The last time I left off where I was sitting in the BMW Premier Lounge and enjoying a great breakfast waiting for my pick up time. As I have mentioned in that article, my presentation tour was scheduled for 11:30am, and my delivery specialist assigned to me was Ms. Margit Lange.
So, after enjoying a few sandwiches and croissants, surfing the web a little bit and setting the Internet Explorer home page to edbmw.com(shhh, nobody has to know), Ms. Lange met by the monitors where my name was being displayed.
The first step in the pick-up process is the Product Info Centre where you will learn a little bit about the car design process with all its steps. In case you didn’t know, the time length of designing a brand new model is somewhere between 5-6 years.
In the same tour, you will be learning a little bit more about the features found in your car, safety elements and technology used, servicing your car, BMW assist, etc..
Of course, the presentation is geared toward the type of car you’re picking up, so in my case, since it was a BMW 335i, then the tour was focused on the 3-series.
The room we entered was probably one of the coolest places in the Welt, full of video projectors and LCD screens. Being a tech savvy, I was instantly impressed by this. I decided not to take pictures in there and focus mostly on videos, so you can see exactly what I am trying to describe.
So, I and Marge approached one of the small podiums, my new BMW is presented by 3D online renderings on touchscreens. She entered our tour code and instantly a video started. Like I said, no photos were taken but I think you will find the videos way cooler.
Pretty interesting, isn’t it?
Since I was traveling by myself this time, it was a challenge to focus on the presentation and in the same time being a photographer or cameraman.
And here is the second video, like I said, this one is all about the car performance, safety issues and car service.
From here, we went for a virtual “test drive”. YES, you’re going to play some little video games in this tour as well. Isn’t that exciting? Well, I know I was. :)
This part of the tour is called the Info Module where you will take part in an active dialogue and your delivery specialist will be presenting features such as simulated driving dynamic functions and a short introduction to the car’s ease of control. Using a steering wheel, two paddles and the iDrive Controller, the customer gets to know his car with all its features during this virtual “test drive”. On top of this, you basically get a chance to test your car’s handling and response in unpredictable situations.
Unfortunately, as soon as I was trying to setup my camera for recording, my batteries ran out so I was out of luck. A side note, if your batteries are dead, then the only place where you can purchase some, is right outside the Welt, near the U-Bahn stop, about 2 min walk.
So, let me go back to the “video game”. Margit put me through different scenarios, testing the handling with and without DSC, testing the brakes in unpredictable situations, driving the car with and without active steering or adaptive headlights, etc.. It was pretty fun, the graphics were amazing and entertaining in the same time. I liked the part where you have the option to see a replay of your driving and realize how bad of a driver you really are, at least in the a game scenario :)
This whole experience lasts about 10-15min and it concludes your tour. After this, you get a few minutes where you can go and grab your stuff from the lounge area. You can also have the option to leave your belongings there and pick them up after your delivery is over.
Hang in there, the most exciting part will be coming up shortly. My car is just getting ready to be presented on the Premier Level.
