What a Bad Luck Day - Good Bye BMW

Last Friday (June 17, 2011), my BMW finally died, in a way. We were in Toronto for Ella's passport application and driving back to Waterloo. As I was on my way from Gardiner to 427 North, I started to hear a weak metal-link-broken sound and my gas pedal is a bit unresponsive (hard to accelerate). I slowly made it to 427 North & 401 West curve and cars driving by were honking me so I looked around and saw white smoke coming from my rear, and soon from my engine. I slowly (and safely) pulled over to the buffer area between two ramps and called for help (Tow truck, and brother for pickup)

http://goo.gl/maps/QitZ - see the picture, I was parked between the two 427 labels

I want to write this post to be thankful that everyone is safe, me, Wendy and Ella.
Ella had no idea what happened and was behaving very well. We are proud of her..  

More bad luck of that day

• While we were buying fast food for lunch (by the way, Hero's Burger was so-so), Ella decided to poop ....and we ran out of clean diapers!!
• Forgot my jacket (phone/wallet) in Mississauga, when we were on 401 @ Guelph Line, had to turn back
• The other car's battery is depleted as it wasn't driven all winter, and also has weird noises after the boost. Had to go into Canadian Tire for - battery charge ($0), tire change ($20), Drive Clean ($35), and rear axel lubrication ($80)

More thanks to TD Canada's Gold Elite Credit Card (free for us thanks to Select Service), we have free TD Auto Club and I used the 200km towing that day, as well as a battery boost, ALL FREE

Exclusive Deluxe TD Auto Club Benefits

• Automatic membership in the Deluxe TD Auto Club to all TD Gold Elite Visa cardholders
• Unlimited Service Calls — 24 Hours a day 7 days a week  
• Family Coverage — For you and your spouse and unmarried children in your household up to 22 yrs of age and any car that you or your family members drive - even if they are not cardholders
• This is a retail value of $79.00 or $118 per couple

Emergency Roadside Services
Emergency towing up to 200 km, winching services, battery boosting, flat tire service, delivery of gas to stranded vehicles (including a small amount of free gas), lockout service

Traffic Accident Emergency Services
Accident towing, emergency transportation for you and your passengers, emergency accommodation

Stolen Vehicle Emergency Services
Emergency accommodation, meals and transportation

Hazardous Weather Services
Emergency accommodation, meals and towing

Motorist Legal Services
Legal advice and legal defence coverage

Travel Planning Services
Personalized routings and itineraries help you find the fastest or most scenic routes to your destinations in Canada and the Continental USA

Update

• June 27, 2011 - BMW sold for $500 as scrap, sad day
• We got her in March 2005 around 84,000 km (~$25000 after tax), and she left 6 years later around 210,000 km ($500). Plus the maintenance costs over the years probably ~$10,000? Yep, it's costly to maintain a used European car