[Mosaud1998]

I got an email from BMW USA to attend an Autocross course in the 2021 BMW M440. I signed up for May 7th I believe.



Curious if anyone else has had the opportunity to do this? If so, how was it? What did you get to do?

[JamesGames]

Originally Posted by Mosaud1998

I got an email from BMW USA to attend an Autocross course in the 2021 BMW M440. I signed up for May 7th I believe.



Curious if anyone else has had the opportunity to do this? If so, how was it? What did you get to do?

Yes, I went multiple years in a row. Nothing really crazy - just a presentation on the new cars, a showroom with free things like coffee mugs / thermals / keychains, and the autocross. Regardless it was a nice offer from BMW because it was something fun to do on a sunday. Streamlined process, not long of a wait if you make an appointment.

I just went for the autocross, they allow you to go as hard as you want with the exception of traction nannies off (I tried). Couple other things they had were test drives for other cars, but since I went just for the autocross, I bypassed the test drive.

However, on another one of their events it was test drive only, but they didn't have an instructor or worker next to me; I was thrown keys to a F90 M5, M2 Competition with industrial backroads that were empty.. which led to

[Mosaud1998]

Originally Posted by JamesGames

Yes, I went multiple years in a row. Nothing really crazy - just a presentation on the new cars, a showroom with free things like coffee mugs / thermals / keychains, and the autocross. Regardless it was a nice offer from BMW because it was something fun to do on a sunday. Streamlined process, not long of a wait if you make an appointment.

I just went for the autocross, they allow you to go as hard as you want with the exception of traction nannies off (I tried). Couple other things they had were test drives for other cars, but since I went just for the autocross, I bypassed the test drive.

However, on another one of their events it was test drive only, but they didn't have an instructor or worker next to me; I was thrown keys to a F90 M5, M2 Competition with industrial backroads that were empty.. which led to

Ohhh free stuff? Count me in

[jmg]

I've been to 3 of them so far. 2 pre-covid and one during covid, so the experience will be slightly different this year yet again.

You get a few minutes of instruction on the very basics of high performance driving. Nannies are all on, so it's nothing crazy, more about safety.

Then you head to the autocross and get one warm up, and two runs. They last about 40ish seconds a lap.

Fastest 3 drivers get a small prize. I've seen small foam cones with the BMW logo on it or something. I won a hat last time. It's a nice hat honestly, white with the BMW logo on it. They were actually giving these out at one point so it was a bit anti-climactic but nice nonetheless.

You can get some freebees. I got some black insulated water bottles, a lanyard, some other things I can't remember... a pen?

Then there is the test drive area where they have a variety of cars to drive. It's a 15 minute solo drive around the area. The route is pre-programmed into the iDrive. You can sign up for as many cars as you want.

There is a "drag race" section too. I never do them because I think drag racing is boring, but I know a lot of people enjoy that.

For attending the UDE you get a $1k voucher for your next BMW purchase. You also have the opportunity to purchase M School at a 20% discount. I have previously attended the 2 Day M School and I enjoyed it quite a bit. I signed up for the 1 Day M School with a buddy since there was such a nice discount offered. 2 day is $4k, 1 Day is $1500 before the discount.


Fastest drivers at the venue over the course of the entire event will be compared to all the other fastest drivers and get a chance to get a free M School or something like that. I don't think they did this last time due to the pandemic however.


Overall it's a fun day if you have nothing else better to do. If you track or autocross regularly it might be a bit less interesting since you can't turn off the nannies and the seat time isn't nearly as good as an HPDE.

[00SH4WN]

I went to an event recently in Anaheim; very fun and informative session. There was an autocross track, a track for BMW SUV's to demonstrate some of the tech in that area and of course the street track JMG mentioned where you are able to take one of their available cars onto the street. If you do have a street track event: a kind reminder to exercise good judgment when driving the car out of the event's lot (where other enthusiasts/pedestrians may be present) as they ban you from any other events if you drive off like a lunatic.

[thejeremyman9]

Originally Posted by jmg

I've been to 3 of them so far. 2 pre-covid and one during covid, so the experience will be slightly different this year yet again.

You get a few minutes of instruction on the very basics of high performance driving. Nannies are all on, so it's nothing crazy, more about safety.

Then you head to the autocross and get one warm up, and two runs. They last about 40ish seconds a lap.

Fastest 3 drivers get a small prize. I've seen small foam cones with the BMW logo on it or something. I won a hat last time. It's a nice hat honestly, white with the BMW logo on it. They were actually giving these out at one point so it was a bit anti-climactic but nice nonetheless.

You can get some freebees. I got some black insulated water bottles, a lanyard, some other things I can't remember... a pen?

Then there is the test drive area where they have a variety of cars to drive. It's a 15 minute solo drive around the area. The route is pre-programmed into the iDrive. You can sign up for as many cars as you want.

There is a "drag race" section too. I never do them because I think drag racing is boring, but I know a lot of people enjoy that.

For attending the UDE you get a $1k voucher for your next BMW purchase. You also have the opportunity to purchase M School at a 20% discount. I have previously attended the 2 Day M School and I enjoyed it quite a bit. I signed up for the 1 Day M School with a buddy since there was such a nice discount offered. 2 day is $4k, 1 Day is $1500 before the discount.


Fastest drivers at the venue over the course of the entire event will be compared to all the other fastest drivers and get a chance to get a free M School or something like that. I don't think they did this last time due to the pandemic however.


Overall it's a fun day if you have nothing else better to do. If you track or autocross regularly it might be a bit less interesting since you can't turn off the nannies and the seat time isn't nearly as good as an HPDE.

This is how it was in 2019 when i went. I went 3 times in 2020 and it was much different. Due to COVID, there was no one else in the car with you, so the instruction was via radio while you did laps. Also, there was no competition in the autocross, so they didn't even time the laps. You did however get more seat time, and you got both the M340i and the new 2 series gran coupe (xdrive). In San Diego, on the shorter course, it was about 10 laps in each. This was also in the peak of the pandemic so very few people were there, which gave us extra seat time. In Anaheim there was still about 6 laps in each car, as compared with the 3 laps in Pomona in 2019.

The test drives can be fun because they basically let you loose on the streets with the car, i.e., no one from BMW with you.

Overall its a great free event.

To OP, i am curious what area is having it in May? I havent seen any emails yet for them in California.

[Germanauto]

I went pre-Covid to the event near Pasadena and during Covid to the event in San Diego.

The Pasadena event was excellent. I missed the autocross with the M340, but they had basically their entire fleet available for test drives. Literally every single M car including my favorite the M2C and even the Z4. There was an M850 drag race as well. After the driving events there was dinner and entertainment.

The Covid event was mostly disappointing. I don't know if it was due to Covid or due to its location in sleepy San Diego, but their lineup of cars to test drive was lame. There was an X3M and X4M but otherwise it was all trash. No sports cars or sedans available besides the 2GC. The autocross portion with the M340 was great, but they punished us with some laps in the 2GC as well.

Unrelated but props to Crevier BMW for hosting their own little event with test drives of the M2C and M340. I used the $1000 credit toward a lease.

[Vitacura]

Are they offering any vouchers for a future car purchase? I didn't see anything mentioned in the email when I looked. If they are, I'm guessing it's not valid on ordered cars but for in stock units only.

[W4HG0N]

This was a fun experience, went also pre-covid and had a great time pushing the cars in a controlled environment with cool instructors. would do it again.