Wow... I don't really know what to say!!
Congratulations for the trip and thanks for sharing it, very very interesting! And I'm very jealous of your car: we have the same age but I have a simply 320d 'cause in Italy is almost impossible to maintain a 335i among taxes, insurance and petrol cost
Enjoy it as much as you can (and I'm sure you'll do it) also for me mate!
PS: do Spanish and French people really drive so badly? I'm in Barcelona right now and they look ok compared to Italy...