OK -- here is my recap of my pickup from Friday...pictures included! First thing to say -- it was awesome! And as you will see...we had beautiful weather!
We (my wife and I) flew down to GSP Airport and were picked up at the airport by a Gran Turismo on loan from BMW. They took us over to the Marriott, which was also covered by BMW. Quick note about the staff there -- everyone was UNBELIEVABLY nice and helpful. Could not have been nicer. Anyway, we ate dinner at the restaurant in the hotel, called Giatu. The food was excellent as was the service. This was covered by BMW as well.
The next morning we ate breakfast and headed over to the Performance Center. After a quick driving lesson in the classroom (where they make it clear that it is "Not Your Car" so you can push it hard), we headed out to the track. Each group (there were 8 on Friday) got a car that was similar to what they were buying...so we had an X3. We split into 3 groups and my group took on the emergency braking course first. We drove at a set speed (20 then 35, then 40, then 50) and slammed on the brakes while trying to control where you were looking and going.
IMG_0279 by
lenmccart, on Flickr
I don't have pictures of the next course, which was the slalom course. Here they are teaching you the basics of race driving. Not being a car race person, it was really interesting to learn how to use brakes effectively, and hitting the apex of a curve, etc... It was a lot of fun!
Next we went to the skid pad, which was soaked down. Here they were showing off their traction control. This was the only event when the pro was in the car. We had to switch to the 335i because the test won't work on an xDrive vehicle. We started around the pad at 20 mph and floored it. Of course you started skidding immediately...which is super fun. After a couple of rounds like that he turned the traction control back on. The car didn't skid out after that, which was pretty impressive.
IMG_0281 by
lenmccart, on Flickr
Now that the course work was finished we all got to go on a Hot Lap with the pros driving. We were in the last generation M5...which was incredible. There was also another M5 and an M3. As I said before, I am not a racing person...but it was incredible. I have video of them taking on the skid pad...but it is taking too long to upload. Here is a picture of me with the M3.
IMG_0759 by
lenmccart, on Flickr
After lunch we took delivery of our car: a Space Grey X3 28i! We went with the brushed aluminum interior.
IMG_0285 by
lenmccart, on Flickr
IMG_0292 by
lenmccart, on Flickr
After lunch we went to the offroad course. We drove through water and up and down rock hills. The hill descent control is pretty impressive.
Then we went over the factory tour. They took away our phones...so no cameras. They did let us drive up on the sidewalk to take some pictures though.
IMG_0774 by
lenmccart, on Flickr
So that was basically it...we drove the 8 hours home in the new car! I would highly recommend doing the pickup if it makes sense for where you are living. It was really fun and a different experience than a normal car purchase.