Seattle to San Francisco and Back!

[bmwx5er]

(I created a thread in the other forum, thought I'll post it here too )

I bought my X5 with a 3rd row seat last November in anticipation of this 10-day vacation trip. We were 6 people (Me, wife, my parents and 2 kids, aged 2 and 4). Both my kids are in a car seat still, so using the 3rd row was not an option for them. My wife was the only one who'd fit in the 3rd row seat (she's about 5'3 and petite), so I was skeptical on how it would turn out. I'm happy to report that this trip exceeded my expectations on all fronts - my N63-campaigned, fuel-pump recalled, oil-hungry 2012 x5 50i was a blast to drive (can't stress this enough) on both the flat and mountainous terrain that one would encounter between Seattle and the CA bay area; the 3rd row worked out beautifully, and my wife was pretty happy and had absolutely no complaints. In fact, she appreciated the extra space that allowed her to stretch horizontally and take a nap whenever she pleased . The rear-entertainment system kept my kids fully occupied.

This is my first BMW, and now I can appreciate why this brand commands such die-hard loyalists, despite the seemingly awful reliability of late. The v8 monster shone brightly, especially on steep inclines, where the ability to summon (seemingly unlimited) power on demand, allowed me to pass other vehicles with supreme ease. On flatter roads, I was frequently doing 100+mph, but it barely feel like the vehicle was moving at all. The ultimate compliment came from my dad who remarked that it felt like traveling in an air plane - so silent and smooth! I'd like to think adaptive drive and conti DWS tires had contributed to the experience...

The only annoyance was that we had to load our luggage on to the roof, which had to be unloaded every night that we stayed at a hotel, and loaded again the next morning. It was a minor inconvenience and far outweighed by the other positives in the trip. Including this trip, I have put on about 6500 miles since the N63 campaign, as part of which the oil was last changed; I had to add a quart in the last 500 miles of my trip because the "oil level at minimum" warning came on; the oil level shot up to max right after adding a liter of BMW LL-01 oil.

Now for some pictures
Trip map (Red - from seattle -> SF; Green - from SF -> seattle):


Trip computer:


Car loaded and ready to go:


Child seats arranged in middle row:


Lake Shasta Cavern - absolutely mind-blowing natural formations.


Yes, we visited the golden gate bridge


And the santa cruz beach as well..


We did a wine-tasting tour at Napa valley. Of course, my wife had to stomp the grapes...


The incredible (and unfortunately very smoky) crater lake (yes, that's my car at the far right corner :bigpimp: )


Beautiful Diamond lake:


The breathtaking Heceta light house:


Cape Perpetua at the Oregon coast:

[sycd]

Cool, road trips are great. A roof box is really handy for trips like those, makes the loading/unloading much easier. I would be afraid of losing my luggage on the highway without it

[heatmizr]

Beautiful! I have done a similar trip (on motorbike) in reverse, from San Francisco up to Crater Lake and back. I still want to move to Nor Cal when I think of that trip, so much beauty there.
I have the same setup as you - '12 X5 50i, third row, two kids and a petite wife! My kids are one year ahead of yours and its nice to have road trips back on the table after the first couple years where we felt like we couldn't go anywhere.

[jiggz]

Great trip report and pics Pradeep - looks & sounds like a great time!

My wife and I did basically this same road trip before we were married in her Civic coupe. The car was new so we took it for reliability reasons, but 127HP...ugh I remember being so frustrated with that car - I can only imagine how much better it would be with the 50i, especially in those mountain passes.

That 3rd row will be even more useful once your kids are out of car seats and into boosters. My kids are 8 & 10 and it's perfect for them right now.

X looks good with those 333's - not sure I've seen a Sport model with 333's

[bmwx5er]

Originally Posted by sycd

Cool, road trips are great. A roof box is really handy for trips like those, makes the loading/unloading much easier. I would be afraid of losing my luggage on the highway without it

I agree on the roof box. Loading/unloading was one of the sore points of the trip, not to mention having to stop a few times to tighten the straps of the roof bag, as they had come loose, until I figured out the "right" way to position the straps.

[bmwx5er]

Originally Posted by heatmizr

Beautiful! I have done a similar trip (on motorbike) in reverse, from San Francisco up to Crater Lake and back. I still want to move to Nor Cal when I think of that trip, so much beauty there.
I have the same setup as you - '12 X5 50i, third row, two kids and a petite wife! My kids are one year ahead of yours and its nice to have road trips back on the table after the first couple years where we felt like we couldn't go anywhere.

Then i'd say it's roadtrip time .
It was pretty unfortunate that there were wild fires in the crater lake area when we visited last week, that took a bit out of the beauty of the blue lake (was too smoky). We plan to do another trip soon to crater lake, when the smog/smoke clears up (hopefully next summer).
I hear what you say about not being able to go anywhere with little kids. Thankfully, we found out that our kids were relatively non-fussy travelers, so traveling 8 hrs a day wasn't too much of a hassle.

[bmwx5er]

Originally Posted by jiggz

Great trip report and pics Pradeep - looks & sounds like a great time!

My wife and I did basically this same road trip before we were married in her Civic coupe. The car was new so we took it for reliability reasons, but 127HP...ugh I remember being so frustrated with that car - I can only imagine how much better it would be with the 50i, especially in those mountain passes.

That 3rd row will be even more useful once your kids are out of car seats and into boosters. My kids are 8 & 10 and it's perfect for them right now.

X looks good with those 333's - not sure I've seen a Sport model with 333's

Thanks Jeff. Yes, it was a great and very memorable trip. The 50i was a beast in the mountain passes, which is where I had the most fun - it was so effortless, it was unbelievable. I agree on the 3rd row - in a couple of years, my kids would be happy campers in the 3rd row seats, leaving the 2nd row for adults .

Yeah, I love the 333s. But I ended up selling my 336s which I regret now - I'd kept the 336s with winter set up and 333s for the summer.

On a different note: I ended up with some curb rash on my wheels. I read from one of your other posts that you had something similar on your wheels, and you ended up refinishing them. Where did you take your wheels, and how much did it cost?

[jiggz]

Originally Posted by bmwx5er

On a different note: I ended up with some curb rash on my wheels. I read from one of your other posts that you had something similar on your wheels, and you ended up refinishing them. Where did you take your wheels, and how much did it cost?

Yes, my wife clobbered a curb pretty good - got it fixed at Complete Wheel Repair in Seattle - http://www.completewheelrepair.com/

They did real nice work and I paid $130ish or so, as I recall?

[P1]

Very nice, and thanks for posting up some pics. We need threads like these more often...