[rmr927]

If you ever get a chance to order a car, I highly recommend the Performance Center Delivery. BMW puts on a class act and really treats their customers with highest standards.

BMW will put you up in the Greenville Marriott for the night which includes dinner the night you arrive, a drink voucher and breakfast the morning of delivery. You are responsible for getting yourself to Spartanburg. I chose to fly into Greenville-Spartanburg International and once there, just simply call the hotel and tell them you are doing the PCD delivery and they send out a driver to pick you up. My driver, Daniel, pulled up in a white X5 within 15 minutes of my call, loaded up my luggage and drove me over to the hotel. On the way, he delivered the welcome packet from BMW, told me a bit about the delivery experience and called ahead for my dinner reservations. As I entered the hotel, I was greeted by name, promptly checked in and and had my bags delivered to my room. Never in my life of staying in hotels have I been treated this nicely. Once settled in my room, I went down to the hotel restaurant "Artisan" for my complimentary meal. It's a bit of a limited menu and slightly upscale but delicious. I chose the romaine salad, beef medallions with mashed potatoes and chocolate mousse for dessert. The hostess brought over the check and you simply enter your room number and sign. The tip is included but I did pad it a bit more for the server.

Breakfast the following morning starts at 6:30 and consists of anything from cereal to hot foods including an omelette station. Again, once done, just sign the check and walk away...it's all on BMW. The hotel shuttles you to the PCD promptly at 7:45...unfortunately it's in a shuttle bus. You will need to meet at the bellhop station by 7:40 with your luggage. You can opt to stay an extra night at the BMW rate and I suggest this if you are driving an extended distance home.

Once at the Performance Center, you gather in the lobby (which was rather exiting for me because that's where my car was sitting) and drop off your luggage, coats, etc. They will store it until you leave. You will then be escorted to the classroom portion where you meet the instructors, in our case Mike Renner and Justin Fouts. Both gave a brief bio with Mike going over all the safety features of the car and teaching us how to be better drivers. Once class is done, it's playtime. Outside of the classroom, there will be a row of cars equivalent to the car you will be picking up. The instructors will set you up with your car, go over proper seating position and then pair you up into groups. There are three possible segments you can start out in, Slalom, Skidpad or Braking.

My group started out in braking. The idea is to get comfortable and trust the ABS system in the car. You will do 3 panic stops, first at 40mph, than 45 and finally 50. When you get up to the 50mph mark, you will have to steer the car to the left or you will eat some cones. The instructors are in constant communication with you via a radio in the car and will comment on your driving techniques giving corrections if needed.

The slalom / road course is next. It's a small kidney shaped course with some strategically place cones. Don't be afraid to push the car hard, the instructors encourage it as long as you keep all four tires on the pavement and aren't killing any cones. They actually tell you to remember these three letters "N.Y.C." (Not Your Car). Again, the whole idea is to get a feel for what the car can to as well as to trust the stability control.

The wet skidpad is the final of the three courses. It's a 300 ft diameter concrete pad that they wet down with sprinklers. You park the car you are driving off track and hop into and drive the instructors car, it this case a 335i. He is in the passenger seat controlling the DSC. You hug the yellow line doing about 20mph with the DSC off and floor the throttle. In a matter of seconds, you are doing 360's and heading off towards the grass. Once you get facing in the right direction again, he switches the DSC back on and has you again follow the yellow line. With the DSC on, the car doing everything in it's power to keep from spinning out.

The final treat is a hot lap with an instructor in a M5. The M cars are so damn fast and it's amazing to see the control the instructors have with them. By the way, they used to do this after lunch but I'm guessing some people "lost their lunch".

After the hot lap, they split the group in two. Half will do the X5 off road course and the rest will have their car's delivered. I was in the delivery group and I'm I sorry that I forgot my delivery specialist's name but she was awesome. They will spend as much time as needed with you to go over every aspect of the car.

The Performance Center has 3 on-staff chefs that prepare a variety of meals for lunch. You get about an hour break for lunch and again it's all complimentary. This is a nice time to sit down a chat with everyone.

The X5 course is really fun. As you can probably imagine, you will be going over some rugged terrain. The "Frame Breaker" is the most amazing. You drive to the top of a hill and slowly creep forward until the only two wheel touching the ground are the RF and LR. The X5 then feels like it is going to tip over with the RR wheel dangling about 3 feet in the air. You will drive through a river with water that reaches the door sills and do some uphill climbs and downhill descents.

After the X5 course, you get a tour of the factory in which they build the X3 and X4's. The factory is HUGE and you will only see about 1/5th of it. It takes about an hour and I swear you walk about a mile. It's amazing to see the robotics and automation that goes into building a BMW. No cameras or cell phones allowed inside.

Upon completion of the factory tour, you have the option of going to the BMW Zentrum museum. It takes about 30 minutes to cruise through the museum. They have a nice display of classic cars, bike, race cars and engines on display. If you want a good photo op, drive to the front of the museum and park so the BMW roundel sign and flags are behind you car.

The one suggestion I could give is if your drive home is more than a couple hours, book the hotel an extra night. You get it at the BMW rate and it includes breakfast. The PCD experience is fun and is also very draining.

The ride back home to NJ was a fun way to get aquatinted with the car and an easy way to get some break-in miles done. I was impressed with the comfort of the seats, ergonomics and the way the car drove. I had it in Eco-Pro mode most of the way (probably the last time it gets used) and was impressed to see the car get over 30 mpg.

Sorry for the long post but I wanted to get most everything in there.

Here are some pics from the trip.

View post on imgur.com

I had a GoPro in the car and once I've got everything edited, I'll post the link.

[ZilberGrau ZHP]

Excellent write up! I felt I was there - my dealer delivery was much less stylish, fun
and dramatic let me tell ya...

[KneeDragr]

Sounds like the chore of flying down there and driving back is offset by the fun day and the lack of sitting in a tiny room for an hour listening to sales pitches for various extras.

[mrich1353]

I hope to some day do a performance delivery, great write up. I noticed your car has the front license plate bracket installed, was this your option / request because NJ requires a front plate?

[rmr927]

Originally Posted by mrich1353

I hope to some day do a performance delivery, great write up. I noticed your car has the front license plate bracket installed, was this your option / request because NJ requires a front plate?

Yeah...NJ requires front plates and the cops are a bit of a pain in the a** about it. It was a bit painful watching them drill into the front bumper but being that it is a lease, it doesn't bother me as much as if I was purchasing the car.

[rmr927]

Originally Posted by KneeDragr

Sounds like the chore of flying down there and driving back is offset by the fun day and the lack of sitting in a tiny room for an hour listening to sales pitches for various extras.

I still had to sit in the tiny room listening to the extras. You need to finalize the paperwork with the dealer before heading down to the Performance Center.

[jdgonzalez]

Fantastic write up! I wish I could do a PCD but it's just too far a drive back to Texas to really be enjoyable.

[tturedraider]

Originally Posted by jdgonzalez

Fantastic write up! I wish I could do a PCD but it's just too far a drive back to Texas to really be enjoyable.

No, not really. You're driving a new BMW back.

[sinednarow]

I noticed your car has the front license plate bracket installed

[spuntyb]

This sounds awesome. Glad you had such a great experience. I'm trying to decide what we would prefer more for our next Bimmer, this or Euro delivery...tough call!

[bily]

Originally Posted by spuntyb

This sounds awesome. Glad you had such a great experience. I'm trying to decide what we would prefer more for our next Bimmer, this or Euro delivery...tough call!

I believe you can do both. Ask your CA.

[spuntyb]

Originally Posted by bily

I believe you can do both. Ask your CA.

Nice! That sounds even better!

[335i_4D]

We have access to Euro delivery, but not to the Performance Center...

[jd_perspective]

awesome! Can't wait until mine on 1/15.

[tturedraider]

Originally Posted by spuntyb

This sounds awesome. Glad you had such a great experience. I'm trying to decide what we would prefer more for our next Bimmer, this or Euro delivery...tough call!

Originally Posted by bily

I believe you can do both. Ask your CA.

Originally Posted by spuntyb

Nice! That sounds even better!

Correct, you can do both.

[zinner]

excellent post! Thanx for taking the time.

[VMRWheels]

Thanks for sharing! Really need to do this next time around.. hopefully PCD will be available at the CA location by then

[James550i6spd]

did it last year and freaking awesome. Since we are only 3 hours away, this will be a must-do every time...we will probalby piggy back ED for double the pleasure

[skw]

You can't go wrong w/ PCD. I did it back in May and my wife and I both had a great time. Factory was closed to tours so we're making it a point to go back. FYI to anyone going, I believe the gift shop at the Performance Center gives a 20% discount to BMWCCA members. I found this out after I had gotten back. No discount at the museum's gift shop. I prefer the clothing at the PC's shop as theirs says "M Performance Driving School"!

Did you do a straight drive home to NJ? Driving back to the Boston area, we broke it up a bit. Went from the Performance Center that same afternoon & drove 4hrs up to Raleigh, NC, and stayed overnight. The next day drove from NC to NY and stayed the w/e (2 nights) in Times Sq. Then it was a 4hr drive home, just about got through the break-in miles.

Originally Posted by mrich1353

I hope to some day do a performance delivery, great write up. I noticed your car has the front license plate bracket installed, was this your option / request because NJ requires a front plate?

Here in Mass, front plates are required as well. At the PC, they ask if you want the bracket mounted. I said no. I keep the bracket and plate in the trunk. I know it has to go on one day... but not today...

[rmr927]

Here's a video I put together from the trip.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDT7U_aKobg

[dc2ning]

Awesome video. I've attended the BMW ultimate driving experience, but this looks like a great way to pick up your brand new bimmer.

[gueyestan]

I noticed your car has the front license plate bracket installed