Another happy PCD customer - some notes on the experience with pics!

Well, where to start.

First off, for anyone reading this and on the fence about doing PCD --- just do it. At least once. It's well worth it and the experience you will have plus the trip back will never be forgotten.

I figured I'll post some of the highlights and not-so-highlights (there was only one) and share my experience as others have. I found these types of threads useful when making my own plans and decisions, so I hope this will be helpful and useful to someone out there in the future.

Since I have small kids, my wife and I decided it would be too much hassle to take the whole family and a babysitter so she can enjoy PCD with me, and leaving kids for 3 days at home was not an option. So I opted to take my buddy with me and it ended up working out as instead of flying, I drove my SLK which was at lease-end and returned it in Greenville after I got the BMW.

The PCD Experience



A big thanks to all who work at the PCD for putting this on for us, especially the instructors. Also a big thanks to the tour guides at the Spartanburg plant. Everyone was really extremely nice and friendly, and happy to answer questions, of which I had quite a few.

Basically, the schedule was something like this. They split everyone into two groups and some people get their cars and do the factory tour and the off-road course first, others (me included) do something like the following:

• Dinner in Greenville / Hotel for one night the night before PCD
• Shuttle to PCD from hotel (we drove behind the shuttle as did several other cars)
• Track exercises in an "NYC" (Not Your Car) similar car to whatever you ordered

  • Intro / orientation to the track exercises
  • Handling Course done on short race track type of setting (not a full road course)
  • Skid pad / traction control exercise
  • Braking exercise / Steering with ABS
  • Hot lap in an M5 driven by an instructor (must do this!)

• X3 Factory Tour
• X5 off-road course - you drive the course, not an instructor!
• Lunch
• Delivery of your Vehicle -- this was the only thing I did after lunch, which was great because I had lots of time to get my camera out!

The Track



We got to do the driving portion first half of the day, which was lots of fun. They seem to split up the X vehicles into one group and the sedans/coupes into another. Our group included (I believe) 3 X3's and our X6M.

Our X6M kept catching up to the X3's in front of us. On every lap I got called into the pit lane so I can get around the car ahead of me and have a clear track... needless to say we kept catching the next car rather quickly and had to go through pit lane again on each next lap! That was fun. This thing is a beast.



It was raining the whole time and the track was wet, which means we got to test the cars in adverse conditions - a real confidence boost, to be sure. We drove through rain and snow and even ice on the way from PCD into North Carolina, so the PCD exercises definitely helped.

As the day went on I noticed some of the other drivers who weren't initially as comfortable starting to step on it more in their X3's - that was fun to see as people loosened up and got more comfortable.

We got to slide some 3-series around and spin out, then test the traction control and see how much it can help. It's not magic and wont' drive the car for you, but it definitely keeps the car from completely spinning out when you step on it - you have to be deliberate to get the car to lose it with DSC enabled, and that was on a completely wet surface. Pretty amazing.

Braking exercise was great too as you can really hammer the brakes (they encourage this) and see just how fast your car can stop.

No words for the M5 hot-lap. Just do it. Don't do it after lunch --- that car is a BEAST and sounds incredible at revs... anyone who says the new M5's, M6's and X///M's don't sound good need to hear them at 4,000-6,000 RPM's in their full glory! The guys who work as instructors are all former or current racers and they know how to drive - you won't be disappointed with this!

X3 Factory Tour



Not sure about you but I've never been inside a production facility before. I've seen pictures but it's really cool to walk around and see them build an X3. All of the engineering, software, robotics, and logistics which is involved is mind-boggling. Definitely a highlight of the experience.

X5 off-road course



Highly recommend this even if you're not buying an X car. It's really crazy what these cars can do - from driving on a bank, to being on 3 wheels going over a rock hill, to treading 22" of water - this is the stuff you think only Range Rovers and H1 Hummers can do. While there's no comparison of off-road abilities of an X5 to an H1 Hummer, it's nonetheless impressive.



It was even more impressive that they let us (i.e., anyone) drive the X5's through the course, basically saying anyone can do it. This was showing off the xDrive system and it was nice for me to know (I asked) that they do sometimes use X6's in a pinch and the X6 can handle and do everything the X5 does, even though it's not marketed that way.

Delivery



The moment I've been waiting for since late November last year - time to meet my new baby! My car was in one of the several "office-garage" areas that have access from inside the facility to walk in, do paperwork, etc., and then a double door for the car to drive out. Very classy and it was an experience to walk in and see my car, shiny and new, sitting in an office-like space waiting for me to drive off.

Note that there are only a few of these spaces, I saw only 2 of them but there may be more. That means only a few cars per day will get to sit in one of these. The other one had an M3 in it, so I am guessing these are reserved for M cars and/or the more high end models.

Since I've owned an X6 before, we skipped the rudimentary stuff, went over some of the cameras and USB/sound things, and of course, the M buttons and controls. It really didn't take much time, and I had time left over to take some pictures.

We were out of there at around 2:30pm or so after spending 45 minutes doing photos.

All in all, an awesome experience that I would recommend to anybody.

Zentrum Museum



We had time on our hands, so after taking delivery and dropping off the SLK at the MB dealer, we went back to the Zentrum Museum. If you come there with your new BMW you can park on the sidewalk, which is pretty cool. The museum currently has an art car in there, lots of F1 stuff, motorcycles, BMW airplane engines, and more - really well done and absolutely worth a visit even if you only spend an hour.

Road Trip home!!!



The final and most exciting part of the PCD experience is ..... the drive home!!! Went through all sorts of conditions and mountain roads to Asheville, NC, then Robbinsville, NC, the Tail of the Dragon into Tennessee, and various local routes and interstates home to South Florida. I had 1148 miles on the clock when I got in, just enough to go out and celebrate the next night and complete my 1200 miles break-in period - which I did this morning.



I couldn't think of a better way to bring my new baby into this world and get the break-in all done at the same time.

Thanks for reading --





P.S. The non-highlight? The only one I can say, and it's been said nicely before... there's really no way around this but the food at the Greenville Marriott is horrible. Not sure if it's the BMW menu only but other than the salad, both my meal and my buddy's meals just weren't great at all. No worries. We had some great bison burger once we got into Asheville that made up for it!

Glad you enjoyed PCD. The only thing better is do ED before you do PCD.

Sorry you didn't like your dinner. What did you have? My filet was excellent.

ED is definitely next on the list. Of course, can't do ED with any X vehicle other than X1 currently, so this time around PCD was the only option.

On the food, I'm sure it's subjective. I had the Shrimp and Grits - had it before, in Savannah, and this was nothing close. I don't remember what my buddy had. Glad you liked your filet. Maybe we caught the place on a bad day?

Concur with your experience - picked up my 2013 X5 there and drove it home to Maryland. My son drove up from college in Athens, Georgia and met me for the PCD (he has an older X3) and we both had a great time. Besides being impressed with the X5 we drove off-road, I was equally impressed by the professionalism and enthusiasm of the staff. I have encouraged all my friends who are getting BMWs to to the PCD experience.

Originally Posted by ddk632

ED is definitely next on the list. Of course, can't do ED with any X vehicle other than X1 currently, so this time around PCD was the only option.

On the food, I'm sure it's subjective. I had the Shrimp and Grits - had it before, in Savannah, and this was nothing close. I don't remember what my buddy had. Glad you liked your filet. Maybe we caught the place on a bad day?

My wife & I had excellent breakfasts @ the Greenville Marriott. We had the filet as well. Sorry your dinner was not up to par We did our PCD in October , and had great weather. Your descriptions brought back great memories of a lifetime. I second your recommendation to do the PCD if possible. We did ours in the same order you described. There is no better feeling when you see your new BMW for the first time in your own private showroom ! Have a great time with your new X6M.

Ok guys, next PCD I will definitely have to try the filet at the Greenville Marriott

OP - thanks much for the post. Very helpful indeed! We'll be at the Greenville Marriot in about 18 hours. Definitely getting the filet )