BMW Performance School

[BMWZ4RIDER]

I just got back from my (2nd) visit to the BMW Performance School. I work for a company located in Greenville, SC which is only
10 minutes away from the school. Appx. 3-4 times per year I take my customers to our training facility and in this case, my boss
gave me the green light to incorporate a recreational activity
at the end of the training. Needless to say, The BMW Performance School
is #1 on my list.

Some tidbits on the BMW factory located next door to the Performance School, per the instructor:
This factory builds all vehicles for world production/export of the X3, X5 and X6.
They produce 1100 vehicles per day with 1800 associates (employees) as they are called.
65% of the vehicles are exported over seas with the largest amount going
to China.
The instructor announced that we will be driving one of the 1st ever produced X4 vehicles to add to the X series family.
BMW will expanding the factory, adding 800 more associates and adding production of the brand new X4 and will be releasing the
BRAND NEW and still under design JUMBO X7 in 2017.

On with the school experience:

I purchased the Corporate 1/2 day program (9:00 am to 1:00 PM)
for my 22 guests.
See Attached price list. I paid $8,050/22 = $365.90 per person.
This includes the below 4 events + 1 extra event given by the drift instructor, lunch for all and a goodie bag with a BMW
Performance Hat, M Series T shirt and belt clip. These items are not available for purchase and only available to attendee's of the school.

Here is the program I purchased:
Performance Driving (on technical track)
5 Cars, 2 laps person, per car.
The 5 cars included, all 2015 Model years.
Top speed reached was low 80's
We were allowed to run in sport mode/manual. No Sport + to kick off DSC.
Z 35is/DCT- Incredible, Loved by all, Fantastic handling, great speed.
M5/DCT- WOW for a jumbo car- Fast as Hell, impressive, Could Get the DSC to kick in and slow the car and keep it from skidding and
stop under steerng
2015 M4/DCT-Over the top performance. Best in class. I WANT ONE
Brand New Just Released X4/Auto- Impressive handling, OK speed, lack luster transmission.
2014 X6M/DCT Impressive handling, OK speed. always pushing the throttle looking for more speed.

Timed Autocross
7 laps ( 2 practice)
All M3 Cars/DCT/Sport Mode, Use M1 to launch and to keep all driving honest, run the course in M2 to test driving skills and braking skills.
Fantastic event and fun as hell.
(DAMM- I finished 4th out of 22)

Handling Track/Drift Track Elimination Event
All 650i cars with DSC off
Oval shaped track with full water pouring on the track
3 laps on with 2 cars on the track with each car starting on opposite
side of each other. 1st car to cross the finish line (without spinning out) wins and moves to the next round.
650i with 545HP, DSC off and heavy. Great car handling event.
I was on the last lap and was too heavy on the gas and spun out.

J Turn at Speed in Reverse.- See the video.
M3/Full speed in Reverse
The instructor threw in this event in for our group as we were ahead of schedule.
Line up the car at the edge of the track.
Instructor will handle the shifting.
Full Throttle in reverse.
The instructor will tell you to apply Full Brake and Full Left Hand steering lock.
Spin the car and continue straight on at 1/3 throttle.
Many, many full spin outs. My run was on video.
GREAT FUN

Last Event
Hot Lap is a M5 with DSC off.
126 MPH down the back straight.
Full drifting thru the turns.
We had 4- M5 drifting side by side on the track at 1 time. No chance to video this as I was hanging on.
Driving skills by the instructors were (needless to say) FANSASTIC and Impressive.

Great School.
I could not get enough of this experience.
I would recommend this school to anyone, car Enthusiast or not.

[BMWZ4RIDER]

As a follow on to my above post. I asked the teams what do they do with these cars after they finish there time at the school.
The schools fully abuses these cars for 3000 miles.
They are maintained by the techs on staff during this time but at the end the cars getr new wheels, tires, brakes, mainteniance and what ever is needed and then the schools AUCTION THE CARS OFF TO BMW DEALERS WHO SELL THEM AS 3000 MILES OLD, CARS.

[nicknaz]

Originally Posted by BMWZ4RIDER

They are maintained by the techs on staff during this time but at the end the cars getr new wheels, tires, brakes, mainteniance and what ever is needed and then the schools AUCTION THE CARS OFF TO BMW DEALERS WHO SELL THEM AS 3000 MILES OLD, CARS.

Low miles executive driven demo! CPO! great value

Thanks for posting; that is awesome. I got a free performance center track day with my 335 lease but didn't go because it is a huge effort to get to Greeville SC from San Diego CA. It is on my radar screen to do "performance center delivery" next time around.

Any more impressions on the E89 35is vs. F8X M3/M4 ?

[jparnes1]

Fun day. I've done all those things there except the reverse J turn. that sounds awesome!

[BMWZ4RIDER]

Originally Posted by nicknaz

Low miles executive driven demo! CPO! great value

Thanks for posting; that is awesome. I got a free performance center track day with my 335 lease but didn't go because it is a huge effort to get to Greeville SC from San Diego CA. It is on my radar screen to do "performance center delivery" next time around.

Any more impressions on the E89 35is vs. F8X M3/M4 ?

Speed- The M3 won the power and speed comparison in the straight away's.
I hit mid 80's in the M3 and appx. 80 in the Z on the same stretch of track. The M3 should win this battle as it is a 3580 LB 425 HP car compared to the portley 3307 LB 335 HP 35is.

Transmission- Both were a 7 speed DCT trans, run in the Sport /Manual mode so performance was very even.

Handling- I give the win to the Z4. The feeling of being much lower to the ground made the Z feel extremely secure when running at speed into and thru the S and U turns. I felt literally glued and planted to the ground with no hint of under steer ( scrubbing the tires) or the feeling of potential over steer and spinning out. Fantastic and confidence building the farther into each lap I got.
The sheer balance of the much larger M3 however cannot be overlooked and was truly amazing for such a large machine.

Braking- The M3 was abused over and over again on my 9, timed track laps ( I got 2 extra as I was the sole person in my car). Having to basically panic stop in a box so no time penalty was received gave me a good chance to literally put the petal to the floor as hard as possible over and over again and there was absolutely no fade. The M had the carbon ceramic brakes under these conditions were amazing.
Z4- I did not have the chance to compare the Z to the M3 under these conditions and unless the Z had the M3 optional Carbon ceramic brakes ($8000K option) the M3 wins.

Looks- Z4 WINS EVERY TIME

[jannisa]

What a day it must have been, thanks for sharing. I wish I were in your customers list

[jparnes1]

You are obviously a very biased Z4 owner! There's no way the Z4 handles like an M car, lower center of gravity or not.

[VMRWheels]

Nice, sounds like a blast