My Performance Center Delivery

[wjbender]

I can hardly believe that my baby is safely in my garage in New Jersey. Last Sunday (1/26/15) I flew out of Newark, NJ to Greenville /Spartanburg just missing the biggest storm of the winter. Upon arrival the Marriott hotel picked us up in a BMW 7 series sedan. You get great service there, and I'm sure most of the hotel business is BMW related. Very nice hotel, and extremely helpful staff.

OK on to the good stuff. In the morning we all boarded a shuttle to the BMW Performance Center. This is a great opportunity to meet other enthusiasts and discuss all aspects of BMWs. At the center everyone attended a one hour classroom session and met our instructors. At the end of the class we were grouped by the model of BMW we were taking delivery on, and led to the parking lot to choose our track car. All X5s were 5.0s with the DHP package and all weather tires. All were stock, no mods.

The instructor explained that the course is an abbreviated version of their on day driving school. It is intended to show us what the X5 is capable of on the track. After my instructor told me it is difficult to roll and X5 I pushed it to the limit and found myself drifting corners The highlights of the class are: High speed braking exercise, skid pad, the track, and the off road course.

High speed braking is essentially designed to show how to control the X5 during an all out panic stop. Jam the brakes on from 45 mph and steer through some road cones.

The skid pad is a large paved circle that is kept wet by lawn sprinklers. We were instructed to turn off DSC and drive at 35 mph. Before you get to that speed the car will spin out. Next put DSC on and repeat the test. This time is it not possible to spin and I had the gas pedal to the floor!!

The race course consists of a salmon, then a long sweeping high speed curve with a hair pin turn at the end. You can really get the feel for the superb X5 handling here. This is where I was able to do some drifting.

Off road was amazing. I actually drove through 18" deep water. The instructor told us the doors are waterproof and there is no chance of water entering the cabin. At one pint the car was on three wheels. Here are some pictures from the days events, including the introduction to my new ride

[barcelona]

Nice write up wjbender. Sounds like you did a lot on a fun filled day.
I did not know that it was hard to roll and has waterproof doors , still not convinced, but that's just me. Maybe that explains the door seals that sometimes get bent outward, lol.

[Taran.J]

Very cool!

Why did you choose to option only 19's? Seems like there aren't many of us. I did the same thing knowing I was going to buy aftermarket wheels and tires which I did but all Msports I see a lot of folks go for the 469M's.

[wjbender]

After taking delivery of my X5 i wanted to escape Winter for a bit so my wife and I decided to stay in Hilton Head, South Carolina until the end of the week. That is about 251 miles from Greenville. It is wide open country with very little traffic.

Although Hilton Head is not much further South you can see from the photos a dramatic change in vegetation. Notice the palm trees and Spanish Moss on the other trees. Most of the trees have not lost there leaves.

The last stop was in California Maryland at a little resort town called Solomons Island. It was late in the day and you can see the outline of the bridge to the island in the sunset.

The last photo is on the way home to NJ on the I95 north. I guess the engine was finally getting broken in, because this is where I got the best fuel mileage of 35.8 mpg

When I arrived home I had 1200 miles on the clock.

[wjbender]

Originally Posted by Taran.J

Very cool!

Why did you choose to option only 19's? Seems like there aren't many of us. I did the same thing knowing I was going to buy aftermarket wheels and tires which I did but all Msports I see a lot of folks go for the 469M's.

Road are bad here in NJ - lots of "tank traps" and it is too easy to damage larger wheels with low profile tires. Also the 19" are good in snow. I tested that today as It was snowing again here. I have the Pirellis.

[wjbender]

Originally Posted by barcelona

Nice write up wjbender. Sounds like you did a lot on a fun filled day.
I did not know that it was hard to roll and has waterproof doors , still not convinced, but that's just me. Maybe that explains the door seals that sometimes get bent outward, lol.

I pushed the car to the limit on the track - I was literally drifting all four wheels! OK - if you ran off the road into a ditch you will roll

[Taran.J]

Originally Posted by wjbender

Road are bad here in NJ - lots of "tank traps" and it is too easy to damage larger wheels with low profile tires. Also the 19" are good in snow. I tested that today as It was snowing again here. I have the Pirellis.

My same thoughts here in Metro Seattle area, wrapping them in winter tires after this season.

[retx]

Nice one. This trip sounds great.

Did they specially put your car in the showroom to wait for you? So once they showed off to you, they just opened that slide doors and you drove away? Amazing.

[wjbender]

Originally Posted by retx

Nice one. This trip sounds great.

Did they specially put your car in the showroom to wait for you? So once they showed off to you, they just opened that slide doors and you drove away? Amazing.

Yes - the car is there waiting for you. They assign a delivery specialist who spends 2 - 3 hours with you going over all of the features and explaining how to operate each system. When finished, they open the doors and you drive out.

[Ashot12]

Congrats, do you pay for it extra?

[opasha]

Awesome write up and pics, wjbender . Glad you had fun and congrats on finally get your X5!

[wjbender]

Originally Posted by Ashot12

Congrats, do you pay for it extra?

Performance center delivery is available for no extra cost on any BMW, not just the X series built in SC. You pay the transportation there and they pay your hotel and meals.

[retx]

Originally Posted by wjbender

Yes - the car is there waiting for you. They assign a delivery specialist who spends 2 - 3 hours with you going over all of the features and explaining how to operate each system. When finished, they open the doors and you drive out.

Wow. Excellency.

Got to schedule the road trip in the next BMW opportunity. Thanks for the insight!! SC isn't really too far away from us.

[wjbender]

In case I forgot to mention - This car is AWESOME!! The diesel engine with this transmission is mechanical perfection. Exceeds my expectations in every way.

[r33_RGSport]

@wjbender, sounds like it is a lot of fun.
Maybe my next car.
Looking forward for the Salmons.

[kkakonn]

Congratulations! It looked like an awesome experience to pick up a new vehicle

[Deneriuss]

I so cannot wait to do this soon. I'm looking forward to it.

[SpdAddictRY]

Congrats on the new car and what an awesome experience. Thanks for sharing!!

[leasehackr]

Congratulations!! looks very nice!!

[Baunton]

wjbender Great review, many thanks for that. I don't think I am alone that buyers outside of North America are EXTREMELY envious of you being able to do what you do and take delivery direct from BMW.
Enjoy your new addition.

[cenix]

Originally Posted by wjbender

You pay the transportation there and they pay your hotel and meals.

I wish I had the time to do this! What a great experience, thanks for sharing.

[Kewl X5]

Nice pics. Did a PDC pick up with a BMW M3 about 9 years ago. Tons of fun. Had factory tour. The mini driving school was fun as well.

Enjoyed the pics.