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The M535i In Its Natural Habitat

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davintosh
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The M535i In Its Natural Habitat

Post by davintosh »

After posting photos of my M535i in the GC "What did you do to your E28 today?" thread, it occurred to me that since I'm not really doing anything to my e28, just with my e28, it might be more appropriate (and more fun) to post photos like that here in Eye Candy. And since the scenery here in Südwest Deutschland is pretty spectacular in its own right, throwing them in here would fit right in with the forum theme.

These pics were also posted in that other thread, but I suppose some who browse this thread might like to see them too.

We had our usual Thursday off, but today the wife had her own plans, so I was free to do as I pleased. I gassed up the car and drove north toward Titisee & Feldberg, the land of the high and narrow, curvy roads. It was a bit drippy/drizzly, but not cold enough for snow; at least not today. There were places at the higher elevations that still had snow on the ground from a day or so ago, but nothing on the roads. It was a great day for driving in that area; crappy weather and a weekday afternoon helped keep a lot of the tourists away!

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There are some gorgeous sights up there, even when the mountains are draped with clouds.
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(and in case anybody's wondering, no, I didn't drive up that dirt path. ;) )

And here's my car in its usual haunt, parked outside the dorm, near the trash bins.

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This is the view from one of the upstairs windows in our building; a couple of hills to the east of us and a little higher up got some snow overnight. We dodged that one. It was a little odd to see cars rolling through town with snow piled on top!
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This is the ruins of Sausenburg Castle. We can see the castle from our building, but this photo is taken from the opposite side and a little closer than from our vantage point in the dorm. It's a very cool place to visit; 5 km hike from our place to the castle on a red-diamond trail. It's open to the public, but not very easy to get to, and is pretty rustic. There has been some restorative work done to it in recent years, like a set of wooden stairs in it and a platform at the top; the view from up there is pretty spectacular. Guys from our dorm go there pretty regularly for overnight camping when the weather allows. They even go there sometimes when the weather isn't so great, like last spring they spent a cold & rainy night there, huddled in any little nook & cranny they could find. Goofballs!

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This is from a couple of weeks ago; Basel, Switzerland, puts on a big fall festival every year -- Herbstmesse. The school hires busses to carry all of the students there for a night on the town. The rides are pretty impressive, like this ferris wheel, The Bellevue; it's usually an attraction at Europa Park that's just down the road a piece, but they tear it down, haul it to Basel, set it up, run it for a couple weeks, then tear it back down and haul it back. The thing is crazy tall -- 55 meters, or ~180 feet. Crazy Swiss!

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Adam W in MN
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Re: The M535i In Its Natural Habitat

Post by Adam W in MN »

Thanks for posting. Did I miss the thread where you picked this up since moving across the pond?

What's the reaction like from the Germans when you're out in that car, thumbs up, stares, "old-timer" comments? I would guess they don't see many cars beyond 10-15 years old on the road except at car shows.
davintosh
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Re: The M535i In Its Natural Habitat

Post by davintosh »

Adam W in MN wrote:Thanks for posting. Did I miss the thread where you picked this up since moving across the pond?

What's the reaction like from the Germans when you're out in that car, thumbs up, stares, "old-timer" comments? I would guess they don't see many cars beyond 10-15 years old on the road except at car shows.
I didn't make a big fuss about it; bought it from Ivo. I first saw it in February when I visited his shop up north, made an offer, then couldn't coordinate things to get it delivered or get up there to pick it up until school was out in mid-June. Then we were back in the US for July, and spent the better part of August & September getting it registered & insured. It's still got a few needs, but it's a solid car. We drove it north last month for a weekend off at an airbnb spot near Frankfurt. It drove great; got it up to 187 kph, but ran out of room with all the traffic. The autobahn isn't all it's cracked up to be, especially on the western part of the country because of all the cities/congestion. It is nice though not having to worry about speed limits. :D

I've seen a total of two e28s in Germany since we got here; mine and one other in June. I see a few people rubber-necking as I drive by; on Thursday I got several thumbs up from guys on a construction crew as I crawled past their worksite. :up: Mostly though it's just another car; most Germans don't seem to be impressed by the oldtimers. If anything they may turn up their noses at the smell of uncatalyzed exhaust coming from it.

We'll most likely be shipping it back to the US with us next year. That should be another adventure.
white chocolate
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Re: The M535i In Its Natural Habitat

Post by white chocolate »

Thanks for sharing, car looks great!

My wife's grandmother is from Germany and she has lots of family there, hopefully someday we can make it over.
maybeillbuyit
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Re: The M535i In Its Natural Habitat

Post by maybeillbuyit »

Great photos, thx for posting. Looks very old time there. Car fits right in. Awesome car as well congrats
tig
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Re: The M535i In Its Natural Habitat

Post by tig »

Looking great!
muleskinner
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Re: The M535i In Its Natural Habitat

Post by muleskinner »

Great photos
tschultz
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Re: The M535i In Its Natural Habitat

Post by tschultz »

Very nice Dave. I didn't realize you had one of these!

Sounds like you have been enjoying it!
davintosh
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Re: The M535i In Its Natural Habitat

Post by davintosh »

This week is our weekend off; Thanksgiving isn't a holiday over here (already celebrated that two weekends ago!) so we decided to head across the western border into France. We rented a chalet through AirBnB.com about 2 hours away, and took the twisty road there. Not much to see scenery-wise because it was foggy most of the way, but it was a fun drive nonetheless.

We'll probably do some driving later, and I'll see what kind of photos I can catch of the car with scenery. But this is my view from the couch in the chalet right now. Not too shabby. Much better in person than through a crappy iPhone photo; wish you could be here. ;)

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russellrh72
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Re: The M535i In Its Natural Habitat

Post by russellrh72 »

I just love that car man. Just love it. Great eye candy for sure my friend.
Das_Prachtstrasse
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Re: The M535i In Its Natural Habitat

Post by Das_Prachtstrasse »

It's nice to see you properly 'settled' over there, Dave. They are some beautiful views and the car looks right at home amongst it all! What's your plan long term, are you sizing up lederhosen yet or trying not to get that settled?
davintosh
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Re: The M535i In Its Natural Habitat

Post by davintosh »

Das_Prachtstrasse wrote:It's nice to see you properly 'settled' over there, Dave. They are some beautiful views and the car looks right at home amongst it all! What's your plan long term, are you sizing up lederhosen yet or trying not to get that settled?
Thanks, Bob. "Settled" is probably a good word for it; living here feels much more ok now than it did a year ago. It's nice to get all that transition crap behind us. But it doesn't take much to make it feel unsettled again; spending a weekend in France where few people speak English or German, and having to fumble with language barriers again... Ugh. We went to a semi-fancy restaurant last night, and there wasn't a soul in the place who could (or were willing) to speak anything but French. We fumbled through ordering by pointing & grunting and using Google Translate. I only had a vague idea what I had ordered until it came to the table. I can understand that not many would speak English, but this place is an hour from the German border! I think the French are as bad as Americans when it comes to language. ;) /rant

As for the long term, it's looking like we'll be relocating back to the US next summer; our youngest son will graduate from high school in June, and doesn't really have a solid idea of what he wants to do afterward. We'll go back to our home in SD, get him settled and hopefully out the door & into college or his own place with a job to pay for it, then think about coming back here. The current plan is to ship the car back with us next summer; keeping it here is a bit more expensive than we expected. If/when we do come back, we'll get something that's a little more practical, and something I don't have to worry so much about.
Karl Grau
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Re: The M535i In Its Natural Habitat

Post by Karl Grau »

Looking good Dave! I thinks it's great you guys are doing all the travelling you can, most people never get the opportunity.
davintosh wrote:We went to a semi-fancy restaurant last night, and there wasn't a soul in the place who could (or were willing) to speak anything but French.
I'm kind of surprised to hear this even taking into account you were in the country. When I was going to a French school as a teenager, English was mandatory ( i was a solid C student). That was back in the dark ages and I would have thought that nowadays it would be emphasized be even more. You weren't wearing a Trump shirt were you? :)
wkohler
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Re: The M535i In Its Natural Habitat

Post by wkohler »

That's a really early M535i. First month of production. Thanks for sharing.
86GT635
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Re: The M535i In Its Natural Habitat

Post by 86GT635 »

Geez Louise, that's really cool.

More, do some more awesome driving and show it to us :D

That car is awesome. I wanna see the interior.
davintosh
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Re: The M535i In Its Natural Habitat

Post by davintosh »

Well, I didn't do anything with the car today, other than sigh a little inside as I passed by it on my way up the hill on a walk with my sweetheart. I haven't driven it since last Thursday. :roll:

It was a bit of a frosty day in der Schwarzwald today; mostly sunny with some clouds rolling in from the west. Really low clouds, which made for some spectacular scenery from the höhe.

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Kandern is in the valley on the left, and the village's WWI & WWII memorial is at the top of the hill covered in cloud. The cloud just rolled in and wrapped around the hill; so very cool. I attempted a time-lapse video, but it didn't turn out so hot, so a still is all I have to share.

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This one is a panorama shot from about half way down the hill towards town, looking west. Like I said, really low clouds.

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And these last two shots are from Tuesday when I took some of the guys from the dorm up to Hochblauen. The mountaintop is about a 15-20 minute drive from Kandern, and at a height of 1164 meters, offers a pretty spectacular view. To the south you can usually see the Swiss Alps pretty clearly on the horizon, and the western horizon is shaped by the Vosges range in France. The last photo shows the Vosges with the Rhine River valley covered in cloud; the valley that is home to our sleepy little village is about center in that photo. The weather on Tuesday was pretty much the same as today, and it probably looked like that from Blauen today as well.

Hochblauen has a hotel & restaurant at the top, and an observation tower that was built in 1895. It's a pretty popular tourist spot, and just an all-around great place to go on a nice day or night; the nighttime view on a clear night is spectacular too, with all of the little villages & cities lighting up the valleys to the west. Looking to the north though, the nighttime landscape is almost black because there aren't any big cities nearby in that direction, and all the little towns are hidden in the valleys. You get to the top on a beautiful two-lane asphalt road that is an absolute blast to drive. A little narrow in places though; the last time I took the M535i up there, I nearly had a run-in with some dope in a Porsche who thought he needed to take his half out of the middle on a blind curve.

I'll put the iPhone on the windshield next time I go up there for some video of the drive. Some of you might like it. My wife doesn't; she gets a little carsick when I drive what feels like a comfortable speed on that road. ;)

Sorry, no automotive porn, but thought the scenery might be appreciated. Enjoy!
tig
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Re: The M535i In Its Natural Habitat

Post by tig »

Totally appreciated.

Flying over Germany/Netherlands in Sept I was struck by how much forest there is. I was also struck by the number of small "hamlets" spread throughout. When you fly over the US things are so much more spread out.

I'm reading (listening to, actually ) some historical fiction about the Roman Legions that ventured far into Germany under Ceasar's rule and these pics match what my minds-eye saw as I read.

Gorgeous country.
davintosh
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Re: The M535i In Its Natural Habitat

Post by davintosh »

cek wrote:Totally appreciated.

Flying over Germany/Netherlands in Sept I was struck by how much forest there is. I was also struck by the number of small "hamlets" spread throughout. When you fly over the US things are so much more spread out.

I'm reading (listening to, actually ) some historical fiction about the Roman Legions that ventured far into Germany under Ceasar's rule and these pics match what my minds-eye saw as I read.

Gorgeous country.
Titles? I wouldn't mind reading some of that myself. I've been surprised by the number of historic sites with Roman-era ties near here. One example we visited last year, just a 10 minute drive away is Badeweiller; famous for its thermal baths, but also with the ruins of a Roman bathhouse (under the coolest arched glass roof) & castle. I guess I had read that the Romans had occupied part of what is now Germany, but being here & seeing what they built, and understanding the distance from Rome and the terrain that separates the two places makes the accomplishment all that more impressive.

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And yeah, the number of small villages scattered around the country is impressive, and that many are just a kilometer or three from one another. Urban sprawl is nonexistent; the population is very concentrated in the villages & cities, with very few people living in the countryside. In most of the villages, there are houses right up to the city limits, and very few live beyond that. Farming is very different here than in the US as well; no mega-farms, no 1000+ head milking operations (at least not that I've seen.) But the population density is about 3-4 times what it is in the US.
muleskinner
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Re: The M535i In Its Natural Habitat

Post by muleskinner »

Glad to have Asheville, NC nearby. Could pass for Hochblauen mountains

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tig
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Re: The M535i In Its Natural Habitat

Post by tig »

Under the Eagle, Book 1.
davintosh
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Re: The M535i In Its Natural Habitat

Post by davintosh »

I had an hour with nothing to do yesterday (or rather, nothing that couldn't be done later) so I went for a little drive in the neighborhood. It's about a 10 kilometer loop up the mountain through a couple of little villages, past a castle ruin, then back down into Kandern. Here's the video; enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fBoM3bA_14

Yes, I was driving like a granny. It was cold & foggy overnight, so the roads were still a little frosty. Plus after a few close calls with oncoming traffic, I learned that trying to go fast on these roads is a bad idea. Too narrow, and too many blind curves. Even when you know the road, you never know when some oma might be coming from the other direction, taking her half out of the middle.
ovide
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Re: The M535i In Its Natural Habitat

Post by ovide »

Glad you are enjoying the car so much Dave!
davintosh
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Re: The M535i In Its Natural Habitat

Post by davintosh »

Merry Christmas!

Our kids came to visit, and the wife thought it would be good to treat them to a weekend in the Swiss Alps. Our oldest son rented a car, but there were six of us going, so it was time for the ///M535i to make its first trip into Switzerland! I knew the weather had been pretty mild where we were going recently, so figured the roads would be clear of snow, but didn't realize that the Swiss used so much deicer on their roads just to keep them clear of overnight frost; the Diamantschwartz was nicely frosted from the beltline down when we got there. :( The windshield got coated pretty well with spray from other vehicles, but my windshield washers weren't working. When I checked, I found that there were several spots where the hose had cracked, so I had washer fluid sprayed all over under the bonnet. Manual window washing was employed for the balance of the trip.

On a positive note, the scenery along the way, and from the windows of our "chalet" (that term is applied very loosely!) was pretty spectacular. The road leading up to the place was maybe half-again as wide as the car (super narrow!) with some very steep sections -- the elevation change in the last few kilometers between the little town (Horboden) where we left the main highway and our place is about 600 meters -- so it was 1st & 2nd gear all the way. Some parts of the road that were in the shadow of the mountains were still covered in snow, but the car did great; didn't break traction once.

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We rented the place through airbnb.com (love that service!) and it sounded interesting... I somehow missed the last line of the description when my wife sent me the link; it said, "In winter, the lodge is only accessible on foot (30 minutes) or take the ski lift." Cool. In short, the place is a small dairy operation (in the summer) and they rent out the living quarters year round. It's located right on a ski slope, with the ski lift -- or rather drag lift -- about 500 meters down the road. The heat in the place is supplied by two wood stoves with minuscule fire boxes; thankfully the outside temps were hovering around freezing, so even though the fire would only go for about 20 minutes without tending, it didn't get too cold overnight. Behind the living quarters was the cow house (yes, under the same roof) with just a door separating the cows from the kitchen. The toilet facilities -- which were accessed either from outside or through the cow house -- left a lot to be desired. It was basically a stool on top of a hole leading to the top of the septic tank. It was upgraded to the deluxe model with the addition of a rubber hose on a water tap, intended to be used to "flush" anything that doesn't fall directly down the hole. This is the last time my wife makes an unsupervised reservation on AirBnB. ;)

I did have one unfortunate incident with the car over the weekend. Since there were two vehicles, going anywhere was kind of involved, especially with the narrow roads and none of us knowing where the heck we were going. On Friday we were going to do some sightseeing, and I made a wrong turn. My son in the other car backed out of the way, and as I was backing up I bumped a wooden fencepost with the rear bumper. Crap. The top of the post was just below window height, and I just didn't see it. My son saw the whole thing, and could only cringe as it played out. It wasn't bad though; one little scuff on the corner, and nothing permanent anywhere else. I'm just thankful it was only a wood post that came in contact with the car and not the barbed wire fence that was attached to it, and that the post wasn't steel!

Once we got back to civilization, we hit some rain on the highway, and that washed some of the salt off. And because it was Christmas Eve when we got home, everything was closed for the holidays, even the self-serve car wash. :( I rinsed it off as best I could with the hose at home (I hope the neighbors didn't see!) but a more thorough wash will have to wait until Tuesday (the Germans take their holidays seriously!)
tig
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Re: The M535i In Its Natural Habitat

Post by tig »

Love that picture of the 'chalet' with the car. That's great.

Merry Christmas to you and your family!
wkohler
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Re: The M535i In Its Natural Habitat

Post by wkohler »

The Swiss should just stick to precision instruments and bank accounts.
Karl Grau
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Re: The M535i In Its Natural Habitat

Post by Karl Grau »

And cheese.
davintosh
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Re: The M535i In Its Natural Habitat

Post by davintosh »

wkohler wrote:The Swiss should just stick to precision instruments and bank accounts.
Karl Grau wrote:And cheese.
And don't forget chocolate; they do that pretty well too.
Karl Grau
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Re: The M535i In Its Natural Habitat

Post by Karl Grau »

Yes, chocolate too. I was going to mention watches but I figured they fell under 'precision instruments'. Now I have a hankerin' for a Toblerone.
davintosh
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Re: The M535i In Its Natural Habitat

Post by davintosh »

Lots of snow in our neck of the woods the last couple weeks; makes me sad because I don't dare drive it with just all-seasons on it. In fact, since Schweiz, I've only driven it from one parking spot to another. Makes me sad.

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Before the latest snowfall we had a night of wind like I've only seen once before in our 1 1/2 years here. Usually it's as calm as can be, but that night... Yikes. Then I spent some quality time cleaning the leaves & other arboreal debris off the car. Then it snowed. Then it snowed some more. Then it snowed even more, and it's been snowing off & on all weekend long. Crazy because last year we got a few dustings is all, none that required the application of shovels. Not so fortunate this year.
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