BMW Dealer in Otopeni, RO

BMW Motorcycle Dealer in RO.

There is only one BMW dealership in RO. Only ONE!

 A nice enough place, built to the specs of BMW headquarters in Germany but it uses Romanian personnel. Not that they are unfriendly, but I did not feel they had an understanding or grasp of the concept of being stranded on the side of the road. Everything they do here is by the book. It was worse than being at a bureaucrat’s mercy. Please let me explain.

Carol and I decided to leave my bike at the dealer too because my side stand really is too short. To travel with a 2x4 to put under the side stand every time we stop is a pain. We thought while we are at a dealership, we might as well have my problem addressed too and have BMW fix my ‘too short’ side stand.

So after our not so good day on Tuesday, sitting endless hours on the tow truck, we made sure to get to the BMW dealer “Automobile Bavaria” in Otopeni, RO as soon as they opened. 

The trouble Spot is the Dark Goo You See 

Nice Bike, But Does Not Run at This Point

We were at the Service Dept. at 8.00, when they opened. We had to wait outside a bit because we were early.

At 9.00 AM a young man, good looking, nice blue eyes shows up and introduces himself. His name is Romeo Daniel Bernech. His English is very, very good. He listens to our issues and nods and then tells us he cannot look at Carol’s bike until Friday, at the earliest and today is Wednesday.

Hmmm, not even look at it? 

No, sorry, he cannot! He takes down all of our information and takes the keys to our bikes and that is it for today.

The BMW dealership has WIFI in the lobby and I found a Hostel about 10 minutes away from the dealership. I saw no reason to stay in Bucharest proper and take a taxi each day to check on the bikes. Hotel Triumf was 45 minutes away in rush hour this morning.

It is too early in the day to check into the Hostel Taxi I just booked, so we hang out at the dealership but by about 1.00 PM we call a taxi to take us to Taxi. (Smiles)

The Taxi Hostel place is not bad, not great, but not bad. We get a room on the ground floor; large enough for all of our stuff (we could keep our riding gear, boots, helmets, etc. under the staircase inside the room).

 Now what do we do? 

We are in the middle of a totally residential area. All around us are small apartment buildings, but there is a ‘shopping’ street not far away. It is time to explore the surrounding area of the Hostel to see if there is something here, near us, within walking distance that bears mention. Unless you love to hear the story of a Dönner place nearby, and some other fast food joints, there is not much. People live here, they take the bus to work, come back at night and just live here. It is so normal, so suburban Bucharest, so Romanian, that that in itself is unique. Most of the time, when staying in a hotel it is ‘near’ something. This place is near nothing. Yes, you can buy food; there are a few restaurants but nothing too fancy. I find a small shop with a minimal amount of groceries and buy bread, some cold cuts, some cheese and we have dinner. There is not much else to do. 

We are parked here, waiting for the BMW people to look at Carols’ bike.

Otopeni, RO

On a Truck to Bucharest, RO

It’s Tuesday, the 8^th of Sept and we have been in Sibiu now for 4 nights. We planned to stay for 2 nights and then take the Motorcycle riders dream road, the Transfagarasan, and now we are sitting on a tow truck being hauled to Bucharest. That shows you how you can plan and then stuff happens.

When we got up this morning we had breakfast at the Hotel and while eating, Simone came over and told us the ADAC guy called and told her we need to be towed to the BMW dealership in Bucharest;  about 6 hours South of Sibiu, across Alp-like mountains. She told us there is no place in Sibiu to fix our bike and the tow truck will be here between 9.00 and 10.00 AM.

 
It hit us like a ton of bricks. While Sibiu is a nice town to visit, don’t get stranded with your bike there. Sure it is a large city but it is not geared towards motorcycling. Maybe you can get your car fixed, but bikes not so much.

 
We waited for a while for the truck to show up and then we called the tow truck company again at 10.30 AM and they told us they will be right with us. Finally, at 1.30 PM the truck showed. Romanian time is not European time. It was difficult to keep my cool, but we are at their mercy. The loading of the bikes onto the truck went well. We had to convince the truck driver that both bikes needed to be towed; even though only one bike was broken down. (Otherwise I would have to ride my bike, following the tow- truck to Bucharest).

So, now we are 3 people abreast on the bench seat of a tow truck, in heavy traffic heading south. The seating arrangements are tight. We cannot talk to the driver, we do not speak Romanian. We have to rely on his driving skills with our bikes being in his hands. The traffic is heavy on the E 81; the ‘highway’ is packed going through the mountains. This is a 2 lane road, with sporadic construction and winding curves. A few just stop and go sections. We stopped once to refuel the truck. The driver does his best but it is after 7.00 PM before we find the BMW dealership North of Bucharest in a town called Otopeni. The place is closed.

We unload the bikes and give the driver a tip and he leaves us ‘stranded’ at the BMW dealer “Automobile Bavaria” in Otopeni, RO. So here we stand, at a closed dealership with 2 bikes. Around us is all the stuff we had tied to the bikes so now what do we do?

Luckily Carol had bought a Romanian telephone number on line; an easy way to get a local Telephone # when you have the chip from KnowRoaming on your cell phone.  I highly recommend this service.

We call ADAC and tell them our predicament. We tell the ADAC guy on the phone, (the phone was routed to Athens, Greece) that the BMW dealer in Romania is closed. It takes some time and he calls us back and tells us we should go to the Euro Hotel, all arrangements are made by ADAC and a taxi will come and pick us up in about 45 minutes. So we wait. ……..and wait………..and wait.

At 8.30 PM, there is still no taxi. I try to communicate with the security guards at the BMW shop but only get back a stare and a shoulder shrug.

Now what do we do? Do we sleep in the back of the shop in the street? Is there anybody else to talk to in the whole dealership? I walk around the building and rattle on every door, the security guy does not care. I do find a door that is open and I walk into the empty dealership and lo and behold there is a lonely worker at a desk. I asked him if he speaks English or German and he nods, and in English I explain to him our situation.

He takes pity on us and calls a taxi to take us to the Euro Hotel. The problem is there are 5 Euro Hotels in Bucharest, he does not know which Hotel the ADAC booked for us and neither do we. But, he knows of a Euro Hotel not far away so we take a chance and take the taxi that shows up in a few minutes and just drive to the Euro hotel this man found for us. We get all of our stuff from the bikes out of the taxi (we left both bikes at the BMW place, since it had security guards) and stand at the reception of the Euro Hotel. This Euro Hotel had a call from ADAC trying to make a reservation for us but it is totally booked. ADAC did not call us back to tell us this. For all the money we have on us, they do not have room for us.

Hazy View Of The Triumf Hotel

Now what do we do? We are stranded again, standing in the center of Bucharest with all of our stuff, sans bikes.  We asked the clerk at registration to see if he can find a hotel for us so we can sleep someplace for the night. Again, we must have looked pitiful and he called around. His 3^rd try led us to a hotel nearby that time forgot. He booked us into the TriumfHotel. A grandiose Hotel left over from the Communist era that today needs to be totally redone. It was shabby to put it mildly. The price was outrageous for what is was. Cash only, no credit cards. What choice did we have at this point?

Again, we put all the stuff into a taxi and finally arrived at the Hotel Triumf at 9.15 PM. Yes, they have our reservation. Yes, there is a place to eat next door but it will close in 15 minutes.

So Carol ran to place an order while I schlepped the stuff 2 flights up to the room. The elevator (one person) was so slow I was faster on foot hauling the stuff up the stairs. I met Carol at the ‘Restaurant’, a table outside in a park-like setting right next door and ate the salad she ordered. There was no other food available so close to closing time.

So here I am, eating rabbit food someplace in the center of Bucharest. Our bikes are someplace in a town called Otopeni, our stuff is someplace in this monster of a Hotel and we have no clue what will happen next. The good thing is, the A/C works in the room.