Quote:
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.
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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.