[NightWriter]

I have an M3 on order that is currently at status 150. I'm hoping it will get to VPC by the end of June, and then on to a Performance Center delivery in July or August, baring any serious delays.

When I attended the UDE event in DC a few weeks back, I took advantage of the 20% discount and purchased a 1-day M school voucher, along with a 1-day teen driving class for my son. The PC rep there assured me that it's certainly possible to bundle the PC delivery and driving schools.

However, when I look at the calendar, it looks like there's only a couple of 1-Day M schools scheduled per month, and they're already booked solid months in advance. The rep I emailed with said that they occasionally add classes based on demand, and to contact the PC about trying to schedule something as soon as my car gets on a ship.

I'm curious whether anyone else has had any luck aligning these classes back-to-back with a PC delivery? (Fortunately, there's no expiration date on the vouchers, but I'd still like to take advantage while I'm in town.)

[BugKiller]

Am planning to go to at least one M school too and would love to find discounts. What is/was UDE? Anybody have any other recommendations for school discounts?

BTW, congrats on 150. I am still 112 and week 20 as of 5 minutes ago.

[dimab0]

My strong suggestion to you is to reach out to the driving staff at the Perf Center and tell them your situation - I talked to Derek Leonard 864 202 6416. Perhaps they can suggest some other options. I paired my PCD with 3hr of private coaching the day prior. It was more than worthwhile. They did also let me apply the 'M School credit' from my Driver's Package (or whatever it's called) to instead be used towards more private coaching.

[NightWriter]

Originally Posted by BugKiller

What is/was UDE?

https://driving.bmwusa.com/ude

If they're coming to a nearby town, I recommend it. It's a free and fun event. And you'll get to thrash some i4 M50's around a short track.

['Cane]

Originally Posted by BugKiller

Am planning to go to at least one M school too and would love to find discounts. What is/was UDE? Anybody have any other recommendations for school discounts?

BTW, congrats on 150. I am still 112 and week 20 as of 5 minutes ago.

BMW Ultimate Driving Experience
https://ude.bmwusa.com

[snareman]

It was a shocking pain, but I was able to do it back in 2017. The issue was that they had to get the car from the VPC to the PC in time to schedule the PCD the day before the M School they had scheduled. Despite multiple calls from my dealer they couldn't get it to work until I called myself which made no sense. I figured the dealer would have more power than me. Anyway, it was a great experience and I recommend it if you can arrange it. You get a very small taste for what your car can do during the PCD. M School takes it to a whole new universe.

[calbears]

Originally Posted by BugKiller

Am planning to go to at least one M school too and would love to find discounts. What is/was UDE? Anybody have any other recommendations for school discounts?

BTW, congrats on 150. I am still 112 and week 20 as of 5 minutes ago.

Join the BMW CCA. 15% off. If you join the M Chapter of the club, you'll get 20% off

[BugKiller]

Originally Posted by NightWriter

https://driving.bmwusa.com/ude

Thanks guys.

FYI, there may be unexpected perks: Lists of past customers seem to get "poached," or maybe its after one fills out the 3rd party surveys like from J.D. Powers (and getting on A-lists is a whole local specialty here anyway). Two years after buying each of my last two AMG's, Cadillac, out of the blue, invited me to "drive em like you stole em" type events for their high performance models (they would not let us exceed 130 mph; MBZ limits us to 155 on the same track). Probably shut down currently but this too shall pass.

[mzcp]

Originally Posted by dimab0

My strong suggestion to you is to reach out to the driving staff at the Perf Center and tell them your situation - I talked to Derek Leonard 864 202 6416. Perhaps they can suggest some other options. I paired my PCD with 3hr of private coaching the day prior. It was more than worthwhile. They did also let me apply the 'M School credit' from my Driver's Package (or whatever it's called) to instead be used towards more private coaching.

The private coaching is the way to go. You get more seat time than a 1 Day M school. There is no discount for private coaching so you pay a little bit more

[boko10]

Hi all,

Has anyone had any experience/success pairing a 2-day M school course with PCD? I'm planning on ordering an M3 sometime in the next year (still in the process of saying goodbye to my 996), but would like to do PCD and was hoping to piggyback that with M school while in town.

I recently purchased a voucher for the 2-day M school, but thinking I may return it during the 120 day refund window if it's not possible to combine it with PCD. When I called the performance center to find out how feasible that is, the person I spoke to was only mildly helpful--she said it really just depends on whether PCD date happens to align with M school. However, M school tends to fill-up months in advance (whereas my understanding of PCD is you don't get that much lead time), so she suggested picking a date for M school once I have an idea of when PCD might fall, then once I find out the PCD date try to move either that or M school to fit (she said people do tend to change around M school appointments).

Other than some autox experience, I am a total noob when it comes to tracking, so I was thinking the actual 2-day course with lapping sessions may be more effective for me than one-on-one instructor training.

Any tips or suggestions appreciated! Thanks.

[NightWriter]

Originally Posted by bkim10

Hi all,

Has anyone had any experience/success pairing a 2-day M school course with PCD? I'm planning on ordering an M3 sometime in the next year (still in the process of saying goodbye to my 996), but would like to do PCD and was hoping to piggyback that with M school while in town.

I recently purchased a voucher for the 2-day M school, but thinking I may return it during the 120 day refund window if it's not possible to combine it with PCD. When I called the performance center to find out how feasible that is, the person I spoke to was only mildly helpful--she said it really just depends on whether PCD date happens to align with M school. However, M school tends to fill-up months in advance (whereas my understanding of PCD is you don't get that much lead time), so she suggested picking a date for M school once I have an idea of when PCD might fall, then once I find out the PCD date try to move either that or M school to fit (she said people do tend to change around M school appointments).

Other than some autox experience, I am a total noob when it comes to tracking, so I was thinking the actual 2-day course with lapping sessions may be more effective for me than one-on-one instructor training.

Any tips or suggestions appreciated! Thanks.

I just came back from my PCD experience last month (detailed here). The advice you heard above is correct; M schools tend to fill up months in advance, but PC deliveries are usually on the order of 3-4 weeks out. Worse, the M schools are only offered once or twice a month, and the track is booked pretty solid every day across all their different programs (including PC deliveries, private and corporate functions, Mini school, women's clinics, Motorrad, teen schools, etc.).

My goal was even trickier than yours, namely to coincide with both a 1-day M school for myself, as well as a 1-day Teen Driving school for my son who joined me for the trip. Fortunately, when I got the PCD date, I saw there was a 1-day Teen school two days later, so I registered my son, and then requested to delay the PCD by a day, so that we wouldn't have an empty day in between, which they granted.

However, there was no 1-day M school for another three weeks after that, and it was already full regardless. But, after explaining my predicament -- with a gentle threat about needing to get my money back for the M school -- they "opened a case" for me and put me in touch with Derek, the lead driving instructor over there. He explained that they have limited flexibility about adding classes, since the track is heavily scheduled, but he did propose a workaround: The Teen school went from 8:30-4:00 with a one-hour lunch break. "So, why don't you come to the PC early, we'll get an hour in before they start, then we'll do another hour during their lunch, and then another 90 minutes after the finish up." The retail price for this 3.5 hour one-on-one session was exactly the same as a 1-day M school, so I agreed.

It turned out to be an incredible experience. I have limited track experience as well, but Derek was great about adapting the program to whatever I wanted/needed. Although it's less time than a full-day program, I actually got more seat time, and far more individual attention and help than I would have with a larger group. Having the breaks between the separate one-hour sessions turned out to be good, since I could hop over to the CCA Museum nearby, enjoy a leisurely (if early) lunch, apply some temporary PPF to my car, and otherwise digest the driving lessons thus far and think about what I'll focus on in the next one. It was incredibly fun and educational; Derek was friendly but pushed me hard and helped me unlearn some bad habits. I couldn't recommend this program more highly.

Anyway, yes: Try to pencil yourself in for the M school when you have a vague idea of when delivery might happen, but be sure you know what the policy is about changing or canceling it if the schedules don't align. And definitely give them a call if things don't line up as you hoped, and see if a one-on-one can be carved out.

[boko10]

Originally Posted by NightWriter

Anyway, yes: Try to pencil yourself in for the M school when you have a vague idea of when delivery might happen, but be sure you know what the policy is about changing or canceling it if the schedules don't align. And definitely give them a call if things don't line up as you hoped, and see if a one-on-one can be carved out.

Thanks so much for the detailed response, it’s very helpful! It’s reassuring to hear that if scheduling doesn’t work and they can set up a one-on-one, you still had a great experience with it. I’m leaning towards keeping the voucher and hoping timing works out. If not, will either see if they can do one-on-one or convince my wife to let me take a separate trip down for the school.

Is there a general rule of thumb for estimating when PCD will approximately fall once you hit a certain stage of your car order?

['Cane]

Originally Posted by boko10

Is there a general rule of thumb for estimating when PCD will approximately fall once you hit a certain stage of your car order?

No, they won't even schedule you until it gets to the VPC.

[NightWriter]

Originally Posted by boko10

Thanks so much for the detailed response, it’s very helpful! It’s reassuring to hear that if scheduling doesn’t work and they can set up a one-on-one, you still had a great experience with it. I’m leaning towards keeping the voucher and hoping timing works out. If not, will either see if they can do one-on-one or convince my wife to let me take a separate trip down for the school.

Is there a general rule of thumb for estimating when PCD will approximately fall once you hit a certain stage of your car order?

Cane is correct, but assuming your car does not face any recalls/stop orders upon VPC arrival -- which apparently was commonplace earlier this year but less so now -- you're looking at approximately seven weeks from when the car leaves B'haven. Here was my timeline:

6/14/22: 195 (In transit) Aboard K-Line Brooklands
7/5/22: 193 (At the port) Docked at Charleston
7/6/22: 195 (In transit) Train to Greenville VPC
7/12/22: 193 (At the port) Arrival at VPC
7/20/22: 195 (In transit) En route to PC
7/21/22: 198 (At dealership) Arrival at PC
8/2/22: PCD

[Ponnod]

I had this idea several times, but I never got around to it due to late childbirth and lack of free time. I am still in the process of getting a second degree, so there is no time for such events. In addition, the workload is heavier than usual that I had to resort to the services at https://edusson.com/write-my-assignment that write assignments for me in a short time. So I plan on going to M School when I get all the distractions shut down, glad my voucher can wait for that moment when I finally get to use it. I had a similar experience relatively recently at a regular extreme driving school after which I got this chance at a bmv.

[BEAR-AvHistory]

Have done a number of PCD as both the buyer & guest. Used BMWFC on all & fill out all the surveys they send me.

Have gotten comped by BMW Financial to the normal performance school program. Have no idea what the selection criteria is but sending in the surveys can't hurt.