Went to the BMW "ultimate driving experience today (1 Viewer)

[Philip_G]

they're travelling around the US, you sign up and get to "autocross" the X3 for free for a couple hours.

What a horrid experience, my friend and I show up, check in, and class doesn't start at 3.30 like it said on the card, it's actually at 4, since we were already early we had some time to kill. So we test drove a 3 series convert (terribly underpowered I hate to report) For every mile we drove, they donate a dollar to breast cancer, cool. But I wish the manual Z4 had been available. The 325 was a total slug, a little coaxing with the E-brake and I could brake the back free, but the traction control takes over and you basically have no input, it WOULDN'T allow me to drive out of it, turned it off and had a little better time at it.

So anyway, class starts, get the sales pitch and some basic advice on driving the course, we go down to the cars and there are 2 pairs to each car, suck. The instructor does 3 laps, I do 3, my buddy does 3, then that's part 1, we're done. Another pair does some laps, lecture, repeat. For our 2 hours we got 6 laps in each

But what REALLY irritated both of us, we were the last car out, and the first back, every time. Other pairs were obviously getting more laps in than we did. Did our instructor not like us? Or did they focus more on the yuppie middle class looking people to sell cars? THAT pissed me off.
I like BMW's, I'd probably buy one, but not anymore. I can guarantee when my mom is ready to replace her new 540, it won't be with another BMW either

 

[Christ Reynolds]

is this because of the behavior of the instructors of the vehicles themselves?

CJ

 

[Philip_G]

Yes, you can turn it off. I did after a couple run in's with it.

The instructors mainly.

 

[Scott L]

Free test drives of a 325i? If they really wanted you to get psyched about BMW that would be the last car in the lineup to drive.

I know Mazda does the same thing, and the participants usually leave feeling satisfied. Shame your experience was a bad one. :frowning:

 

[Philip_G]

they had other cars, I would have liked a spin in a 3.0 manual Z4 but it was booked, and the 745 was in the shop

 

[Ron C]

Have you been to a real autocross? Many of them you only get 4 runs for the entire day(8 hours) and you have to pay $30. I don't know of any autocrosses that give 6 runs in two hours, especialy for free AND you can drive cars that are not yours =p

 

[Philip_G]

Yet everyone else gets twice as many? sure.

 

[Brandon_T]

Me thinks you sound awfully pissed over two hours. It is hard to tell, sometimes you can't get a real feel for how people feel on the internet. How much does this really mean or bother you? Hey, its just two hours and maybe you got screwed, that sucks, but hey, it could have been worse.

 

[Marc_Sulinski]

Well, at least it was for free. How many other car companies are offering this kind of thing at all? Also, I don't know if I would let the attitude of one of the driving instructors at the free autocross event deter me from buying a car I really wanted.

 

[JeremySt]

I am a BMW fan, but the Z3 convertable is not a product aimed at achieving typical BMW power. It IS terribly underpowered. Its more of a cruiser than a racer. A few weeks ago, I raced my stock 2001 Turbo VW Golf against a Z3 on the interstate, and I blew his doors off. I wouldnt judge the entire BMW line based on driving that car.

 

[Christ Reynolds]

i agree with you, but i think he was referring to the 3 series (like the 325 sedan) instead of the Z3 convertible and coupe. the Z3 is fun, but not too quick. my favorite bmw i've driven is the M-Coupe. that thing was quick. it is the one that looks like the ace and gary car from snl. and it was terribly fast, 315 hp in that little car really made it go.

CJ