My wife and I took delivery of our X3 February 4 at the Performance Center. I had done PCD on my 335i back in 2008 so I was familiar with what to expect. The weather wasn't the greatest, it rained the whole time we were there, but it was still fun!
We flew out of Chicago Midway the evening prior to the delivery but ended up missing our connection in Atlanta because of a combination of a 20 min delay leaving Chicago and having to wait on the tarmac in Atlanta because a plane was still at our arrival gate. Thankfully, we made standby on the last flight to Greenville-Spartanburg. I would've had to rent a car and drive otherwise. Unfortunately, that meant we got in at 11pm and missed our complimentary dinner. However, they did have a deli tray waiting for us in our room. The next morning, we made sure to take advantage of the free breakfast!
On to the fun stuff! We arrived at the Performance Center and went to the classroom with our instructors. After the talk, the whole group got into their respective cars. We had several 3 series cars, 5 series sedans, a 5 series GT, and a couple X5 diesels. They didn't have any X3s available for some reason so we got one of the X5s to drive. The group was split in half and my half went to the slalom course first.
I was amazed at how well the X5 handled and how much power/performance the diesel engine had, a testament to BMW engineering! The X5 handled the slalom course very well, in the wet no less
Just a little bit of body roll and a slight bit of slip from the tires. I wonder how well it would've gripped on a dry track? After a driver change we did the course again.
The two groups then swapped positions and my half went to the ABS braking exercise. After that, we all met up at the skidpad. They would only allow us to take 335s out on the skidpad so everyone had to wait for a turn in one of 4 available.
While I was waiting I noticed a car out on the track with a pretty agressive exhaust note. My eyes were drawn to the paint color and instantly I knew what it was. The 1M!
I believe they had an M school going on at the same time as I saw a bunch of M5s and M3s out on the track. I'm not sure if the 1M was just out testing or if it was the instructor. I barely had time to take a pic before it disappeared to the other side of the track.
After the skidpad, we all went back inside. My half took off for the factory tour in a caravan of X5s while the other half of the group had their deliveries. I would've liked to have seen the X3 assembly hall but the tour only encompasses the main assembly area. It was cool to see how BMWs are made. Afterwards, we made it back to the Performance Center where we did the offroad course, then went inside for lunch.
After lunch, the instructors took us on a hot lap in M5s! I sat in the back seat so I really felt those g's while the instructor was drifting all over the place! I actually felt a little bit uneasy in the stomach but managed to hold it together; I knew I shouldn't have ate so much right before!
We then took delivery of our X3. It was nice to finally be able to drive off in a car that we had ordered just 5 weeks prior. Too bad it was raining so as soon as we pulled out it was wet and dirty for the rest of the weekend.
We ended up staying in Greenville one extra night so as to have a fresh start driving in the morning. I ordered a winter tire/wheel package from Tire Rack and had them ship to an installer in Greenville so I had those installed the next morning before we left.
We left Saturday morning for a stopover in Columbus, Ohio (I previously lived there and still have friends there) and drove through The Tail of the Dragon in the Smoky Mountains. We stayed in Columbus Saturday night and hit the road again for Chicago Sunday evening. It was a long trip but worth it. By the time we got home we had put almost 1100 miles on the X3, basically the whole break-in period.
I highly recommend PCD for anyone who has never done it. Just try to do it during warmer weather when the drive home is more scenic. The fall is a good time when you can see the leaves changing colors through the mountains. I'm attempting to post some pics, hopefully this works.
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