Hey Guys,
I just got back from an awesome weekend at the Performance Center in SC and a day of driving on the Blue Ridge Parkway. My wife and I drove down to Greenville, SC on Thursday evening for our Friday delivery date. We dropped off a rental car at the airport and the hotel picked us up in a nice 750Li. We then had a fantastic dinner at the hotel and went to bed early. On Friday morning we had breakfast at the hotel and took a shuttle to the Performance Center.
The day started early at 8AM and we met with our instructors and had a quick class to explain what we were going to do out on the track. Then, we went outside to pick our cars for the day. I got a 435i Sport line in MG with Coral interior and 19s. It was stunning! (This was the first time I had ever seen the 4 series in person!) Next to me was a guy picking up a M6 and a few X3 deliveries. Overall, I think there were about 5 deliveries on Friday. The M6 and I paired up into a group and headed over to do the skid pad. We jumped into a 335i (the designated skid-pad mobile) and spun out very quickly w/o traction control. Once we turned on DCT, it was almost impossible to spin out. Pretty cool!
After that we went over to do some braking exercises to see how well the cars stopped. That was pretty fun and nice to see how quickly the cars could come to a stop. Then, we did the final exercise which was a mini-track course with some slalom cones. This was probably my favorite. It was awesome to be able to really rip around the course and see how well the car could handle. I was amazed to see how crazy my wife was driving through here. I was scared she was going to push the car past its limits and off the track! Tires were squealing.
Finally, we finished up with a hot lap in the M3. I do not have a track/racing history, but I've watched a lot of YouTube videos of drifting (Chris Harris shout out!). Yea, YouTube does not even come close to how it feels to be in the passenger seat. The instructors are incredible drivers and I have an even greater respect for the M3 now. Holy crap.
After that we checked out the museum and did the off road course. I was expecting this to be fun, but it was REALLY FUN. Super impressed with the X3s off-road capabilities.
Next, we had a delicious lunch and then finally took delivery of the car. I ordered my car back on July 5th, so it's been a VERY long wait for me. Other than my track car, my 435i was the first 4 series I had seen in person. It was a pretty surreal experience to say the least.
Friday evening we drove to Asheville, NC for the night. Saturday, we woke up early to get breakfast and get on the road. We spent 8 hours in the car driving around on the Blue Ridge Parkway and working our way back to Raleigh, NC. The car has 500 miles already and it's only been 2 days... Eek!
The PCD experience is seriously amazing and if you live anywhere remotely close to Greenville, SC, you should absolutely do it. We were treated like VIPs the entire time and it really is the ultimate weekend for a BMW fan. We can't stop talking about it!
Okay, now some pics: