10 000 km plus road trip successfully completed

[repenttokyo]

So my GF and I spent the last 2 weeks driving from Montreal to Victoria, BC, and then down to Seattle and back to Montreal. It's over 5200 km's each way, not counting the driving we did in each city, etc. We did this in my 91 525, which had 364 000 km's at the start of the trip, loaded with camping gear, without a single problem (other than some brake vibration now from the worn out discs). Truly a testament to build quality when I can take a well maintained 16 year old car on such a long road trip. We even crossed the Rockies twice!

[Barney Paull-Edwards]

Well done! Jealous, was due to do that trip in March,love to hear trip story,where you stayed etc as am planning to do it later this year.

[filip00]

that's great, you spent over $1000 just on gas :D

[Dave M]

Right on. You didn't call when you went through Thunder Bay???? Have you driven through BC before? If not, how did you like it? I used to live in the interior and miss it from time to time. However, we're going to Victorio/Nanaimo/Calgary for Christmas, so I may get my fix then.

We just finished a trip from Thunder Bay to Cape Breton Island (east coast for those not up on Canadian geography) with lots of stops along the way. We also camped when we had no family to stay with. She gave us no reason to doubt her and delivered an incredible 7.7 L/100km (30+ mpg) average for the trip. The 525 has now "dipped its tires" in both oceans :D and has another 7500+ km added to its total (now 535,000+ km).

Dave M

[repenttokyo]

Well done! Jealous, was due to do that trip in March,love to hear trip story,where you stayed etc as am planning to do it later this year.

It's something we had both wanted to do for a long time. My gf is American and hadn't seen much of Canada, and while I had been to the eastern provinces, I had never been west of Thunder Bay. We stayed in Canada for the entire trip west, stopping in Marathon, Ontario to camp in a national park on the shores of Lake Superior, which was quite beautiful - that is the lake in the back ground of the photo. We then drove to Manitoba and spent the second night in a park there, just east of Brandon. Winnipeg was a cool city - we were there on a Sunday night, and people were lining up on the sides of one of the large blvd's, because people were parading their cars up and down this 6 lane street. Rods, customs, low riders, everything - there was an 800 car show in nearby Brandon that day, so there were tons of cool cars pouring in and out of Manitoba.
The next day we drove through Manitoba and Saskatchewan (stopped at a cool car museum in Elkhorn, Manitoba, I reccomend it), and made it all the way to Calgary for dinner. We camped in a provincial park outside of Canmore, which was really beautiful the next morning when we woke up and discovered that we were at the foot of the rockies!
The last day of driving in Canada was going through Banf and the Rockies and ending up in Vancouver. The park was beautiful, and there is a lot of construction on Highway 1 running through the mountains - which can be frustrating, but the sights are so pretty that it's not so bad to be stuck in traffic :) It was pretty taxing on the car through to go up and down all those mountains - you really feel the effects of the thin air, and I have an EAT chip, which I was glad to have. Some of the roads coming out of the mountains are quite treacherous, we were on a toll expressway that was like one endless downhill, with rain, 10 degree temperatures, and high winds trying to push us off the cliffs into oblivion. Pretty stressful.

We stayed in Vancouver for a few days with family, and then visited vancouver island to stay in Courtenay with my grandmother. We ended up taking the ferry from Victoria to Port Angeles, WA, which was a total nightmare. It's a poorly run operation, the ferry was late, and it cost us a lot of time. If you are ever going to take ferries in that part of the country, get a reservation well in advance, or it's just not going to be pleasant.

We stayed in Seattle for a couple of nights. A beautiful town with lots to do. We drove from Seattle to Montana, and went through 3 hours of forest fires - crazy smoke obscuring pretty much everything, blowing down from the north.


Edit: more info

The roads in Montana, once you are past the mountains, and in North Dakota, are crazy fast. You could seriously set the cruise at 100 mph and drive in total safety, as the roads are straight and in good shape. I met several cops doing 85 plus (in a 75), and even if they had wanted to turn around and come after me, the exits are so far apart, there's no real way for them to take notice. I was pretty disappointed with the roads in Washington tho - going up into the mountains there are these rectangular grooves cut into the right hand lane, which I assume is for trucks and traction in the winter, but it's really annoying to drive over, and I don't see the necessity of such grooving.

We also got to enjoy a few spectacular lightning storms in Montana and North Dakota, which look impressive across the big sky. We had planned to camp in Montana, but we were 50 miles from the camp site, had been driving for over 14 hours, and there was a storm brewing, so we pulled into this tiny town called Custer (pop 140) and paid 30 bucks for a room at a motel. It was a bit sketchy: Across the road was a giant painted sign that said "Choose life, not Meth". An hour later we were awakened by a crazy lightning storm that illuminated the entire town, and we found out the next morning that many tents were blown completely away by the storm in the night, so I think we made the right choice.

After that, driving was pretty routine - We stayed over in Minneapolis and visited the Mall of America for the first time. They have a crazy shark exhibit where you can go inside a glass tunnel that travels through several aquariums, it's quite impressive. We passed through my gf's home state, Wisconsin, and again had to abandon our camping due to a storm in Lansing, Michigan, where we had planned to stay. Coincidentally, it was Nascar weekend at MIS, so we were lucky to get a room.

On the whole, it was a great experience. The only really frustrating parts were the ferries we had to take, and sometimes traffic. I would definitely do it again, knowing what I do now, and I feel priveleged to have seen so much of the two countries. It was amazing to see all these places I had only ever heard people talk about, especially in Canada, and I feel like I have a better perspective on my own home now.



that's great, you spent over $1000 just on gas :D

Actually, haven't added it all up yet, but it was probably about 1000 or maybe a little less. 28 mpg there, and 26.7 back (higher speeds in North Dakota and Montana. Averaged 110 km/h on the way back.) 1000 bucks is pretty reasonable for 2 weeks of vacation. Edit: Just added it up, gas was 1005 Canadian dollars for the entire trip.

[repenttokyo]

Right on. You didn't call when you went through Thunder Bay???? Have you driven through BC before? If not, how did you like it? I used to live in the interior and miss it from time to time. However, we're going to Victorio/Nanaimo/Calgary for Christmas, so I may get my fix then.

We just finished a trip from Thunder Bay to Cape Breton Island (east coast for those not up on Canadian geography) with lots of stops along the way. We also camped when we had no family to stay with. She gave us no reason to doubt her and delivered an incredible 7.7 L/100km (30+ mpg) average for the trip. The 525 has now "dipped its tires" in both oceans :D and has another 7500+ km added to its total (now 535,000+ km).

Dave M

Sorry I didn't call! You know, everyone had told me that both the drive through northern ontario and the drive through the prairies would be dull, but I found them both to be really interesting. In Ontario the roads were fun and there was not much traffic at all, plus you had some really nice views. In the prairies, the roads were FAST and the scenery was just as nice. The only thing I didn't like about the prairies were the sunsets - since we were travelling west, it was right into the sun, and there is NOTHING to block it out - so you get to have the sun in your eyes for like, 5 hours :p

I liked Vancouver island much more than the city of Vancouver. We drove up to the north of the island to go whale watching, which was a lot of fun - and the scenery when you are out on the water is great. Victoria was a beautiful city, with the government buildings right in the harbour, and I would have liked to have spent more than a single afternoon there.

I have been to Cape Breton as well, many years ago - it was on my way to Newfoundland. The only province I have yet to visit is PEI - someday, I suppose. I really enjoyed Newfoundland, it's a beautiful province and the people are really friendly.

I've attached some more pictures, of the Victoria Parliament buildings, the Space Needle, the crazy crystal meth sign across from our motel, and a bit of the smoke from the forest fires in Montana. I also encountered a Tsunami Evacuation Route in Washington. I don't know if an escape route is going to do any good with a tsunami bearing down on you, but someone somewhere put some thought into it!

[timandbim]

welcome back! that's an awesome trip - nice car!

[bmwrp8]

dang! nice shots

[DaveVoorhis]

... stopping in Marathon, Ontario to camp in a national park on the shores of Lake Superior, which was quite beautiful - that is the lake in the back ground of the photo. We then drove to Manitoba and spent the second night in a park there, just east of Brandon. Winnipeg was a cool city ... stopped at a cool car museum in Elkhorn, Manitoba, I reccomend it), and made it all the way to Calgary for dinner. We camped in a provincial park outside of Canmore ... and ending up in Vancouver.

Wow. Nice trip. You visited all my old stomping grounds, before I moved to England. I grew up in Brandon, and you're right about the Elkhorn museum. First time I've heard Winnipeg described as a "cool city" with a straight face, though... :D

[repenttokyo]

Wow. Nice trip. You visited all my old stomping grounds, before I moved to England. I grew up in Brandon, and you're right about the Elkhorn museum. First time I've heard Winnipeg described as a "cool city" with a straight face, though... :D

hehe - i listened to a lot of the Guess Who driving through Manitoba, and I dunno what it was, but the feel of Winnipeg was unlike any of the other cities I visited in the prairies. Perhaps I was influenced by Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman? :o

Bonus Gratuitous E34 and Montana forest fires pics:

[repenttokyo]

Also, does anyone on the board live in the midwest / northwest? Can you explain this to me?

[RockJock]

nice pics!

that overpass that they're just finishing at kicking horse pass is some crazy engineering feat eh? pretty incredible ...

sounds like you guys came down the coquihalla, i just cooked my rotors on that stretch a couple of weeks ago .....

[repenttokyo]

yeah that is exactly where we came down, no kidding re: cooking rotors! the crosswinds and dudes in pickups tailgating me down the mountains didn't help either!

the overpass was incredible, I didn't mind getting stuck in traffic when I had that to look at.

[632 Regal]

the 85.5 is sub grade fuel that makes a lawn mower choke... regular unleaded is 87 octane


Also, does anyone on the board live in the midwest / northwest? Can you explain this to me?

[Sam-Son]

Nice I've been wanting to take my 5 on a good long roadtrip but I haven't had the opportunity to do it I have gone on several roadtrips in a E46 325Ci Sport but I really want to use the E34

bmwrp8-Love the new sig pic

[repenttokyo]

the 85.5 is sub grade fuel that makes a lawn mower choke... regular unleaded is 87 octane


I know - why do they have it at service stations all across Montana / Dakota? Mid grade at a lot of stations there is 88 octane.

[takumidrift30]

Awesome..awesome pics and story! Been long wanting to do that trip friend of a friend been telling such beautiful sites to see there. Wondering just preparation you did with the E34 for the long trip?

[Macv]

I agree with you all... great pics!!! Would love to have a trip like that.

[repenttokyo]

I agree with you all... great pics!!! Would love to have a trip like that.


Awesome..awesome pics and story! Been long wanting to do that trip friend of a friend been telling such beautiful sites to see there. Wondering just preparation you did with the E34 for the long trip?


thanks! in terms of preparation, I had my front suspension checked out because of a little vibration, (turned out to be nothing serious) and I had the car on a lift a few days before I left to do a general check. I also had a full toolkit with me, coolant, and 2 litres of oil (the car leaked a litre over the 10 000 km's), and i never had to touch the tool kit :)

Other than that, nothing more than an oil change when I left and an oil change when I got back - I also bought some spray on bug remover that worked wonders for the 13-14 hour driving days.

I bought the car in December and had most of the major issues taken care of then, and the car has held up remarkably since.

[Spice Boy]

Fair play that is some trip!! The pics are awesome!

With regards to the fuel.. I cant believe your octane level is so low! our lowest octane is 95 and the highest atm is 102.. I use 99 myself

[repenttokyo]

Fair play that is some trip!! The pics are awesome!

With regards to the fuel.. I cant believe your octane level is so low! our lowest octane is 95 and the highest atm is 102.. I use 99 myself


are you in europe? North American octane ratings are derived differently than european. But that 85.5 is very low for North America!