[beej]

PHOTOS ON PAGE 2! ORIGINAL MESSAGE BELOW

Hello everyone!

In a few weeks time I'm taking my Cooper S for a long weekend trip from London to Dortmund in Germany via the Eurotunnel. After shopping around for ferry prices (cheapest I found was £65 all in!) I opted for the slightly more expensive chunnel because it should be less hassle, a bit more interesting, no sailors involved, and definitely no chance of being caught in rough weather

So, I have:

• Contacted my insurer to extend my insurance for the duration of the trip (no cost, yay for MINI Cover!)
• Put the number for MINI Emergency/MINI Accident in my mobile phone
• Used Autoroute to plan a straight-forward route through France and Holland
• Will take passport, driver's licence, insurance document
• Promised myself not to be stupid on the Autobahn

What else do I need to know about driving a UK car on the continent? I've never done it before.

Do I have to stick a country sticker on the back of the car? My insurer have sent me one, but I thought the whole point of the EU standard number plate was to not do this?

Anyone else got any tips? Apparently they all drive on the wrong side of the road...

[dietcokeplease]

Fill in form E111 at the Post Office.
Take your V5 Logbook.
Put beam deflectors/black masking tape on your lights.

If there are high winds in France there can be delays in the service as the high sided trains have to slow right down.

But just enjoy yourself and have fun.

[v8voodoo]

Hey Beej..!

Enjoy your trip..!!! Your plate is sufficient if it has the GB and euro logo on it as far as I know..!! Oh... and you can get delayed on the Tunnel if the weather is really windy, cos the shuttle can't go round the big loop in case it gets blown over... seriously..!!!

Have fun and if you see another EB/W MCS around Dover or Folkestone, give us a wave..!

Nige,
Dover.

[snuffy]

um, it's generally advised to have a spare set of bulbs, warning triangle, first aid kit, headlight deflectors (do these exsist for a MINI?) - I was also told in addition to what you have been got- the V5 document.

A good PDF file here: http://www.theaa.com/staticdocs/pdf/...ing_advice.pdf

http://www.doorwaytofrance.co.uk/htm...in_france.html

http://driving.drive-alive.co.uk/dri...etherlands.htm

http://www.aer-net.co.uk/edr/germany.htm

Enjoy the trip. I can't wait to take mine back in the Summer :-)

[gibbon]

Careful in France, they all drive like loonies !

Ermmm ... you were going to Germany ... oh well, ermm ... good beer and sausages

[mini_mad1]

I think you need to take a fire extinguisher with you aswell. Have fun wont you!!

[beej]

I'd completely forgotten about the headlights! Thanks for the reminder. Will take along the other bits too, although a fire extinguisher would have to be temporary as I'd hate to have stuff that hinders performance with extra weight

[LeeH]

Beej,

Just went through the tunnel on Monday in our Cooper, absolute piece of cake - I'll not be taking the ferry again (unless it's to Caen for LeMans ). Drive on, kip for half an hour, drive off directly onto the motorway, top class.

In terms of things to take, I'd add spend £10 on a European map - you'll be royally stuffed if you deviate from the planned autoroute route unless you take a laptop or better still sat nav. Oh, and get some coins if you plan on taking the toll roads directly. There's a shopping centre directly next to the tunnel at Coquelle where you can get money out of the wall (near the Carrefour supermarket) and some change from buying Croissants

I've always found drivers on the continent to be far better behaved than they are in the UK - everyone seems to respect the overtaking rules (i.e. not overtaking, get back in correct lane), just be aware of cars coming up behind you at _very_ high speed, even in Holland, Belgium and France the line between car and flying machine is blurred for some busy reps!

If you've got one, don't use your radar detector in France (not sure about the rest) as the local plod don't take too kindly to them. I've read recently too of the French police having speeding crack downs on cars travelling at just 135kp/h on the 130kp/h autoroutes.

Don't speed through towns and villages as there are quite often speed traps - plod #1 at the entry of the village gets your speed, about ten of his mates have a chat with you about it around a corner. If you find a stop line on the road at a junction, be sure to bring the car to a halt there. They often harvest people who don't adhere to this.

Had a Belgian friend living in the UK who had a large set of arrows on his dashboard with a message saying "drive on this side" - good advice!

All in all though, driving on the continent is a real pleasure, be sensible and you'll have a hoot.

It's surprising too just how much wine you can fit into the boot of a MINI...

Lee.

[phil portlock]

Quote: Originally Posted by beej

Hello everyone!

In a few weeks time I'm taking my Cooper S for a long weekend trip from London to Dortmund in Germany via the Eurotunnel. After shopping around for ferry prices (cheapest I found was £65 all in!) I opted for the slightly more expensive chunnel because it should be less hassle, a bit more interesting, no sailors involved, and definitely no chance of being caught in rough weather

So, I have:

• Contacted my insurer to extend my insurance for the duration of the trip (no cost, yay for MINI Cover!)
• Put the number for MINI Emergency/MINI Accident in my mobile phone
• Used Autoroute to plan a straight-forward route through France and Holland
• Will take passport, driver's licence, insurance document
• Promised myself not to be stupid on the Autobahn

What else do I need to know about driving a UK car on the continent? I've never done it before.

Do I have to stick a country sticker on the back of the car? My insurer have sent me one, but I thought the whole point of the EU standard number plate was to not do this?

Anyone else got any tips? Apparently they all drive on the wrong side of the road...

First time I drove in France was in a Discovery normal hand drive! Came to the first toll booth, stopped dropped my window, saw no one or place to throw your coins, there was no barrier, so I thought today it must be free, drove through, alarms, sirens, flashing lights (helicopters). stopped reversed, tried again a couple of times, then my wife said look my side!!!!! What a buuuuurk.
So when you go just look the other side of your 'S'

Cheers have a great time

[Grings]

I took my S over to Brussels in September last year - the Eurotunnel is great, very quick and very easy to use.

I might be wrong (but I think I'm right ) when I say the euro number plate markings are not suffcient. I was told by my insurer that I needed a sticker as well. In the end I bought a magnetic one so it was easily removed. Although if this is true not sure what the point of the euro number plate is then

You need the beam reflectors, a warning triangle, a first aid kit and spare bulbs. Although to be honest can you imagine plod doing you for not having these (except maybe the headlight deflectors).

Don't expect to see many other MINI's though

[dietcokeplease]

The Euro "GB" numberplate is sufficient only if it has the 12 circular gold stars on the blue part. Therefore if you have "ENG" or "UK" and the St Georges Cross you will need the additional GB sticker.

[SteveM3]

Hey our groovy and hip government is tuned into the web these days. Do
a search on "uk government driving abroad" and then "driving abroad" on
the initial gov page and you'll also get helpful pages from the AA RAC etc.

[dcfkan]

Beej,

I always carry:

Warning triangle
Spare bulbs
First Aid Kit
Black tape - in case the deflectors fall off - which happened to me once
Deflectors
Euro maps
Driving licence
V5
Green card for Euro insurance
Normal insurance doc
Holiday Insurance
MINI Rescue numbers
A spare key

Since I take my Euro holidays mostly on my own, I have also invested on a gripper thingy (the kind that picks up rubbish) so that I can press the button at tolls and collect the ticket (toll, parking etc.) without getting out of the car. If used in conjunction with a plastic cup, I can pay toll in cash etc...

People may laugh about using such a gadget, however, it has proved to be very useful indeed

Tunnel is great, and like LeeH et al, I would not cross the Channel again by boat or cat

Take it easy as you come out of the tunnel, and make friend with your left hand mirror

You may wish to keep your passport to hand (don't leave it visible though - very valuable commodity!!!) since you will be crossing a few countries, just in case the border police want to inspect them. Usually, once you are in main land Europe, you do not need to show your passport again unless you go into Switzerland and other non-EU countries

Allow sufficient to go from the terminal building to the train coming back - they did some kind of security check today by wiping the interior with some kind of cloth, and nearly made missed my train - I was the last one in before they closed the door today

BTW, Eurotunnel is VERY strict about people trying to come back earlier than the train they have originally booked, and be expected to pay a surcharge if you are more than 2h early. Also, just because you are 2h early, it does not mean you can get on sooner. Sometimes you can if they are not busy, otherwise they board strictly according to the letter of departure assigned to you when you arrive at the terminal.

It is kind of one way, in the sense that they charge you if you are too early or too late (yes, you CAN get charged if you arrive too late on one of these special tickets that does not allow alterations), yet, you get nothing if they delay you for whatever reason Much the same with airlines I guess

I got more stressed out by my journey coming back from Folkstone to Norfolk today - driving in France is easy as there are less cars on the roads Just be prepared for people to pull out in front of you without signalling, and Euro drivers do not like outside lane hoggers

Be careful not to speed too much around Calais - GB plates allegedly are easy targets! It is true that you can get measured how fast you travelled between the tolls, however, do what most local do, and have a nice cup of coffee and cake etc. from time to time at their excellent service stations Mobile radars do exist - saw my first one coming back from Bordeaux to Lille on Friday Luckily the traffic slowed down and I caught on what was happening in time

For future reference - book tunnel crossings for the summer early, as early as before Jan of the next year - as much as 50% off!

Have fun, you'll enjoy it

DK :apple:

[beej]

Hey DK (and others) thanks for the advice

I went into Halfords at the weekend looking for the light deflector or whatever you call it. There was an overpriced packet that said "fits most cars". Being a sceptic, I figured it wouldn't be cut for the MINI so I didn't get it. Will have to sort this later.

With Xenons... they're integrated units so there will be no spare bulbs to take

A map though, what a good plan. And Euros for tolls, that's a good point as I was planning to Visa the whole trip! Looking forward to seeing what the roads are like on the continent. haven't been for a long time. I'd better keep the speed down... and as you say, if stopping for croissant is one way to do that, then yay for croissant breaks!

[roomey]

You can pay with visa for the tolls (in France anyway), even if it's only a tiny amount. They just swipe it once, then give you your card and receipt back - no signature required.

I drive back to the UK two or three times a year from Germany via France and usually stick on deflectors, but with the MCS & xenons I couldn't find any to fit, so I didn't bother! Interesting that other recent BMW's with xenons have an adjuster in the xenon headlamp unit to move the beam for when driving on the right or left, but not in the mini. Driving around the UK at christmas with my German spec MCS with no headlight deflectors, nobody seemed to mind or notice! But maybe the French plod will pick up on UK cars with no deflectors....

[beej]

Okay gang - back to the lights and deflectors. Check this from the AA:

• If you're driving to the Continent then you must adjust the headlamp beam pattern to suit driving on the right so that the dipped beam doesn't dazzle oncoming drivers.
• Modern high-intensity discharge (HID) or xenon headlights - These can't be adapted by applying an external mask. Fortunately, many feature an internal 'shutter' that can be moved into place by a screw or lever adjustment at the back of the headlamp unit. But some designs are less convenient and the dealer will need to make the adjustment.

Do MCS Xenons have a little switch? I don't have the manual (or the car) on the me...

[v8voodoo]

Beej,

An interesting one this. When I took my MINI to Barcelona, I approached a mini dealer who weren't aware of any switch on the xenons to convert for continental driving. They suggested they may be able to adjust them to the right a bit, but that was about it. I couldn't be doing with any fines or that malarky, so I went down to the AA shop in Dover port who gave me the sticky masks and the placement instructions. I stuck these on and set off. I felt they were impairing my lights somewhat once it got quite dark, so they err.. "fell off". I didn't get any trouble off Le plod or any Johnny Foreigners flashing their lights at me, so I guess they were ok. I'm sure there's some little known rule along the lines of if you are only in that country for less than 60 days, you don't need to apply deflectors. I actually work in Dover Port and as a rough guess, I'd say about one in thirty foreign vehicles that I see driving past me have beam deflectors. I'm off to trawl the net to see what I can find on this 60 day thing...

Nige.
PS: Nice car/colour choice

[dietcokeplease]

Quote: Originally Posted by v8voodoo

I actually work in Dover Port and as a rough guess, I'd say about one in thirty foreign vehicles that I see driving past me have beam deflectors. I'm off to trawl the net to see what I can find on this 60 day thing...

I thought that only UK vehicle have the offset lens/reflector that allows the nearside pavement to be illuminated - the premise being to highlight pedestrians. Am I right in saying that Euro cars do not have this offset and therefore do not need beam deflectors?

[roomey]

Well, a friend who has just bought a new 3-series here in Germany definately has the xenon beam adjusters for driving on the left, it's in his instruction manual and we've taken a peek under the bonnet and it works - it's a small lever on the back of each headlight, and it moved the beam from the right to the left (by what I thought was a surprising amount!).

Nothing in my (German) MINI manual about this adjuster though (cost cutting maybe??), I was going to contact my dealer here before coming back over to the UK, but didn't have time, and in the end, I just drove around the UK with my euro right-hand-side biased headlights, and nobody seemed to mind/notice..... Could be a dealer only adjustment,

R.

[beej]

Thanks MINI2 for all the advice on my trip to Europe. The MCS was perfect, the weekend was great! I covered 700 miles, a full tank of BP Ultimate lasted from London well into Holland where I found some Esso to refuel with (at Shell over there you don't get Optimax).

Some points to share...

1. I saw absolutely no MINIs in France (quelle surprise)
2. The Channel Tunnel is highly recommended It's basically this: (a) drive down M20 (b) drive onto train (c) drive off train onto French motorway
3. At some point between Eindhoven and Antwerp on the way back on Sunday I passed an unmarked Dutch police car hidden at the side of road... I had cruise control on at 90mph and a flashgun went off so I might have a European speeding ticket in the post?
4. Germany was very snowy on Thursday night when I arrived. I had to hill start on an icy road and kept wheel-spinning, so to deal with this I applied full steering lock and 'tacked' up the slope. Sorted.
5. Saw quite a few MINIs in Germany. Flashed an EB/W but no acknowledgement... oh well, so much for an international community

Here are some photos...

[I didn't put any black tape on my Xenons as the AA suggest. No-one seemed to complain