My ///M5 On a Little Road Trip Across America

[AquilaBMW]

Okay..... nothing spectacular here. Just a first test video to see if I got this right. I have been mucking around with GoPro software and that seems like trying to figure out quantum physics with an abacus so far. I tried just doing this via YouTube, so hopefully it works and I can start downloading more videos, pics, stories and all that.

Let me know fellas...

https://youtu.be/ZhmUrs9SZPc

[Aryana]

Video worked Aquila. You need to show me how to work that abacus.

[AquilaBMW]

I don't believe I shared pictures of my visit to the BMW CCA Museum yet:




Opps..... I just realized I did share them already. So many to go through... LOL! I will leave that one up there and instead share pictures of this amazing Ferrari TDF I met on my way home as my apology for double posting. The Sun in Death Valley seems to have fried my brain cells!

I spent a while talking with the owner - very interesting fellow - it was an education on Ferraris, tires and various cars. It's was funny to pick and choose between "good" super cars and "bad" ones.























To say it sounded glorious would be an understatement of immense proportions! The thing sounds like an insane Banshee on steroids! I don't know why I thought this fact was amusing, but the car uses 5W30 Oil. I felt a little bit superior in announcing my "super" car requires 10W60 oil... LOL!

[AquilaBMW]

I am starting to get the hang of downloading my videos. I hope to post more soon. Here is a short video of the Vegas Strip. Sorry for the "sound", but I could not find a musical number I liked.

[AquilaBMW]

Before I sauntered into Vegas, I got a chance to drive through Hoover Dam. I still haven't quite figured out the back way into it - maybe on the next trip I will. Anyway.... I was able to do a video tour in the car of the place. Here is what mine eyes ... and camera got to see.

[dk500]

Lolololol

[AquilaBMW]

Lolololol

My thoughts exactly! Where are these things coming from ?!?!?!

[RVAE34]

Spammer A holes

[TxDarth]

He has already been home in the bay area for over a week now...

[AquilaBMW]

He has already been home in the bay area for over a week now...

It's crazy A-derrier spammers. I get a chuckle everytime I get those notes. They have the admins working overtime I am sure.

[AquilaBMW]

A quick blast out in the wide open desert... somewhere. Testing how the car would perform in 102° ambient heat. KTMP (Coolant Temp) seemed to prove the car did okay.

[TxDarth]

Michael, you must not be printing in the Queen's English.........................

[AquilaBMW]

Michael, you must not be printing in the Queen's English.........................

I beg your pardon kind Sire. What dost thou mean?


Here is another video. This is heading towards Deal's Gap from Northern GA towards the Tennessee border. I sped it up 2X so you don't have to sit for over ten minutes watching it.

[dk500]

Looks like you are having a blast! When do you hit Phoenix? Drive safe and have fun¡

[AquilaBMW]

Looks like you are having a blast! When do you hit Phoenix? Drive safe and have fun¡

Did your account get hacked?

[dk500]

Did your account get hacked?

No I was just messing around and making fun of some of the others that were posting haha.

[AquilaBMW]

No I was just messing around and making fun of some of the others that were posting haha.

HAH! Nice. I might be bringing the car to Phoenix next month, will keep you guys posted.

[AquilaBMW]

I am still in the process of downloading pics, videos and such and also updating my blogs. Sadly, the car came to an unfortunate end - after 7K miles and 26 states and a near flawless trip, this unfortunately happened.

[Aryana]

Sorry that happened. Glad you're alright and that's really all that matters.

[AquilaBMW]

Sorry that happened. Glad you're alright and that's really all that matters.

Thanks Buddy.... life goes on.

[E.Coli]

Hi just joined Bimmerforums and really enjoyed this thread until the last post....! hope you are ok though . sad to see the car this way .look forward to more pics

cheers

[AquilaBMW]

Hi just joined Bimmerforums and really enjoyed this thread until the last post....! hope you are ok though . sad to see the car this way .look forward to more pics

cheers

Hi - Welcome to the Board. This is a really great community here, hope you stick around for a while. Thanks for the kind words - much appreciated. I am okay thankfully. I do need to update with more images. I am still catching up on the blogs believe it or not! LOL!

[E.Coli]

Thanks for the welcome . So much to look at and read , Panjo was good to go through....
Cheers

[AquilaBMW]

So.........................................What happened to that crazy guy who decided to drive across the US and unfortunately wrecked the car after getting home. Well, I am doing well and still in the community and still enjoying BMWs.

I will be doing another trip, at the moment this is planned for summer of 2018. Why that far away? Well, I have decided to spend 2017 doing projects and building the car for the next trip.

I was fortunate to find a pretty unique and worthy successor to "Phoenix" - the 2000 Imola Red M5 that I drove on my trip last year. In November of 2016, I found a 2003 Imola Red M-Sport Wagon. It is a 2003 525iT with a very unique story. The car was owned by BMW AG. It was a test car used by their Radio Department and then sold in the US.






I was able to get confirmation of the car's origin from BMW AG in an email response from their Customer Relations Department. How cool is that?!?! It was nice to find out that BMW still cares about enthusiasts and older cars. The email response:

Dear Mr. Oxxxxxxxxxxxx,

Thank you for your messaged dated December 6th. Please excuse the delay in replying while we were investigating your concern.

Due to the age of the car we only have very limited information on the history of your BMW 525i. The car was taken over directly from the factory by the respective BMW department for radio testing. This is why the car was manufactured with the specification “S916 Development Vehicle w/o Conservation” as no conservation for shipping was necessary.

Unfortunately this is all we were able to find out. We do not have any information on the history of the car after it was sold by BMW due to data protection laws.

We hope we were able to clarify your car history a bit and we would like to wish you enjoyable driving with your BMW 525i.

Best regards,

Verena Dxxxxxxxxxxx

--
BMW Group
Verena Dxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
International Feedback Management (IFM Team)
Prospect and Customer Experience Management (BD-31)
Hanauer Str. 46
80992 München

Postal address:
80788 München

mailto: xxx-xxxx@bmwgroup.com
Url: http://www.bmwgroup.com/
--------------------------------------------------------
Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft
Vorstand: Harald Krüger (Vorsitzender),
Milagros Caiña Carreiro-Andree, Markus Duesmann,
Friedrich Eichiner, Klaus Fröhlich, Ian Robertson,
Peter Schwarzenbauer, Oliver Zipse.
Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrats: Norbert Reithofer
Sitz und Registergericht: München HRB 42243
--------------------------------------------------------
P Think of the environment, please don't print this e-mail unless you really need to.

[AquilaBMW]

My plan is to now restore the car, do as much or even more work as I did on "Phoenix" to bring this car back to her full glory and THEN - Swap in an S62 Power Plant and drive train and turn this into a BMW M5 Wagon in Imola Red! Wish me luck here as it is a challenging project.

I plan on working with the same partners on this project which I will take my time to complete and I will keep the community informed on progress - hopefully some of you will join me with the build. I had a lot of co-pilots on the last trip, I am hoping I will have a few co-mechanics during this build - I will be needing it! LOL!


In other news, I am delighted to report that "Phoenix" lives on in another car. A buddy was able to use her engine to get his 2000 Imola Red M5 back on the road. What are the chances huh? An S62 from a 2000 Imola Red M5 goes on to save another 2000 Imola Red M5. My buddy's car is pretty unique in it's own right - it has extended leather with Alcantara headliner which was rare for the MY2000 cars and also has the much desired Black Face Grills.

I will be helping him restore his M5 to its full glory. The engine is running good and strong and I was thrilled when he visited the other today with the newly registered car.

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