[PistonCrown]

Whoa guys.
You guys really missed disaster in Goa.
The area you had crossed before reaching Sawantwadi had almost flooded and had some landslides that time.

Latest news in Goa is a read BMW 3 stuck in waters though on a service road.

A BMW 3 series sedan got stranded in water at service road in Peddem-Mapusa

[Sandyboyz]

I have thoroughly enjoyed reading this travelogue. Made me wish I was there too with my beemer. Congrats to all of you who took part in this amazing journey.

[Cloudwalker]

Wow! That was a fantastic rain drive travelogue with unexpected twists and turns, Glad you guys made it safe and for sure this trip would have made a lot of memories to carry over.

[throttleAddict]

Drone shots are crazy good. Showcases the amazing coastal and well maintained roads of Karnataka.

[GHPBrezzinBy]

Originally Posted by RakishRam

And here is a photo clicked by Purna, the blue 330i owner who is not in the forum yet, Thanks Purna for clicking my M340i in the background of dark clouds and editing it to make more dramatic.

Wow, that picture looks so good. Props to the person who took the picture. It is certainly a wallpaper material.

Awesome trip I guess and I can only think how much work must have gotten into planning for the trip. Kudos!

[ritedhawan]

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

Epilogue

Before I end this long report, I must thank all my buddies who were in this drive. This was a challenging drive to say the least. We very well knew this was a "monsoon drive" and were looking for some fun rain, but none of us had anticipated so much rain and water that we actually faced. The drive became long, hard, tiring and unpredictable. We even lost money on our bookings at Marriott Belgavi and had to book new hotel last minute. The lovely BMWs had to be driven through some of the toughest conditions. But not a single person in the group complained! Everyone took it all with a smile! All of them were extremely cooperative in all situations. And furthermore, when it came to driving discipline and skills, everyone demonstrated top notch behavior. It was an honor to drive together with these guys. What an amazing group! Thank you to all of my buddies in this drive! And finally, kudos to the 10 beautiful cars that went through all this, and passed every test with flying colors. What amazing machines! Allow me to just quote what I wrote in our group that day just after we returned from the drive. ........I request my buddies to add their photographs and their own views on this drive in the posts below. Looking forward to reading their posts.

Amazing. This is 'Edge of the seats entertainment'. The 10 owners of thier respective BMW 3'ers must have this drive etched in thier minds for lifetime. The thrill, the excitement, the deluge which was waiting to engulf them and yet they came out unscathed!. This drive had everything , all the elements which are pre-requisite for a potboiler movie in the making!.

The narrator Dr.AD , credit to you , for sharing it with us. I presume no account can do justice to the actual experience you all had. This is an audacious attempt when you take into consideration inclement weather conditions and the ensuing obstacles it brings in its wake. However, the BMW 3'ers prevailed!

The pictures are doing thier bid to augument the experience, however, all of you must have been saved from the worst of what an indiscernible pothole brings, waiting for its intended recipient in its wake, as the rains make sure the dangerous ones are inconspicuous , however, the unlucky one whose car tire intercepts it; unwillingly is the one who gets stranded and the rest take lesson from him. Its like a linear convoy of tanks and the one in the front hits a mine and gets stuck for the rest to take a lesson. I hope none of you ever faced that 'indiscernible pothole'. Because , if I recollect correctly, it was a year or two ago--and forgive my mistake if I may have got it wrong-- but it was 'graaja's GT which hit such a pothole during his rainy drive on a different route which knocked the wheel! It may not be far from truth that this drive coincided with the onset of heavy rainfall in these regions and would continue thereby breaking up the tarmac and in its wake interspersing the whole of the route with such potholes and in different shapes and sized, and not to forget the depth. Which would mean a treacherous route for common folks. This in itself lends this an audacious attempt.

That picture where the convoy approaches a flood of water where you see as clear as daylight --That Eritga half under water-- that there is no point in pursuing that route and therefore to turn around where others in thier place would have thier legs shaking; followed up with calm and composed deliberation amongst the attendees to sort out alternate route or accomodation when the weather was hell-bent on putting a spanner to the original plan! ,distinguishes T-Bhpian's from others!

As I said, this account had everything, nice to see attendees contributing via photos or short description of thier take of this drive.

[ABHI_1512]

Water and BMW’s are a bad combination, so I heard. But then, this band of BMW’s had other ideas. Kudos to you all for completing a journey that had adventure written all over it. Fabulous places, lovely weather and great like minded company- the perfect recipe for an enjoyable drive. The pictures and the drone shots of the convoy beside the Marvanthe beach are so good to look at, picture perfect I say. Thanks for the lovely log DrAD, thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

[GeeTee TSI]

A BMW endurance drive (almost a Rallye) in sedans at that! Totally enjoyed the narration which were engaging (and gripping too!) not to mention the amazing pictures. The route and the season are both very very appealing with sensible pointers picked up from this thread. Heartwarming sight to see the photoshoot parking off the road shoulder (probably muddy too) barring a few which well, Beemers notwithstanding, could have been better.

[keroo1099]

Love the way you tell your stories Doc. Can't wait for the next trip.

[Sheel]

Wonderful pictures and story narration BMW guys, thanks for sharing. I am sure the BMW guys who also drive 4X4's must be wondering at few moments, heck, we should have got our Thar / Fortuner for this drive.
Maybe, you guys can plan another drive with your 4X4's. Thanks once again for the share .

[Dr.AD]

Thank you very everyone much for your comments, kind words and appreciation!

Originally Posted by Sheel

Wonderful pictures and story narration BMW guys, thanks for sharing.

Thanks a lot, Sheel!

I am sure the BMW guys who also drive 4X4's must be wondering at few moments, heck, we should have got our Thar / Fortuner for this drive.

True. We did discuss driving our SUVs there and many of us have had done recent trips in that area in SUVs. At some points, we did miss the SUVs.

But to be honest, the fun of driving a low sedan on those lovely twisty roads and ghats was totally worth the pains we took elsewhere.

The ghats like Agumbe ghat, or before that Chikmagalur to Sringeri road have smooth tarmac and in general very good road conditions (as you can see from the pictures) where we enjoyed the sedans in spite of the heavy rain. So that was the fun section.

Only when we reached the coastal areas and the coastal highways, that is where the waterlogging and all the associated problems started. That is where we definitely missed SUVs!

So yes, it was a mixed bag overall.

Maybe, you guys can plan another drive with your 4X4's. Thanks once again for the share .

You read our mind.

Yes we have another monsoon drive planned (although with a different group). In that drive, we will go deep inside Sahyadris in Maharashtra, and the road conditions are going to be far worse than what we faced in this drive.

Our original plan was to take sedans in that drive too. However, given the drastic worsening of roads and the news of floods, waterlogging, landslides etc from all over the area where we plan to drive, we now decided to keep our sedans at home and instead we will take our SUVs for that drive. With this new plan, I am going to take my Thar 4x4 for that drive.

So yes, another monsoon drive, with my Thar 4x4 and my buddies driving Thar or similar vehicles is happening soon and I am eagerly looking forward to that.

On a lighter note, Murphy's Law has been toying with me ever since I got my Thar. Whenever I took Thar on a long drive expecting rain and bad roads, I got clear weather and good roads, and whenever I took my 320d expecting a good drive, I got torrential rains and waterlogged streets everywhere.

For example, this is picture from one of my BMW drives last July, around Chikmagalur, when I decided to keep my Thar at home and take the BMW instead:



And the same month, July of the last year, when I took my Thar out looking for some bad roads and rough weather, I got this:



So let us see what Murphy's Law does to us in the upcoming monsoon drive in our SUVs.

[justwheels]

What an exhilarating journey you guys had. Kudos to the group!

It's one thing to own a great car, but another to really enjoy it, taking calculated risks if needed and having a bunch of like minded friends to join you for such an adventure.

Dr. AD and group, you guys are a perfect example of plan it and do it whatever may come.

The BMW's looked so spectacular in the rain filled snaps. I can tell you for sure that you did not need the R5 to come out of your boot, the phone camera was enough to get those drool worthy pics, thanks to the weather and the beautiful subjects you had for posing.
And what a see of white and blues you had to to top it off, ofcourse not missing the flanks at the two ends with your red and Robi's Sunset Orange.

Western ghats (infact most of the hilly terrains across the country nowadays) can be tricky during peak monsoons. While you can have the best of "chasing the rain" ride, but the unpredictable landslides, flooding and road closures can get tricky sometimes. Glad you guys took the decision to turn around from Amboli ghat in time, could have been a very different travelogue if not for the u-turn.

But as they say, life is short and we all just live once, so enjoy it like an adventure, and you guys sure had some hell of an adventure. Thanks for sharing AD in your classic style. always a pleasure reading your stories. And kudos to the other Beemers (@robimahanta and others).

Deb

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by justwheels

What an exhilarating journey you guys had. Kudos to the group!

Thanks a lot Deb for your kind words and appreciation!

But as they say, life is short and we all just live once, so enjoy it like an adventure, and you guys sure had some hell of an adventure.

Thanks again!

It is funny how much difference the vehicle can make in a rod trip experience. This drive was easy-peasy compared to the kind of drives you guys do in your Thars, if we were driving a vehicle like a Thar. But the whole experience became so exhilarating because we were driving 10 cars known for their aversion to water and for their notoriously fragile wheels and tyres.

Similarly, in my solo drives, I feel a sense of adventure in some challenging conditions just because I am all alone there, driving alone and fighting the conditions all alone. Otherwise the same conditions in a group drive would be quite routine with nothing much to talk about.

I have now started to realize that the sense of adventure is a very relative thing!

Western ghats (infact most of the hilly terrains across the country nowadays) can be tricky during peak monsoons. While you can have the best of "chasing the rain" ride, but the unpredictable landslides, flooding and road closures can get tricky sometimes.

Absolutely true. And as if as a sequel to this drive, "Monsoon Drive Take 2" if I may call it, we are going there again very soon, traveling much worse roads this time, deep inside the Sahyadris in Maharashtra, but this time in our Thars. So let us see how that one goes now!

[justwheels]

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

....

Absolutely true. And as if as a sequel to this drive, "Monsoon Drive Take 2" if I may call it, we are going there again very soon, traveling much worse roads this time, deep inside the Sahyadris in Maharashtra, but this time in our Thars. So let us see how that one goes now!

Wish you luck for the second episode of the Monsoon Drive!
I am sure it will be a completely different experience on the Thar, atleast wont be scary crossing puddles of water everywhere. You can just splash your way out.

Look forward to reading about that story too, in your classic style.

Deb

[TheGearBox]

Amazing travelogue, as always, Dr.AD!
Would love to be a part of such a convoy. Of course, that would require me to get a BMW first

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

You read our mind.

I was actually wondering how much more adventurous you guys would have been if you were driving, say X3's instead of 3's.

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

Yes we have another monsoon drive planned and the road conditions are going to be far worse than what we faced in this drive.

With this new plan, I am going to take my Thar 4x4 for that drive.

I guess that will be good enough to find out