I finally got the
chance to drive a Z3 this month. A 2000 Z3 Topaz Blue with Blue Interior and
less than 40,000 miles. We took it on consignment at my shop, so lucky me I had
to do a photo shoot for our website and put it on the internet for sale. It was an automatic so some of the thrill was
missing but it was still was a fun car to cruise. I posted the car on Tuesday
and by Wednesday it was sold. The clincher to the deal was I had a 2003 Land
Rover Discovery going to Maryland 40 miles south of where this buyer was so it
was a perfect set up for fast delivery.
Two cars going in the same direction and I wasn’t going to go out of my
way to drop the second car off. Couldn’t be easier right?
As I am coming
into Prince Fredrick MD, I feel this violent shaking (similar to hitting
5" tall rumble strips at 65 mph) so I immediately slow down and check my
mirrors. The passenger front tire on the trailer violently exploded sending
tire chunks all over the road. I immediately pull over and you know the saying,
where's a cop when you need one? Well there was a State Trooper right behind me
as I was pulling over. His timing was impeccable. He said he had seen the smoke
and was racing up to see if it was a car fire or a tire going. He watched it blow
apart as he was coming up to me. The trooper offered assistance and told me a
half mile ahead was a car dealership with a side road I can pull off onto that
will get me out of traffic. At 10 mph I rolled this mess around the corner
safely out of the highway with him following. One of the few times you actually
WANT the law behind you. Once I was safely off the highway he did his routine
credential checks, which of course everything was in order.
The officer asked
if I needed a tow truck or road side assistance and I declined figuring I can
change the tire myself. He informed me of a tire shop only 4 miles down the
road so that will be handy. You know what wasn’t handy? No spare
tire, no lug wrench and no jack. That puts me in a pickle. The officer already
left so I would figure something out.
I called both of
my clients to let them know I will be delayed. Since I was 10 miles from the
first stop, the Z3, the customer elected to meet me where I was to pick it up. He
was very excited and this was going to be his first BMW. I couldn’t think of a
better person to sell it to him but myself. Besides being very understanding,
he was also informative letting me know there was another tire shop only 2
miles away and I can take back roads, if I needed, to get there. Lucky for us,
the Goodyear dealer had the right size in stock and they would be ready for me
when I arrived. To make things easier I off loaded the Discovery since that was
still on the trailer and had Sandy follow me down the back roads with the hazards on as
I went about 15 mph to the tire shop. As soon as I arrived, the mechanic got
right to work replacing the tire. I think within 20 minutes, I was in and out
of there. I couldn’t have gotten better service!
As I was reloading
the Rover again Sandy ran into the super market for some road snacks we so
desperately needed at this point. A stiff drink would have been better. From
the point the tire blew, BMW transaction, tire replaced, and reloaded ready to
go was about 2 hours. Not that bad but if I had a spare trailer tire, jack, and
lug wrench I would have been back on the road in 15 minutes. Good thing was the
BMW was already delivered so now we were just an hour away from the second drop
off.
We arrive to a
beautiful home on the bay, long driveway which was easy to back my 60’ long
combo into. The buyer for this thing was a world traveler who had lived in
about 50 different countries and been to over 100. He had told me he had one of
these Discovery's while living in South Africa and once he came out to find an
Elephant standing next to the Land Rover. He took a picture and the click of the camera
turned a calm moment into panic. The Elephant chased him around the truck
several times before he was able to jump into it and take off before this large
creature was able to attack. Apparently an Elephant will roll a vehicle if
provoked. These are the issues we don't have here in Jersey. What a fascinating
story. We met his wife and they invited us in to do the paperwork on their rear
deck and for the next 1.5 hours we got entertained with their amazing
experiences. Part of me wanted to just get back on the road again and head
home, but the other part of me said take a much needed break. You'll get there. Unfortunately
it was getting later and we had to start heading back so we cut the
conversation short.
We stopped for fuel and I figured we got 11.23 mpg with a total combination
weight of 18,500 lbs. Not bad for highway and not so highway driving in a truck
with almost 300,000 miles. Remembering I-95 was a mess at the tunnel I decided
to take 301 thru Annapolis into Delaware. Let me tell you, this is the BEST
road to take if you are going to Maryland by Annapolis and south. No traffic
and no hassles plus the scenery is a lot better. We finally got back at around midnight but
overall a successful day.
Tips to take away
from this experience:
- Do a proper pre-trip inspection to make sure
you have everything you need.
- RT 301 through Maryland is the best kept
secret for traveling down to that region.
- Make sure your camera doesn’t piss off
Elephants.
JT Burkard
Comments and suggestions are welcome
