E92 in NYC

[Talk2meg00se]

Hello everyone,

First time poster, recent E92 buyer. I love everything about the car: the performance, the handling, the looks - the way the V8 screams when the windows are down and the pedal is flat against the floorboard - in sum, it's a mean piece of machinery. Kudos to the Germans.

However, there is a problem, and the problem is this: I currently live in NYC; for those of you have been to the city before, you know that the roads here are beyond poor. As a general rule, I don't drive the car through the city (unless I absolutely have to) and generally only take the main highways in and out. Having owned the M3 for several months now, I still haven't found any roads that I'm overly happy with.


Does anyone out there have any recommendations for good driving roads within the general vicinity of NYC? In my mind, I'm envisioning something: windy, well-paved, and, well, generally empty. I'm willing to travel into PA, NJ, etc. - any tips would be appreciated. It's been frustrating owning such a nice car and yet not having access to blacktop that is commensurate with its pedigree / ability.

An unrelated question: I'd like to set up a mount of some sort inside the car for my digicam - would like to make some from-within-the-car driving videos. In anyone has any tips for a workable mount of this sort, please let me know.

Thanks in advance!

[JeremyR]

Congrats! I live in NYC too. I have found two places that I keep going back to One is to take the Palisades up to the area around Bear Mt park. There are a lot of great twisties up there. Just be careful on the way up because there are a ton of cops. The other is to take the Skyline Dr exit off of 208 in NJ. Pretty close to the GW. Skyline itself is pretty fun, and it leads in to another park that has some decent roads

Have fun!

[Talk2meg00se]

Thanks for the info - will definitely check out these roads once this weather passes ...

[fredwlau]

Just a quick word of advice, if you're looking for good roads to drive on, don't come to Pennsylvania, the roads are HORRENDOUS here. Apparently the state has the worst rating for roads in the country.

[Poppin Fresh]

+1 on Skyline Drive. It's very easy to get carried away and open her up. I would also recommend doing a Bear Mountain run going up 7 Lakes Drive.

[warzilla]

The ones above are good.

I would also add Route 17N in NY State to Greenwood Lakes. Thats a great drive thru the mountains, and also near Bear Mountain roads. Be slow in the town of Tuxedo, its like 35mph and they really enforce it.

BTW - where you park your car, what garage company? You park it yourself or you let the valets do it? I park in the city all the time and always feel a bit paranoid with those valet drivers, even if the garage I use have all nice cars (ie ferrari, Range Rovers, etc)

[Mahmood07]

Check out GoPro HD Motorsport camera, seems like thats what everyone else is buying.

[Poppin Fresh]

Originally Posted by warzilla

The ones above are good.

I would also add Route 17N in NY State to Greenwood Lakes. Thats a great drive thru the mountains, and also near Bear Mountain roads. Be slow in the town of Tuxedo, its like 35mph and they really enforce it.

+ 1

Rt. 17 in NY State is really a good drive. Even going back south coming from Chester NY puts a smile on my face on a weekend drive. Tuxedo is really strict with the 35mph limit. I learned the hard way. Our cars scream "look at me" to the cops so be careful.

[richardbb85]

just get on 95, come down south

[petesamprs]

Originally Posted by JeremyR

Congrats! I live in NYC too. I have found two places that I keep going back to One is to take the Palisades up to the area around Bear Mt park. There are a lot of great twisties up there. Just be careful on the way up because there are a ton of cops. The other is to take the Skyline Dr exit off of 208 in NJ. Pretty close to the GW. Skyline itself is pretty fun, and it leads in to another park that has some decent roads

Have fun!

+1

I drive the Palisades Pkwy everyday for my commute and on weekends to see family. It is a nice scenic drive, especially in the fall when the leaves change. There isn't much in terms of true twisties, but if the traffic is light there are nice stretches of open road to stretch out. Speed limit is 50 south of exit 10 I think and 55 north of that, and 2 lane the whole way. Try to drive it early in the morning, as it tends to get more volume on weekend afternoons (never stop-and-go however).

As JeremyR says, watch out for cops. Between GWB and exit 4 it's covered by the NJ palisades parkway police (white cars), and north of that it's NY state troopers (blue cars). They almost exclusively still use radar, so my V1 has saved me countless times, but you still need to be careful.

Regarding your other question, I use a mount that attaches securely to the passenger headrest and sits in the middle of the cabin: http://www.cruisecam.com/products.html

[MJC///M3]

Hutch to Merritt parkway is always a nice drive. I always take a lil joy-ride every sunday morning.....traffic occasionally...but its a nice smooth road...a few twisties ...you can def have fun with your M.

95 is still a mess...although they repaved northbound (from NY/CT) border...which actually is quite a nice drive.

[Kyoshi71]

The Ocean Pkwy by Jones Beach. If you want something strait where you can mash the pedal and not have to worry about on and off ramps, it's the place

[joseph328]

As they say in Need for Speed "Take it to your local track"

It's not that expensive as you might think.

Get a set of 18inch wheels , buy some used slick tires , helmet and have fun .

[JeremyR]

Originally Posted by warzilla

The ones above are good.

I would also add Route 17N in NY State to Greenwood Lakes. Thats a great drive thru the mountains, and also near Bear Mountain roads. Be slow in the town of Tuxedo, its like 35mph and they really enforce it.

BTW - where you park your car, what garage company? You park it yourself or you let the valets do it? I park in the city all the time and always feel a bit paranoid with those valet drivers, even if the garage I use have all nice cars (ie ferrari, Range Rovers, etc)

Garages are the worst part of parking in NY. Last week I found that apparently my garage backed the car up with the drivers door open in to a pole. The car is 6 weeks old and is going to cost $2400 to fix. My garage (Edison Parkfast) refuses to take any responsibility - they claim that I must have done it without realizing, because I typically ride around backwards with the door open. Obviously I am moving to another garage (I have had good luck with Icon and Central Parking in the past) and have already contacted a lawyer. The best part is that the lawyer suggested I look at the various poles in the place and take a picture if one has black paint rubbed on it. Well as you can imagine, every single pole in the place is covered in black paint from cars...

In the end, if you are going to park your car in a NYC garage something eventually will happen. The only thing you can hope is that they actually take responsibility for it. I have searched high and low for one where I get an assigned spot and can park it myself, but there is nothing that is even a reasonable distance from my apartment

[edcvin]

I've taken Route 17 into Route 6 through PA 590. I thought that was a pretty amazing ride. Bear mountain is cool as well.

I'm going to look into this Skyline Dr.


-Vin

[Talk2meg00se]

Warzilla, Jeremy,

Believe me, I feel your pain. Deciding between garages was agonizing. There are two near my building: one is valet, the other is self park. My initial thought was to go with the self park - however, after several test nights there I switched to valet. The problem with the self-park is that the spots weren't assigned (I live in financial; it's a commuter garage) so you never know who is going to be next to you on any given day. The spots were very small, and it seemed to me that door dings, etc. were going to be a serious problem there, so I switched to valet.

The valet has been fine thus far, but the trust factor is a test. I'm paranoid; I always take photos of the odometer (on my cell) before handing the car off to the staff. Still, I go out of my way to be nice to them (tip occasionally, etc.) and so far everything has gone smoothly - no scratches. I've only had one problem, and it was an isolated event: as the car was coming up the elevator one day to the main garage area, I could hear the valet revving the hell out of the engine. Obviously, pushing a cold engine hard is a big no-no. Did I want to kill him? Yes. Did I say anything? No. Like I said, not a single scratch yet - I don't want to incur disfavor,etc.

Unfortunately, it's one of those situations: pick your poison (haha and beats the demolition derby that is parking on the street in NYC).

Thanks again for the tips everyone. Looking forward to exploring these roads.

[DASHOCKER]

Hawks Nest, Rt9A in Westchester County.. Hell, Westchest County in general..

[Echo M3]

Originally Posted by Talk2meg00se

Hello everyone,

First time poster, recent E92 buyer. I love everything about the car: the performance, the handling, the looks - the way the V8 screams when the windows are down and the pedal is flat against the floorboard - in sum, it's a mean piece of machinery. Kudos to the Germans.

However, there is a problem, and the problem is this: I currently live in NYC; for those of you have been to the city before, you know that the roads here are beyond poor. As a general rule, I don't drive the car through the city (unless I absolutely have to) and generally only take the main highways in and out. Having owned the M3 for several months now, I still haven't found any roads that I'm overly happy with.


Does anyone out there have any recommendations for good driving roads within the general vicinity of NYC? In my mind, I'm envisioning something: windy, well-paved, and, well, generally empty. I'm willing to travel into PA, NJ, etc. - any tips would be appreciated. It's been frustrating owning such a nice car and yet not having access to blacktop that is commensurate with its pedigree / ability.

An unrelated question: I'd like to set up a mount of some sort inside the car for my digicam - would like to make some from-within-the-car driving videos. In anyone has any tips for a workable mount of this sort, please let me know.

Thanks in advance!

I also park my car in NYC (manhattan). Let me know if you have any specific questions. I was lucky to find an awesome self-park garage close to my apartment, which already has 2 other E9X M3's, an S55 AMG, and a maserati gran sport all next to each other. So no worries for me in regards to parking, I just stick with the group . My advice is to pick whichever garage you are most comfortable with, regardless of distance from your apartment. I would seriously take the subway to get to my garage, just for my own peace of mind.

Driving in the city is a real pain - just be patient, and avoid driving during rush hour or bad weather. Be especially cautious at night, when you can't see potholes or other 'obstacles' as clearly.

There are some amazing driving roads nearby - my personal favorite is Westchester, especially since I am already familiar with the area and like to drive up to run my errands (shopping, groceries, etc.). There are some beautiful, small mountain roads that are quite accessible, but you really have to just go out and explore.

Best of luck, owning an M3 in the city is a real hassle, but if you're careful it can be a rewarding experience!

[Echo M3]

Also, I never valet...ever. There are far too many horror stories. I almost ended up in a valet garage once when I first got my car - the valet driver jumped into my car before I gave him permission (I was trying to negotiate with him to let me self-park the car), and without waiting a second, he jumped in and strapped himself into the seat! But then hecouldn't figure out how to put the car in reverse - I guess he had never seen a DCT before, haha. I yelled at the guy and promptly got the heck out of there.

[Talk2meg00se]

Yeah, one of the late night guys the other day asked me how to put it in reverese - and it's a manual 6 speed (this is after he asked me how the push button starter worked). He then asked how many HP it had, and whether or not it was "fast." I seriously broke out in a cold sweat at that point. The daytime guys are pretty professional, but yeah, it's hit or miss.

But like I said, so far so good.

Of course, who knows what they're doing once the car leaves my sight. It's not uncommon to find the power button activated (I never use it). I like to think that they bump it by accident ...

Just out of curiosity, where is your garage? What is the monthly rent?

[MJC///M3]

Originally Posted by pman10

Also, I never valet...ever. There are far too many horror stories. I almost ended up in a valet garage once when I first got my car - the valet driver jumped into my car before I gave him permission (I was trying to negotiate with him to let me self-park the car), and without waiting a second, he jumped in and strapped himself into the seat! But then hecouldn't figure out how to put the car in reverse - I guess he had never seen a DCT before, haha. I yelled at the guy and promptly got the heck out of there.

I never valet my car. As stupid as it sounds...its the truth. I have heard one to many horror stories about doing such....

anytime I go to a place where you must valet (which is really not that often) I throw the guy 20 bucks and ask to self-park.....have never had an issue yet.

[Talk2meg00se]

Skyline Dr. is a money maker. The hill climbing was a blast.

Thanks for the recommendation - great drive.