[Santoshbhat]

Originally Posted by mobike008

Finally, Congratulations on your new BMW’s

No no, you misunderstood. By 'we', I meant India as a country . My X3 is still going strong and I intend to hold on to it for a few more years.

BMW has traditionally concentrated on diesel engines in our country all these years and it is only in recent times that petrol engines are making a comeback. In fact when I bought my X3 30d there was no petrol option. If something like the M40i was available back then, there is no way I would have picked anything else.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

No no, you misunderstood. By 'we', I meant India as a country . My X3 is still going strong and I intend to hold on to it for a few more years.

Now that is embarrassing. I typed so much content thinking you bought 2 BMW's

Nice to know you still have the X3. Did you hit the 100,000kms mark?

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

BMW has traditionally concentrated on diesel engines in our country all these years and it is only in recent times that petrol engines are making a comeback. In fact when I bought my X3 30d there was no petrol option. If something like the M40i was available back then, there is no way I would have picked anything else.

India is predominantly a diesel market and petrol enthusiast cars not just from BMW but, other brands is far and few. With launch of BMW M40i they got the attention of many car enthusiasts. There next logical step should be to get the X3 M40i in India, I think it would be a bigger hit as folks in India are also tilting more towards SAV's than sedans.

[mobike008]

July 3-July 6th, 2021 Road-trip Report (Detroit- The Great Smoky Mountains, Tenessee-Nashville-Detroit)-1520 Miles

I’ll break this report and pictures into a couple of posts. Here is #Part 1

We were planning a short vacation (4-days) during the July 4th, 2021 weekend and multiple locations came to mind. Since ,we covered almost every nook and corner of Michigan, Upper Peninsula (UP) which is our favorite in-state destination was not really on the radar as typically we scout locations and end up traveling north as nature cannot get any prettier than U.P.

As for these short vacations, I generally prefer road trips and drivable distances. We thought of Chicago (been there multiple times), Niagara Falls (visited twice) and been to all major cities in and around in Ohio, we were literally scratching our heads where to vacation. It was already July 1st and no decisions taken. Then late night, was talking to a dear friend and he suggested Smoky Mountains which they visited in April 2021 and was praising a lot of this National Park.

We started looking for hotels and were taken aback as nothing was available below $300/night as Smokies is a very popular destination and these nightly rates were terribly expensive. Again we swayed between few other locations and finally decided on the “Great Smoky Mountains National Park” in Tennessee.

After a lot of research, we ended up booking 3 nights (2 Nights in Smokies and 1 night in Nashville) for total of $800. I wanted to visit Nashville as some of my friends mentioned the vibe there is crazy and being an ardent music lover, I had to visit the “Music Capital” of US to know what’s the buzz about Nashville is all about.

We headed early morning (4:30am) on July 3rd , 2021 and really enjoyed our drive to Gatlinburg which was 550 miles away. We crossed Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and finally into Tennessee. I was floored by the beautiful landscape of Kentucky and Tennessee as last 150 miles was through some beautiful green landscapes and winding highways. I always thought of these southern states as being dry and unexciting but, I was pleasantly surprised.

We reached the Smokies by 1:00pm and luckily got an early check-in and freshened up and headed straight to skylift to take a ride on top of the mountains for some glorious views and walk on the bridge (with some sections have glass floorings that provides beautiful views of landscapes below).

Spent the whole afternoon and late evening at Gatlinburg which was so lively, it felt like entire US had descended there for their vacation. We spent late evening enjoying some live country music in a distillery and headed to our hotel after dinner around 11:00pm.

After a restful night, we got up early and decided to head into the mountains where we planned to do a loop of 11-miles of scenic points called “Cades Cove” which was wonderful as we were driving along with many other fellow vacationers who were also driving this loop. We spotted a baby bear cub (100 ft away which we enjoyed watching through our binoculars) and spotted another bear suddenly cross our road in the mountains. It was fantastic to spot the bears since Smokies is a bear country and we were lucky to spot them. Unfortunately, no pictures (have a few zoomed phone pictures that are not worth sharing here). Then we headed even higher up in the mountains stopping every few miles at multiple view points.

The scenery is like Goa, Munnar and Himachal all rolled into one. With clear water river running on one-side and green mountains on other side. It was fabulous scenery and not to mention the roads were buttery smooth and extremely curvy and winding that put the BMW to full test. These roads were almost on par with the “Ohio Triple Nickle-555 Highway” minus the elevations. I had a good mind to drive on “Tail of the Dragon” which is another popular winding road which was just 50 miles from the point we were but, I had other plans and due to limited time, had to skip it.

We stopped at one place that was the state line crossing as Smokies span across two states (Tennessee and North Carolina) and we crossed into N.C and went up to one of the most gorgeous spot that I ever been called “Cling man’s Dome” which where we parked our car and enjoyed the views from up there and this place was ~ 7000 ft in elevation. It felt like we were in the clouds.

From the place we parked our car, there was a 30-minute hike up to the actual dome and this is where I struggled with my fitness. I almost gave up half-way as the entire road to the dome was highly elevated and I stopped at multiple places and finally made it to the top. The 30-minute hike was totally worth it as the view from the top of dome was surreal. We saw clouds moving, weather up there was chillingly cold and we spent a good half hour enjoying the views from there before making it back to the parking (downhill was also tough as it was steep gradient and had to use my leg- brakes to control the speed of going downhill…LOL!)

We drove the 35 miles downhill and reached Gatlinburg and enjoyed a nice American dinner followed by another drive for about 10 miles to Pigeon Forge, another city where we enjoyed spending time at a beautiful musical fountains, Giant Wheel and other activities which was lively until late in the night.

Next day, we got up early and checked out of the hotel and did a 3-mile hike before driving towards our next destination, Nashville (275 Miles away).

Trivia: The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most visited National Park in the US with 11 Million visitors each year. The beauty of this area is the great mountain landscapes, lots of greenery and many fun activities for the vacationers. It’s a must visit for folks visiting or living in US.

Sharing some random pictures and will follow up with details and pictures of our next leg of our journey in the next post.

P.S : All are mobile phone pictures. Please click pictures to view the full size

[mobike008]

#Part 2 (Continuation to previous post)

We headed out of Smokies mountain around noon after a nice 3-mile hike to “Music Capital of USA” Nashville, TN.

Like many of us, I listened to a lot of Rock Music while growing up and I happened to also listen to a lot of country music as well and loved this genre.

I never knew one day, I will be visiting the capital of country music. Some of my favorites were Shania Twain, Dolly Parton and of course, the god of country music- Johnny Cash.

It was almost back-2-back traffic till we reached Nashville (275 Miles away) but, we still made good time and reached around 3:30pm and checked into our gorgeous downtown Hilton property. Primary goal to visit this place was to enjoy two things that Nashville is famous for- Music & Hot Chicken

Being a hard-core foodie, I can cross the earth for good food. So, we freshened up and immediately went to “Hattie B’s” the best place for Hot Chicken in Nashville. Braving long queues and extreme hot weather. After waiting for 30 minutes, we finally got a seat. This is epitome of souther comfort food and known for their super hot dishes. And, I thought, it's easy to handle “Hot” which was 3rd from their options and O’ Boy, was I wrong. I had to take a spoonful of Banana pudding to mitigate the heat. LOL!

We loved the Hot Chicken so much that we came back next day morning in sweltering 90C heat to pick up more for our road trip back home. Post this awesome meal, we headed straight to downtown Nashville to Broadway. We parked our car in an expensive lot for the evening as I couldn’t risk it being parked on the street.

We walked to downtown and was totally amazed to see entire downtown was converted to a Music Festival. We were lucky to note the popular country music star “ Chris Young” was playing live and recording for his next album. Felt like entire Nashville was there in downtown, fantastic vibe and great music that went on for almost 10:00pm. Post that, that entire street has bars that play live music and we just hopped from one place to another to listen to some awesome talent playing music until wee hours of the morning.

That was one evening, I am not going to forget in a long time.

Next morning, got up leisurely and checked out late and headed back towards Detroit. Wifey mentioned she wanted to stop at “Amma’s Kitchen” for a late lunch/early dinner. I popularized this place with her as I used to visit Cincinnati, Ohio on work and always used to go to Amma’s for food. One of the best authentic south indian food (Tamilian) food that I enjoyed here in US with some of my favorites like Avial, Vethu Kolumbu, Rasam and Sambar which tasted like heaven.

After that glorious meal, I handed over the wheel to wifey and snored for sometime…LOL!

We reached home around 10:00pm and that marked an end to a glorious 2500kms road trip in 4 days.

Till the next big drive.












































Some Videos from Smoky Mountains and Nashville

https://youtu.be/x0U8hGW5bQ8

https://youtu.be/lZE2_xR1Wzo

https://youtu.be/-KCtiIsz_GA

https://youtu.be/SzvEe78Tym8

https://youtu.be/UXd9vXw5GUM

https://youtu.be/PdS1Mtd5Gqg

https://youtu.be/f_FZlLwf2SA

https://youtu.be/l0sy_pOaOaA

[mobike008]

Well, It's been on my mind for a while to take BMW to task.

When they delivered the car they didn't give carbon fiber for the panel around the gear selector. Dealership did not even mention it but, I got to know through the Bimmer forum. I approached them and they said, we will replace it and will take a few days. I said, go ahead take your time as I was not in a hurry.

They gave me this beautiful loaner, it's an almost brand new 2021 530i (G30)

Last weekend, I literally lived in the car for a couple of days as there was a power outage due to thunderstorms. So, I was driving around to charge our devices and was working from the car .

The auto industry here is going through unprecedented demand for new cars/second hand cars. Folks are selling their cars as if it's an asset (not a depreciating asset) for higher prices than what they bought for and all of this due to chips and component shortages.

I told Bimmer folks, take your time and let me enjoy the executive sedan for as long as you want to get me replacement part.

A brief comparison will come up in a few weeks.

[mobike008]

I didn't really need it but, thought it would be a nice add to my BMW assemblage.

I doubt if I will ever buy any BMW accessories from official BMW store (as they are ridiculously expensive) but, I can most definitely use it for gas and restaurants which is where I seem to spend most of the money.

[scatpack392]

Originally Posted by mobike008

#Part 2 (Continuation to previous post)
Next morning, got up leisurely and checked out late and headed back towards Detroit. Wifey mentioned she wanted to stop at “Amma’s Kitchen” for a late lunch/early dinner. I popularized this place with her as I used to visit Cincinnati, Ohio on work and always used to go to Amma’s for food. One of the best authentic south indian food (Tamilian) food that I enjoyed here in US with some of my favorites like Avial, Vethu Kolumbu, Rasam and Sambar which tasted like heaven.

mobike008 - I have to try this place the next time I am in Cincy. That is going to be my future hometown once I move from Detroit.

[lucifer1881]

Phew. That was a detailed review, Avi. Had read it a while ago but then life happened and I forgot to reply on it. You know SUVs aren’t my thing due to reasons unprintable on this forum but since you say it handles almost like a sedan I shall take your word for it.

That said, I would be very interested to know how she handles the infamous west coast bumper to bumper freeway traffic - diamonds and rubies as a colleague of mine euphemistically described it once. Do share that once you drive across that part of the country. Also, if I may suggest a drive to Alaska via Canada in the winter. There are so many enclaves and exclaves and enclaves within exclaves that it is a geography nerd’s wet dream.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by scatpack392

mobike008 - I have to try this place the next time I am in Cincy. That is going to be my future hometown once I move from Detroit.

All the best for your move to Cincinnati. I used to visit Cincy for a year once a month (of course, always drive down from Detroit) to meet customers. Each visit I would visit Amma's Kitchen at least once. Fabulous South Indian meals, being a foodie this place was a must for me each time I was out there.

Originally Posted by lucifer1881

Phew. That was a detailed review, Avi. Had read it a while ago but then life happened and I forgot to reply on it. You know SUVs aren’t my thing due to reasons unprintable on this forum but since you say it handles almost like a sedan I shall take your word for it.

That said, I would be very interested to know how she handles the infamous west coast bumper to bumper freeway traffic - diamonds and rubies as a colleague of mine euphemistically described it once. Do share that once you drive across that part of the country. Also, if I may suggest a drive to Alaska via Canada in the winter. There are so many enclaves and exclaves and enclaves within exclaves that it is a geography nerd’s wet dream.

Well, I have covered 1/4th of the US in the last 3-4 years with respect to the geo covered and miles that I clocked (Btw, I have clocked > 70,000 miles in this time as I'm out on road trips (Business or Pleasure very often). Alaska trip is in bucket list (I heard Achorage is pretty. as a peach- Drive or Sail (Yeah, rent a boat) or Fly is to be figured out


Life has been super busy with work and couple of nice vacations in the last couple of months so this thread has been idle.

Like all auto enthusiasts, I like trying out new cars and after BMW 530i, got some more different cars to keep for short while and enjoy it.

Here is the list and little background of each of these cars.

1. Toyota Rav 4 (Hired this for a 1800 mile trip to Boston as I was getting a mouth watering rental price).

2. BMW X5 and Toyota Corolla (My sister's cars that I drove most of couple of weeks I spent in Boston).

3. Chrysler Pacifica (Rented this car for our vacation to New York City, New Jersey and Washington DC). Despite having 3 cars at home (Bimmer, Rav4, Corolla, sis wanted to hire a mini van so all of us can enjoy lounging in the car during this vacation). The huge space available in car really made a lot of difference to our road trip.

4. Enjoyed a wonderful drive of truck- Dodge Ram of ex-fellow Moderator "TheMag" when he visited me @my sister's home in Boston. It was so nice of him to drive down from Connecticut to meet us. Had a wonderful time catching up on old times and team bhp related anecdotes.

5. Had a Ford Ecosport at my disposal for a week while it waited to be shipped for a friend. I have to admit, despite it's puny size it was more enjoyable to drive and nippy than the Rav 4 which was a size bigger.

6. Finally, I took a brand new Tesla Model 3 2021 model (2-months old) of a close friend who lives in NJ for half a day and that got me hooked to Tesla. The new ones drive really well. Hopefully, the next one will be a T.

My bummer rested it's legs while I clocked ~3500 miles between all of above cars

Now it's time for some pictures all these wonderful cars that I enjoyed over the last couple of months.

Road Trip from Detroit-Boston-Detroit







Road trip from Boston-NYC-NJ-Washington DC









TheMag's Truck vs BMW X5



TheMag & Mobike008





With my friend's Tesla in NJ



In the US, Ecosport looks and feels like a toy car

[mobike008]

I moved from Detroit, Michigan to Seattle, Washington.

During the moving process, I forgot how many times I contemplated driving the car to Seattle which was ~ 2500 miles away. But, some good sense prevailed and I decided to ship the car as enjoying such a long drive need at least 1 week to enjoy the scenery enroute and not just turn the whole drive into a cannon ball run.

My car was picked up in Michigan and was delivered exactly in a week in Washington. It was a flawless experience as the driver kept in touch via. text messages and told me the exact time and location for drop-off.

My Blau Rakete was delivered in WA "Scratch-less" and I'm super happy that I took this decision.

Now it's time to enjoy the Bimmer in the beautiful locales of Pacific North-West

Here are a few pictures when the car was delivered to me. This driver (Russian Gentleman) was very nice and I tipped him generously.

[theMAG]

Originally Posted by mobike008

4. Enjoyed a wonderful drive of truck- Dodge Ram of ex-fellow Moderator "TheMag" when he visited me @my sister's home in Boston. It was so nice of him to drive down from Connecticut to meet us. Had a wonderful time catching up on old times and team bhp related anecdotes.

TheMag's Truck vs BMW X5

Attachment 2208097

TheMag & Mobike008

Attachment 2208101

Attachment 2208099

I had no idea our pictures were here until Vid casually mentioned it! It was a nice meet - although Mass Turnpike needs to be become faster. We had to have a neighbor pickup our dog from day care since we got delayed with traffic on the way back.

We were looking to invite your sister and her daughters over to our house sometime this fall.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by theMAG

I had no idea our pictures were here until Vid casually mentioned it! It was a nice meet - although Mass Turnpike needs to be become faster. We had to have a neighbor pickup our dog from day care since we got delayed with traffic on the way back.

Well, I thought my activity on forum has reduced but, you are next level

Mass Pike has a 65mph speed limit but, I never see anyone doing less than 85mph and Boston cops seem to be accommodative of this fact. Well, keep that in mind next time.

Originally Posted by theMAG

We were looking to invite your sister and her daughters over to our house sometime this fall.

They would love to hear from you. Will keep her posted when I speak to her next.

[rvracer88]

Originally Posted by mobike008

I moved from Detroit, Michigan to Seattle, Washington.

Welcome to the Pacific North West. Did you receive your car in Redmond? Recognize the Hilton hotel in the picture. Would love to catch up sometime!!

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by rvracer88

Welcome to the Pacific North West. Did you receive your car in Redmond? Recognize the Hilton hotel in the picture. Would love to catch up sometime!!

Thank you! You have a sharp eye. Yes, that's the hotel where I stayed for 2 weeks. Its Hilton Garden Inn, Redmond Town Center.

Do you live in Redmond? Looking forward to a catch up soon. In the meantime, Please check this thread out and subscribe to it for updates.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/team-...ml#post5158035 (Team-BHP Meets @ Seattle, Washington)

Well, I have been driving around with a dirty Bimmer for over a week and first priority this weekend was to give it a nice wash. I was surprised to know that Costco has a car wash (Never saw one anywhere that I visited) and it's found apparently only in Downtown Seattle.

Yesterday the weather was super nice and warm so we decided to head to Seattle Downtown. Coming from Michigan, the traffic hit me in the face. It's like any other big city (NYC, LA, Boston etc). Whew! I need to plan things here in advance.

First stop was the car wash, filled gas which is expensive ($4/gallon) and bought the wash at the pump for $8++ and got in line. The equipment was very different and they use soap, wax and tyre shiner which is really worth the price and BR came out shiny and new





Post that, we headed to the most popular place in Downtown. Yup, Pikes Place. It rekindled memories from the past as we had spent many a weekends there. We enjoyed some nice hot coffee (after waiting in line for 15 mins) at the 1st Starbucks store. Then we just walked around the whole place enjoying the wonderful vibe and beautiful sceneries around. Then before heading home, we did a quick darshan from car of the most popular attraction of Seattle-Space Needle.

PNW landscape is so different from any of the big cities that I visited. Entire Greater Seattle is located on inclines and declines as the roads either go up or go down in many areas including the downtown with thick trees, lakes and Mt.Rainer in the background makes this city so so pretty

All in all, a fabulous Saturday afternoon spent in Downtown.

[rvracer88]

Originally Posted by mobike008

Thank you! You have a sharp eye. Yes, that's the hotel where I stayed for 2 weeks. Its Hilton Garden Inn, Redmond Town Center.

Do you live in Redmond? Looking forward to a catch up soon. In the meantime, Please check this thread out and subscribe to it for updates.

Just subscribed to the Seattle thread. Yes, I live in Redmond very close to the Hilton hotel. If you like to wash you car, the polar bear in Redmond and the one in Bellevue are great options. I go to the one in Redmond and wash by hand atleast during summers. As the weather deteriorates, I shift my allegiance to Rose hill car wash near Costco kirkland. They are good and wipe your rims clean after the wash!!