[moonluv810]

Hey folks....

I'm taking a few days off from work and hitting the road solo in the G80 starting tomorrow. Going from Denver to Las Vegas to meet up with college buddies and then coming back through Page, Durango, Ouray (Million Dollar Highway), Fairplay, and back to Denver in 5 days.

I did a similar route before in my F80. The drive through Million Dollar Highway was simply amazing!
https://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1631753

Super stocked about the road trip.

[moonluv810]

Packing up some detailing supplies. Gotta keep it nice and clean throughout the trip!

[Sp2pilot]

Do you bring a spare tire on a trip like this?

[moonluv810]

Originally Posted by Sp2pilot

Do you bring a spare tire on a trip like this?

No. But please don’t jinx me. 😂

[Tyga11]

That looks like an awesome trip!!

I don’t think you need a spare. You’ll have cell phone reception the whole way if anything happens. Worst case you’ll be waiting an hour or 2 for a tow truck.

[BzsBimmer]

Plus you should have the flat tire sealant in emergencies and the tire pump.

Have fun, safe travels!!

[yaymitch]

Looks like an awesome trip. I drove from Houston to Vegas with no spare but had a handheld electric air compressor handy to get me to the nearest discount tire or dealer and used it twice. You should be fine. I love road-trips in the mountain west. Enjoy!!

[harperium]

Regarding the full size spare:

For my first 3 BMWs, I carried a full size spare in the trunk for all major road trips. Not a single flat occurred. Eventually in the X3MC, I finally had a flat from picking up a big nail 50 miles outside of Orlando. Fix-a-flat worked to get me to the nearest dealer, though I doubt it could have worked for hundreds of miles - I could see the goo leaking out of the hole while parked at the dealer waiting for a new tire.

Took 2 days to order the new tire. This fortunately did not impact the trip itinerary at all. But would have sucked had I missed my expensive reservations.

So, about 105,000 miles of road trips, exactly 1 flat tire.

Full size spares are big and heavy. True they can save your road trip and you can still make any hotel or other reservations you've made, but ... worth it? I don't know.

The mini spares... my X3MC has one under the rear cargo deck. It's about 5" shorter than my regular tires, and it's marginally better than Fix-a-flat, but you are not going to be driving more than 50 mph on that thing, and the car will be tilted to one side.

At this point, unless I'm going somewhere really really remote, I'll take my chances on not having a full size spare.

[BryanCO]

If you have the time there are some great roads along your way - just would take longer. Regardless, have fun!

[moonluv810]

Originally Posted by BryanCO

If you have the time there are some great roads along your way - just would take longer. Regardless, have fun!

Do tell! 😀
Trying to get back to Denver before Pikes Peak race on Sunday, but we’ll see…

[BryanCO]

Originally Posted by moonluv810

Do tell! ��
Trying to get back to Denver before Pikes Peak race on Sunday, but we’ll see…

All depends on the time you have but…. The road over Grand Mesa is great. Montrose to Ridgeway to Telluride to Dolores to Cortez. If you’ve already driven 550, take 145 instead. The road from GJ through Gateway to Telluride is also great. Pagosa Springs to Creede to Lake City is super nice.

Moab down through monument valley is great, just not as great as the CO roads. Down around Zion and Brice MPs are fun roads.

I’ve ridden all of these roads multiple times. All are fun every time.

[KevinGS]

Damn, I want to join you, and if I lived in any of those states, I would probably try.

But I hope to drive my G82 across the country in the next 18 months, and if I do, I'll ping you for recommendations on the roads in those states.

[Anderson11]

Originally Posted by Sp2pilot

Do you bring a spare tire on a trip like this?

I have this spare in my trunk. I also had one for my F87. I have seen too many destroyed wheels/shredded tires on the side of the road here in NE. I would rather change the tire and be on my way vs waiting for a tow truck and being without my car.

https://bimmerzone.com/collections/b...ncy-spare-tire.

[moonluv810]

Just got back home after doing 1.8K miles over the last 5 days.
Really exhausted, but what an awesome road trip!
Will share more pics later.

[Daily_drivX5M]

Originally Posted by moonluv810

Hey folks....

I'm taking a few days off from work and hitting the road solo in the G80 starting tomorrow. Going from Denver to Las Vegas to meet up with college buddies and then coming back through Page, Durango, Ouray (Million Dollar Highway), Fairplay, and back to Denver in 5 days.

I did a similar route before in my F80. The drive through Million Dollar Highway was simply amazing!
https://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1631753

Super stocked about the road trip.

Happy and safe travels! I recommend getting AAA membership as they’ve come through for me in times of need. I believe it’s like 50-100$/year. If not, your g8x should have an SOS button which should phone into support/help. Hopefully you don’t need any of it! Just some good tunes and engine rev noises!

[kgelfen360]

Originally Posted by moonluv810

Just got back home after doing 1.8K miles over the last 5 days.
Really exhausted, but what an awesome road trip!
Will share more pics later.

Awesome pic!!!

Do u have PPF ?

[moonluv810]

I'm not much of a writer. So I'll keep it short and sweet.

It was quite an amazing experience. I ended up driving for 1,772 miles in the span of 5 days. From Denver to Vegas, I took the interstate all the way through. Coming back, drove through 2-lane highways and scenic routes.

A few things I wanted to highlight from the trip (nothing new really):

• G80 is quite a cruiser. When you want to simply enjoy the miles, just set everything in comfort and turn on cruise control, and you'll be riding in a luxury sedan. It reminds me of driving an E39 M5.
• 100 mph feels like 60, and no, this is not an exaggeration.
• It gets an amazing gas mileage. I got 24.9 mpg doing the entire trip, cruising at 80-85 mph in the interstate with a few times hitting 130mph, getting stuck in traffic around Vegas and coming back doing an average of 50-60 mph in the highway/scenic routes.
• Uniden R7 is a life-saver.
• Carbon bucket seats are amazingly comfortable (at least for me). The longest drive in a day was an 8.5-hour straight drive, with a couple gas and restroom breaks. I'm 6'1", 190lbs, okay fit with not the best back, and my back had zero complaint throughout the trip.
• San Marino Blue attracts attention left and right. Kept getting thumbs up!
• Car washing and detailing during road trip is a must! Adam Polish' bug remover spray is a Godsend.
• Left-lane camping is truly a pandemic worse than covid, it impacts everyone, doesn't matter age, sex, origin, I saw plates from Colorado, California, New York, Kentucky, and all the local states through the trip, everyone seems to drive slow in the left lane.
• G80 HK system sucks majorly. I never paid much attention driving around town. But on long trips, I really missed having better sound system. My F25 X3 HK system sounds 10x better and I remember my F80 system didn't sound this bad.
• Laser lights with anti-dazzle coding are AWESOME!
• I need to make this an annual event!

Here are some photos from the trip. Hope this inspires you to take a road trip and enjoy the privilege we have driving this amazing machine.

[moonluv810]

Originally Posted by BryanCO

All depends on the time you have but…. The road over Grand Mesa is great. Montrose to Ridgeway to Telluride to Dolores to Cortez. If you’ve already driven 550, take 145 instead. The road from GJ through Gateway to Telluride is also great. Pagosa Springs to Creede to Lake City is super nice.

Moab down through monument valley is great, just not as great as the CO roads. Down around Zion and Brice MPs are fun roads.

I’ve ridden all of these roads multiple times. All are fun every time.

Didn't get a chance to hit Monument Valley and Pagosa Springs. Keeping those for the next trips!
Thank you for the recommendations!

[moonluv810]

Originally Posted by KevinGS

Damn, I want to join you, and if I lived in any of those states, I would probably try.

But I hope to drive my G82 across the country in the next 18 months, and if I do, I'll ping you for recommendations on the roads in those states.

Please do!
I saw you're in Maryland. Back in 2000, I flew to Baltimore and bought my very first M3 ('99 E36 M3) and drove it back across half the continent. A trip that I will never ever forget!

[moonluv810]

Originally Posted by kgelfen360

Awesome pic!!!

Do u have PPF ?

Yes, full bumper and full hood.
And this happened 3 hours into the trip. Literally saw a truck kick this gravel and hit my front end.
It damaged the PPF, but it looks like it didn't get to the paint.

[kgelfen360]

Originally Posted by moonluv810

Yes, full bumper and full hood.
And this happened 3 hours into the trip. Literally saw a truck kick this gravel and hit my front end.
It damaged the PPF, but it looks like it didn't get to the paint.

That’s what PPF is for!

[1209582]

25 mpg. nice!