BMW Performance Driving School in SC
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I am interested in going down to SC to this school, it looks like it is a fun time. I would love to hear some feedback if anyone has already attended.
Thanks!
Bill
Thanks!
Bill
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I did the 2 day class and really had a great time - I can't say enough good things about it. We used 330i's, but I think they're using 335i's now.
One thing I really noticed was how attentive the instructors were; it was as if they were teaching the class for the first time. They kept the class enjoyable, but you could tell that their main interest was in educating the students - not providing some sort of Disney-like ride. In other words, when you did something really stupid or wrong, you got verbal ruler across the knuckles (albeit in a nice way, if that's possible).
They combine the one and two day classes, i.e. the people that are taking the one day class share the car with the first day of the two-day students. If you're taking the two day class you get your own car the second day.
Also on the second day is a chance to test drive a bunch of other cars. I played around in an M4, M5, 650i, 750i, and... something else I've forgotten.
One thing I didn't like: on the first day, when you're sharing the car and you're the passenger, doing high speed laps can make you a little
One thing I really noticed was how attentive the instructors were; it was as if they were teaching the class for the first time. They kept the class enjoyable, but you could tell that their main interest was in educating the students - not providing some sort of Disney-like ride. In other words, when you did something really stupid or wrong, you got verbal ruler across the knuckles (albeit in a nice way, if that's possible).
They combine the one and two day classes, i.e. the people that are taking the one day class share the car with the first day of the two-day students. If you're taking the two day class you get your own car the second day.
Also on the second day is a chance to test drive a bunch of other cars. I played around in an M4, M5, 650i, 750i, and... something else I've forgotten.
One thing I didn't like: on the first day, when you're sharing the car and you're the passenger, doing high speed laps can make you a little
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Originally Posted by BillMcC' post='511385' date='Dec 28 2007, 10:15 AM
I am interested in going down to SC to this school, it looks like it is a fun time. I would love to hear some feedback if anyone has already attended.
Thanks!
Bill
Thanks!
Bill
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I did the "Performance Center Delivery" which is sort of like the 1 day school. I had a great time, learned a lot, and Donny Isley ROCKS. If you can get some track time with him, I highly recommend it.
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My wife and I took the 2 day class just this past November- it was a surprise birthday gift for her and she loved it.
I will second the comments above about it being a great course, and the instructors being interested in you learning from the experience.
Normally, we would have driven 335i sedans, but those were being used for a teen driving class so we alternated between Z4 coupes and 650i coupes. Part of the class teaches you real world safety techniques, like emergency braking / turning / lane changes, and the other part is performance oriented (lowest times) for autocross / road racing. It's a combination of (not too much) classrom lecture followed by driving exercises.
The last part of the class was driving three different vehicles over a (relatively short) road race circuit- a 3.0 X5, an M5, and a 335i.
The next to last part was not expected- we drove 4.8 X5s over an off-road course, and it was pretty amazing how far you could tilt those vehicles, left to right or front to back, and not roll over or get stuck.
They told us the next class up from the 2 day course is the M class, and the one above that is a road racing class using M cars. This last one is an all weekend event conducted at an actual track, such as the Virginia International Raceway in Danville, where you hit speeds of 155 mph.
We stayed at the Greenville Marriott, which seems to be their preferred lodging, and they provided transportation between the hotel and the class. The hotel is very nice and convenient to the class, but is just off the interstate near the airport, maybe 10 miles from downtown Greenville. The hotel will provide a driver to take you places using 5 series wagons that are kept at the hotel to support the needs of BMW guests. We used that service to visit the city of Greenville twice- superb small city with a nicely laid out revitalized main street that was fun to walk and had many sharp restaurants.
Bruce
I will second the comments above about it being a great course, and the instructors being interested in you learning from the experience.
Normally, we would have driven 335i sedans, but those were being used for a teen driving class so we alternated between Z4 coupes and 650i coupes. Part of the class teaches you real world safety techniques, like emergency braking / turning / lane changes, and the other part is performance oriented (lowest times) for autocross / road racing. It's a combination of (not too much) classrom lecture followed by driving exercises.
The last part of the class was driving three different vehicles over a (relatively short) road race circuit- a 3.0 X5, an M5, and a 335i.
The next to last part was not expected- we drove 4.8 X5s over an off-road course, and it was pretty amazing how far you could tilt those vehicles, left to right or front to back, and not roll over or get stuck.
They told us the next class up from the 2 day course is the M class, and the one above that is a road racing class using M cars. This last one is an all weekend event conducted at an actual track, such as the Virginia International Raceway in Danville, where you hit speeds of 155 mph.
We stayed at the Greenville Marriott, which seems to be their preferred lodging, and they provided transportation between the hotel and the class. The hotel is very nice and convenient to the class, but is just off the interstate near the airport, maybe 10 miles from downtown Greenville. The hotel will provide a driver to take you places using 5 series wagons that are kept at the hotel to support the needs of BMW guests. We used that service to visit the city of Greenville twice- superb small city with a nicely laid out revitalized main street that was fun to walk and had many sharp restaurants.
Bruce
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Originally Posted by RobertB' post='511428' date='Dec 28 2007, 01:56 PM
I did the "Performance Center Delivery" which is sort of like the 1 day school. I had a great time, learned a lot, and Donny Isley ROCKS. If you can get some track time with him, I highly recommend it.
Hmmm, sounds interesting, how much are the classes ?
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Originally Posted by rudeja' post='511437' date='Dec 28 2007, 02:44 PM
Hmmm, sounds interesting, how much are the classes ?
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I did the 2-day course in Sept. 06 and I second everyone else's raves. We had 330's the first day and M3's the second because they were using the tamer cars for the teen class. Skid pad was awesome; auto-x and avoidance maneuvers were fantastic. When they let us drive all the other models they also took us to the X5 course--what a trip! Not cheap, but definitely worth the time and money. Have fun!
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