BMW World – Munich
Introduction
“Fancy a trip to Munich?” The question from my colleague had me interested, I was pretty sure that this wasn’t to be a work trip.
His plan was that we visit the BMW World factory and museum over a long weekend. As a car fan, and relatively recent BMW convert I was keen to join him. Unfortunately a lack of annual holiday meant that I’d have to skip the factory tour on the Friday and join him for BMW World and the museum on the Saturday.
Booking
Ideally I wanted to get an early flight on the Saturday morning and a late flight in the evening to avoid a hotel night. However the earliest BA flight didn’t get into Munich until 10:40am, meaning that I wouldn’t get to BMW World before lunch.
Plan B was to go the night before, stay in a hotel and then head home on the Saturday evening. The tickets came to about £110 in EuroTraveller or a whopping £360 in Club Europe. With lounge access guaranteed either way with my BAEC Gold card I went for the cheaper option and secured 9A exit row seats for both legs. With tickets booked I was looking forward to flying again, my last flight being over 3 months ago!
Outbound, BA 958 LHR -> MUC, British Airways, Economy Class
Getting to Heathrow can be a challenge at times and a Friday evening was never going to be great. My options were, a) go straight from work, across London and up to T5 on the Heathrow express. This was a good option for getting there but would leave me with a nightmare train journey home on the Saturday night. Option b) was to drive to Heathrow, this would cost me for parking and rule out any drinks on the return but at least getting home would be straightforward. I went for option b.
Parking was the next thing to organise. I don‚Äôt trust valet parking services and so I wanted something reasonably priced and close to the airport. In the end I settled for BAA’s business parking option. I pre-paid for a space and on arrival the barrier read my number plate and issued me with an exit ticket. I found a space just in time to catch the bus for the 3 minute trip into T5.
I’d already printed a boarding pass which was adorned with “Fast Track” text based on my BAEC status. The security staff were excellent, although the queues were long they were good at keeping people moving. One woman in front of me started complaining about the delays and was very politely dealt with and directed to a supervisor.
Once in the terminal I headed straight for the F lounge to get some food and champagne in. I went for a dish of pasta and a mixture of sandwiches. The champagne was Lanson and went down very nicely.
The flight left the stand 10 minutes early and arrived in Munich right on time. I must say that seat 9A was very comfortable with more leg room than my usual 1C in Club Europe. I even quite enjoyed the nibbles that arrived with my G&T.
Once at Munich I had two options for getting to my hotel. Train or a taxi, given that it was late I decided on the taxi. It wasn’t cheap but it was certainly quick! I’m sure we averaged 160kph all of the way, at one point we hit 190kph!
We pulled into the hotel just before 11pm, the taxi cost a hefty 55 Euros but I was glad to be so close to getting some rest. The hotel in question was the Four Points Sheraton Olympicpark. Having enjoyed the Four Points in Zurich many times I was pleased to find one so close to BMW world. After checking in I headed to bed, the room was small and not a designated SPG room (despite my Gold SPG status). However I was tired and not bothered about the size of the room so I didn’t question it.
BMW World and Museum
The next morning I woke to snow, lots of snow!
I headed to the lobby checked out and drank an espresso while I waited for my colleague. We then ventured to a local café for breakfast before making the short walk to BMW World.
We spent a good hour or so exploring the range of models, all of which had power so that we could try out the latest gadgets such as night-vision and side-view cameras. The new 5-series was particularly interesting and looks really good, much better than the 5-series GT which isn’t to my taste.
After chatting with the staff, taking pictures and enjoying the displays we made our way over to the museum. Entry is not free here but it’s well worth it. The museum is very large and covers the complete history of the company, for aero engines, to motorbikes and cars. All of the vehicles are very well presented and in stunning condition.
The museum also includes the famous balls from the 5-series advertisement:
As the snow was still coming down we enjoyed an excellent lunch at the museum restaurant before finishing our tour.At 4pm I decided to head for the airport…
Return, BA 296 MUC -> LHR, British Airways, Economy Class
After spending 55 Euros on the way out I decided to take the train for the return. This turned out to be very easy with a tube station right next to the museum and a single change at Marienplatz and regular trains from there. The airport is quite far out so I’d leave at least an hour for this trip.
Once at the airport I found the lounge, this was no mean feat as it’s up what seems to be a service stairway. Once in the lounge I discovered that my flight was delayed by the snow. Unable to enjoy the excellent selection of drinks I turned to the disappointing selection of food which consisted of, cheese, biscuits, egg things on toast and apples.
I was soon bored and so turned to the internet PCs to check on Flyertalk.
Eventually the flight was called for boarding and I was second onto the plane. It was a light load and we soon pulled back from the gate. We were then informed that there would be an additional delay as the plane needed to be de-iced. I’d never experienced this before, basically at the top of the runway the plane stopped while two fire trucks with robotic arms sprayed a brown sludge over the wings.
With this done we were away!At Heathrow I was quickly through the Iris immigration channel and out to the T5 business car park bus stop (number 22). There was a 10 minute wait in the cold wintery air until the bus arrived but a few minutes later I was back at my car. I’ll certainly consider using this parking again as it was relatively cheap (¬£20 ish for the stay) and very convenient. Plus, you don’t have to give your keys to anyone which is a plus.
Conclusion
If you like cars then I certainly recommend a trip to Munich. BMW World is basically a huge dealership but with no sales pressure. Their customer collection facilities look great, I’d love to pick up a car from there one day.
The museum is a particular highlight, it’s an amazing building with a great range of cars and concepts. It really can fill a day.If I was going again I’d like to take more time, go on a weekday to do the (apparently) excellent factory tour and to spend some time in the city itself.
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