One of the best-hidden benefits for people who buy a new BMW is the New Owner’s Track Drive. This is a half day course offered at the BMW Performance Centers. It’s literally a hidden cheat code for new owners to be able to unlock the potential of their BMW cars.
How To Book The Course
Driving every BMW M car available on a track with a professional BMW instructor? Yes, please! Driving a BMW X5 through an intense off-road course through water and up and down incredibly steep hills? Where do I sign up?
Every new 2021 BMW comes with two “seats” to the course. If you want to bring an additional guest, it costs $299. In my case I took my whole family: my wife and I, along with our college aged daughter. So I did have to pay for an additional seat.
When you book over the phone, the coordinator will ask you for the VIN of your new BMW and what BMW dealer you purchased from. Some clacking away at a keyboard and a pause to confirm that I matched the VIN, my credit card to pay for our daughter and I was in!
The Day Starts With A Coffee
The morning check-in process was typical German uber efficient. So much so that I had time to grab an espresso in the cafe while waiting for the course to start. Fun fact: Even the coffee cups had Roundels on them. All the participants get great looking BMW lanyards with name badges.
In my group, the most popular new car purchased was the BMW X3 Sports Activity Vehicle which is exactly the last BMW to join my garage as well.
The morning starts with introductions and a short classroom outlining basic things such as seat position, the importance of vision and hand position. The day is broken down into an off-road segment demonstrating the importance of the xDrive system aboard the X5.
Next, you will get to experience the “Performance Drive” on the track with some of the best Ultimate Driving Machines. And the conclusion is a Hot Lap aboard the M5 Competition with a professional BMW instructor behind the wheel.
Trust me on this, this is the best part of the day. It is a tire smoking/shredding sideways fest I’ll never forget while riding with Laura Hayes who’s insanely talented.
Don’t Leave Without A Souvenir
After our course was completed, we spent a good amount of time in their wonderful gift shop at the Performance Center adding more BMW paraphernalia to my closet. We headed out, grabbed lunch and hit BMW CCA’s Foundation Museum, catching a historic display right before it closed.
The final item on the list is a BMW’s Museum and a factory tour. The BMW Museum doesn’t have a huge display of cars, but is definitely high quality. BMW F1 car, check. First BMW produced there, check.
The factory tour was incredible, but sadly they would not let us take any pictures. All in all, it’s a wonderful way to spend a day soaking in BMWs. I really cannot think of a better way to spend a day.
