to drive Donnie's Ram dually down to Greenville for service...what a beast! They let me skip all the skidpad training and just show off my drifts. I totally fried a brand new M8Cs CCB system. The instructors were impressed how hard I was using the brakes…and then she just gave up! Apparently, there is a flaw in the system where it doesn’t accurately reflect how quickly the wear is occurring, and then the heat on the thin pads accelerates the wear and the brakes are gone before the car can realize what’s happening. Fun times!

[Fugly M3]

December 11

After a short 2-hour new owner track drive, I get to go pick up my car at Extreme Colors!

The new Z4 and X4MC





So awesome to see her all shined up and looking great! Went back to the PC to collect my bags and get a shot with Donnie and Laura before leaving.





I audibled my Spartanburg overnight to join Donnie at his condo down in Edisto Beach, SC. Great decision. I get to split up what would have been the long Saturday drive and I get to experience Edisto Island, a true gem of South Carolina. I also got to try my first boiled peanuts (no, just no) and grits (very good)!

[Fugly M3]

December 12

Coffee run has me finding some Spanish Moss for a nice background photo.



A glorious morning run and some jaw-droppingly reasonable ocean front property has me thinking about moving to South Carolina.





Then it’s a great lunch before setting off down to Florida.





It starts out stunning leaving Edisto, but turns to mostly interstate, with a tiny bit of rain outside my final destination of Amelia Island/Fernandina Beach.







The goal was to find a place where I could get a picture of the car in front of the Atlantic (mini off-roading ). Huge success! Then a nice dip in some frigid waters before dinner. Had to jump in the ocean in mid-December, right?

[Fugly M3]

December 13

Day starts off with heavy fog and a morning run that has me thinking northeast Florida is the spot. $600k for a 3/3 townhome across from the beach? What the literal f***?







Set off around 11 am. Today’s drive is across the panhandle of Florida to the “redneck riviera,” with the destination being Destin. I’ve seen so many Destin house hunting shows I figured I had to check it out. If you’ve noticed, I’m always exploring the real estate. I get that from my father, who was in the commercial real estate game and who drug us all over on road trips to see the real estate. Anyway, at Tallahassee I veered off I10 for Florida State Route 20. This was probably the best decision of the trip. I can’t even describe this section of Florida. Ever so gently sloping rolling terrain, with a mix of the southern pines and almost a Santa Barbara/Santa Ynez oak county infusion, except with about half the woodiness of the Northeast. Did that make sense? In any event, it was incredible. Two lane road, windows down, music up, about 63 degrees…just sensational.

















Pulled into Destin around 4 pm, took in the white sand beach and went for a dip in the Gulf.

[Fugly M3]

December 14

Today was Destin, FL to Lafayette, LA. We start with the usual coffee run and actual run.





The original plan was to make it to Beaumont, TX, but I was too tired to go that far and the car might have too many miles for break-in to be done that far out. I had appointments for break in services at each city and decided on Lafayette after looking at the mileage. Drive started on the Emerald Coast in heavy winds. Took a month for me to get all the tiny white sand out of the car!







Then almost all I10 through Alabama, Mississippi and into Louisiana. The bridge through the Atchafalaya swamp was interesting, despite the low speed limits. Swamp, swamp and more swamp. Pulled into Lafayette late in the day and ready for dinner.

[Fugly M3]

December 15

Break-in service time! I have the first appointment bright and early. Another M2C is in for service. I pulled into Moss Motors at 2011km or 1249 miles, which is near-as-makes-no-difference the 2000km mark, or BMW’s official break-in point, the US based 1200 miles aside.







These guys were excellent. Quick, efficient, and I got to watch it all! Dealership was also cool; one CA had several old ED plates at his desk. Really cool to see. The smaller BMW dealers I’ve been to during my cross-country road trips seem to be so much cooler than the “megastores,” we have in LA.









Anyway, after the service it was back to the hotel to pack up a bit and head out. I had a long drive today…all the way to Uvalde, TX, or about 500 miles. Unfortunately, this stretch of I10 is full of trucks and rocks and rain and the car takes some hits. Some of the rocks literally broke through the new clear bra and I have scab like flaps on the driver-side headlight, a good rock hit to the roof right above me and some other minor hits to the clear bra. UGH!







It finally dries out outside San Antonio and now little Ilse is beyond filthy. The sunset is glorious at least.





When I got to Uvalde, I walked around the block to the Yelp-recommended pizza place and got to sit at an actual, real-life bar. For someone from California, this was so, so, SO glorious. Had a great time drinking and talking with a local.

[Fugly M3]

December 16

Today I hit the road early for Big Bend National Park. Lots of open, two-lane road driving means I finally get to let the now broken in Ilse stretch her legs.















And boy does she gallop! Unfortunately, I can attest that I both did not quite hit the elevated M driver’s pack top speed and that the M2C is definitely a tad bit squirrelier at top end than the longer wheelbase M4. Oh well, that’s why I bought her! We have to fill up again because we're running low after only 100 miles!











Big Bend is sensational, stunningly beautiful territory, pleasantly warm with bright blue skies. I wind my way through the park to Lajitas Golf Resort (very cool place) for the overnight. Spent the afternoon doing some shooting before a great dinner on the patio overlooking the Rio Grande and Mexico.

[Fugly M3]

December 17

Another amazing driving day. Starts with a glorious sunrise and a morning run - warm and dry! Wonder what's up "East Contrabando Trail?" Then I drop my hotel keys in the sanitizer and head out!









The drive from Lajitas along the Rio Grande (Texas 170) has to be one of the best in the country. No way to describe how cool it is to be along an international boundary through stunning canyons and gorges.

































After a fill-up, it's on to Marfa on US 67 and right by “Prada Marfa,” the fake Prada store in the middle of nowhere. Unfortunately, I didn’t stop because it was a tourist trap mess. I would have loved a pic of the car in front of the “store” but that could have take an hour to get. There's a border control balloon drone hovering overhead for a good part of the drive.







So, on I went to El Paso and then through New Mexico and into Arizona for an overnight at a really divey roadside hotel where migrating birds are in every tree and I’m freaked out about the car being defecated on. At this point I decide I’m getting up early and going all the way home tomorrow instead of up to Prescott for night as was the original plan. At least the Arizona sunset is great!

[Fugly M3]

December 18

I can’t sleep in the sketch hotel room. Start to have feelings I’m being bitten by bedbugs (I wasn’t), so I’m up at 3 am and ready to go. I figure I can make great time before everyone’s awake and get through Phoenix before bad morning traffic - which I do. Thankfully, I’m fairly awake because I’m still used to Central time. I see the first "Los Angeles," sign of the trip and then get pelted by some rocks flying off lifted trucks. Ahhh, Arizona!









The sun comes up gloriously over the low desert as I head west.







The obligatory CA "inspection."



We haven't bothered with the sign to the "Golden State," since the 70s.





I make great time and I’m home in a little over 8 hours. I know I'm home when I hit the wall of Eucalyptus trees. Not bad for 600 miles. I stop to get the shot in front of the Pacific just a couple blocks from home.





Then I see the neighbor and her lab is so excited to see me she escapes and jumps up on the driver door and puts minor but very annoying hairline scratches in the door! But she’s home, pretty much unscathed and time for a wash and reflecting on an amazing ride home.

[Fugly M3]

I’ll start by reiterating that I almost didn’t take this car. I almost let not having the ED trip discourage me. I am so happy I didn't make that mistake. I’ve done a lot of driving events with BMW. M2s, M3s, M4s, M5s, M8s and some non-Ms.

I always knew the M2 was where it was at, but the stick shift in the M2 is truly where it’s at. The OG M2 has the sound, the CS has the performance, and this one has the Sunset Orange. The M2, in whatever form, is the only BMW you can cruise to cars and coffee in and actually get attention from the supercar owners, the muscle car owners, the Tesla owners and the off-roaders. Only the M3/4 crew is off in their corner bickering about the detuned engine.

This car has a tail-happy but controllable flickability that’d make anyone blush. She’s stiff but compliant, nimble and darty. I love the fixed dampers. She’s comfortable over long distances but she keeps you awake. She makes a great noise, especially when she pops and burbles. She glistens in that glorious Sunset Orange. More than anything, she’s visceral. You’re in control but you’re along for the ride at the same time.

Every time I get in, I remember when I first got my E46 coupe. I used to look down and see the roundel on the wheel and think, “I can’t believe I have a BMW.” Cheesy, I know. No less, I get the same feeling when I get in this car and put my hand on the gear lever. To date, I have no doubt the M2 with the 6MT, in whatever form, is the best BMW BMW makes. Best car or vehicle? Who knows? Best BMW? Without a doubt.

BMW sent me the survey recently and asked why I gave the car a 10/10. I replied, “Because it’s a real BMW. 2 doors, 6 gears, power to the back.” It’s that simple.

A photo to hold you all over until I can (hopefully) get a video up.

[NWest]

Great write-up, amazing pictures, and a fun way to spend breaking your M2C in and driving across the Southern US.

ED would have been awesome, but under these crazy circumstances, I think this worked out well for you. This is really making me look forward to my M2C delivery in May.

[richard in NC]

I just read through the write up. Nicely done on a great experience. I just missed you having done the New Owners Drive one week earlier on 12/4.
Cool that you must know Donnie Isley well. He's been an instructor on several of my Performance Center visits and elsewhere such as an M experience in Austin at CotA.

And yes, SO is fantastic on the M2C. Although I do have, and enjoy the M-DCT.

[Fugly M3]

Originally Posted by NWest

Great write-up, amazing pictures, and a fun way to spend breaking your M2C in and driving across the Southern US.

ED would have been awesome, but under these crazy circumstances, I think this worked out well for you. This is really making me look forward to my M2C delivery in May.

Originally Posted by richard in NC

I just read through the write up. Nicely done on a great experience. I just missed you having done the New Owners Drive one week earlier on 12/4.
Cool that you must know Donnie Isley well. He's been an instructor on several of my Performance Center visits and elsewhere such as an M experience in Austin at CotA.

And yes, SO is fantastic on the M2C. Although I do have, and enjoy the M-DCT.

Thanks to both of you. richard in NC, yes, Donnie is a good friend. I've been to multiple events with him abroad and at home. He spent a night in the hospital with me in Sweden after I nearly killed myself at a BMW event there (broken collarbone and 4 ribs, pneumothorax or collapsed lung), so yes, we're close. That's a write-up I still haven't finished. In any event, I had the DCT on my M4 and it was awesome and what I would have specced pre-covid, but for this one during the stay at home, I did have to go old school. And I've just found out once things get back to normal, I may be able to cut my commute to a third of what it was for in-office days, so even better!

[veenut28]

Best. Post. Ever.

Well done to turn a letdown into a fantastic trip. From one SO MT owner to another - cheers!

[Fugly M3]

Originally Posted by veenut28

Best. Post. Ever.

Well done to turn a letdown into a fantastic trip. From one SO MT owner to another - cheers!

Thanks! I'm not sure about best post ever, but I'll take it!

[santua]

Wow. Thank you for sharing your experience with us, it looks like a really fun experience. I stumbled upon your thread because I am planning on doing a road trip on my M2C. If you don't mind me asking, how was the aftermath on the car?

[Driver87]

So cool, I admire the passion! What a journey you completed, sure beats the crap out of picking it up driving 10 miles home and parking it lol.

Incredible pictures, sure makes me look at SO in a different light!

Bravo my friend!

[Fugly M3]

Originally Posted by Driver87

So cool, I admire the passion! What a journey you completed, sure beats the crap out of picking it up driving 10 miles home and parking it lol.

Incredible pictures, sure makes me look at SO in a different light!

Bravo my friend!

Yes indeed, I'm to the point after ED and this trip where I don't think I can do the dealer purchase anymore. I have to have some sort of adventure with the new car. That and it is so much easier to order the car than to do the on-site/email back and forth. Note that some of the pics had been edited...but it definitely looks different in many different lights.

Originally Posted by santua

Wow. Thank you for sharing your experience with us, it looks like a really fun experience. I stumbled upon your thread because I am planning on doing a road trip on my M2C. If you don't mind me asking, how was the aftermath on the car?

She definitely did not escape unscathed. The entire front-end is clear bra-ed which helped a lot. However, that said, I noted the massive rock/gravel hits that happened to the driver front between Lafayette, Louisiana and Uvalde, Texas, with most of those happening in eastern LA and Houston area from the trucks. The headlight took a shot so hard the film basically formed a scab that was coming loose. It seems to have healed quite a bit and looks smaller but still like a permanent bug squish. I am investigating having that piece of oil replaced by a local shop right now. There were some similar hits below that where the bumper got scratched/scuffed underneath such that the paint and some plastic were shifted, but the clear bra is intact (weird, I know). Then on the roof right above me there's a rock hit that's through the paint and almost looks like a very faint dent, though I don't think it is. That's the worst of it.

The minor items are small hit to passenger A-pillar, through paint. Rock chip in that same region of the windshield, but just a chip not a star. And then quite a few tiny, but through paint chips in the passenger fender above the film.

These are all very minor and most people wouldn't notice if they weren't shown them. However, they are enough to drive me a little mad.

All that having been said...see my road trip across the country and back in my M4 in the summer of 2019. That trip was nearly twice as far, and aside from me scuffing the front diffuser region of the bumper on a parking berm, there was almost no road damage.

It's honestly just a hit and miss thing. Yes, it sucks and you have to go into these sorts of trips expecting something will happen. However, I'd do it again in a heartbeat and had planned to drive Ilse (the M2C) all the way across the country and back again this summer for Advanced M School at VIR, with the goal of hitting all the contiguous states she's yet to see (and North Dakota for me), but BMW changed the schedule for that school and I'm not sure that will happen. So, I have another potential road trip up to North Dakota anyway. We'll see what happens. All I can tell you is unless you think your M2 is going to be some million dollar investment 50 years from now, just go out there and have fun. Life is too short not to.

[santua]

Doesn't really sound all that bad considering the fact that you drove the car from coast to coast, and in all honesty, it was to be expected. I do believe that the PPF saved you from a lot more damage.

I am definitely looking forward to road-tripping in the M2, will get a full front ppf before I do though as I am way to meticulous when it comes to my cars, so much so that even though I can't see the rock chips if I stand a couple of feet back, I know they're there, and that's enough to bother me (This probably applies to most of us XD).

Anyways, thank you very much for sharing your experience and your insights.

S.

[Fugly M3]

Originally Posted by santua

Doesn't really sound all that bad considering the fact that you drove the car from coast to coast, and in all honesty, it was to be expected. I do believe that the PPF saved you from a lot more damage.

I am definitely looking forward to road-tripping in the M2, will get a full front ppf before I do though as I am way to meticulous when it comes to my cars, so much so that even though I can't see the rock chips if I stand a couple of feet back, I know they're there, and that's enough to bother me (This probably applies to most of us XD).

Anyways, thank you very much for sharing your experience and your insights.

S.

I am the same way with noticing everything. Happy to share!