[brave-heart]

Registered for the driving experience event this year in NJ. Anyone know if they still send out $1K coupon toward purchase? Interested in X5 45e, but no luck in finding discounts in usual range (8%-10%) so far.

[doctorttt]

I'm registered to go this Sunday in New Jersey. The event will be hosted at the MetLife Stadium. Gonna try out the M235i and M340i. The M Academy session wants $250 and I opted out.

Sorry, I'm not sure about the coupon.

[mynewx5]

Wow, I thought this program was dead in the water for 2020 due to COVID.

Looking forward to doing this again. Just signed up for the reminder registration email for my area. Glad I saw this post!

[thereef510]

Originally Posted by mynewx5

Wow, I thought this program was dead in the water for 2020 due to COVID.

Looking forward to doing this again. Just signed up for the reminder registration email for my area. Glad I saw this post!

how do you get on the mailing list for these events?

[mynewx5]

Originally Posted by thereef510

how do you get on the mailing list for these events?

https://ude.bmwusa.com/

[doctorttt]

Sunday, August 16th, 2020. I went to the BMW Ultimate Driving Experience event today in New Jersey and had a great time alone. The event took place at MetLife stadium where the New York Giants and New York Jets play. Weather was not good this morning as it was pouring. I initially didn't want to go because of the rain but I thought driving on wet condition would probably be the best way to test the M235i and M340i. The rain did not prevent people from going at all as there were a lot of people today. This is my first time attending to an autocross event and I enjoyed it a lot - thank you BMW. I summarized everything in bullets below and here are some pictures.

*Almost everyone arrived at the stadium with their own mask. Still, BMW was kind enough to provide every attendee with a mask, hand sanitizer, and a pair of latex gloves in a zip lock bag.

*Social distancing was required. During the autocross, the instructor was not in the passenger seat with you, but the instructor communicates with you via a walkie talkie. For the vehicle, staff will sanitize basically every part that you will touch, such as the driver seat + door, steering wheel, etc. They will do the sanitizing every time a different driver enters the vehicle.

*Every attendee had the opportunity to drive both the M235i and M340i on the track. Instructor asked each of us to set the vehicle in Sport mode (not Sport plus) and put the gear lever to D and then to the left so that the car would hold the gear a bit longer before shifting automatically.

*I pushed each of the vehicle as hard as I could and the engine was roaring. I found the brakes for both vehicles to be quite responsive. I could feel that the M235i is lighter, but I enjoyed the M340i more. The M235i was an AWD and the M340i was a RWD. I made several tight cornering under wet condition, and the M340i RWD responded quite well without skidding. Due to the lack of experience in this kind of event, I did hit a few small cones and the instructor told me via walkie talkie that I didn't brake early.

*After the autocross event, I went to another area in which BMW provided attendees with a vehicle for a test drive around the stadium (outside of course). I provided a picture below with a list of all BMW vehicles for test drive. The stadium, including the parking lot, is huge and there were no other cars on the roads.

*For the test drive, I picked X3M competition and this vehicle was a beasttttttttt. (By the way, iDrive 6 sucks.) I was driving alone with no BMW staff next to me. The vehicle selection was pretty good and most of the vehicles were the M version. The popular vehicles were the Z4 M40i, M850i, X3M competition, X5 M50i, X6 M50i, X7 M50i, and a few 3 series M. Nobody touched the X1, X2, regular X3, 7 series sedan, the hybrid 3 series. I was tired and hungry at that time; otherwise, I would have tried Z4 and 850.

*BMW previewed the M3 in another area. Picture is shown below. Cellphones/cameras must be dropped off before entering to prevent taking pictures.

*At the end, I drove home with my G06 x40i at around 60-70 miles on a highway, and it was boring I missed the experience from the autocross.

[ted920]

Very nice writeup. Thank You.

I'm going this Friday at Metlife. I hope for good weather and a good time.

[DCwell3er]

Sounds like it was fun. Thanks for sharing!

[doctorttt]

I just received an email with a $1,000 credit towards a lease or a purchase of a new vehicle. The coupon, which is a code shown in the email, is good through January 2021.

My wife is looking for a new vehicle right now. Timing seems to work out.

[doctorttt]

Forgot to attach this picture in my original post. The M3 is hidden in that tent.

[brave-heart]

Originally Posted by doctorttt

I just received an email with a $1,000 credit towards a lease or a purchase of a new vehicle. The coupon, which is a code shown in the email, is good through January 2021.

My wife is looking for a new vehicle right now. Timing seems to work out.

Awesome information. Thanks very much!

[mynewx5]

Anyone who has done this recently are passengers (spouse) permitted during the autocross?

[timmahh]

I was excited, signed up for October 23 here in Southern California. I got another email last week that said:

GET READY TO GET BEHIND THE WHEEL.

Your event has been cancelled. Join us at one of our other events!

[doctorttt]

Originally Posted by mynewx5

Anyone who has done this recently are passengers (spouse) permitted during the autocross?

As far as I know, whoever sitting on the passenger seat must have the autocross pass.

Like I said earlier, the guide will communicate with you via walkie talkie because of the pandemic so he/she will be not in the vehicle with you.

[mynewx5]

Originally Posted by doctorttt

As far as I know, whoever sitting on the passenger seat must have the autocross pass.

Like I said earlier, the guide will communicate with you via walkie talkie because of the pandemic so he/she will be not in the vehicle with you.

Yes, I figured that would be required. So you think it's permissible as long as the passenger has signed the liability waivers, etc.?

[Finito84]

Originally Posted by mynewx5

Yes, I figured that would be required. So you think it's permissible as long as the passenger has signed the liability waivers, etc.?

I was at the Ultimate Driving event in Philadelphia Sept 12, 2020. There were some couples (i.e. grandma and son, boyfriend and girlfriend) and even a couple of families with the kids. The adults were both registered for the event, so they signed all the disclaimers, at the time of the driving the instructors asked if there were any couples and if in the couple both wanted to drive.

For example, the son drove and the grandma was the copilot. No issues because both were registered and signed the waivers. I am confident you can register an extra person there if has not done it before. Best option, register both people online (you will get two incentives, maybe buy two bmw cars).

[mynewx5]

Originally Posted by Finito84

I was at the Ultimate Driving event in Philadelphia Sept 12, 2020. There were some couples (i.e. grandma and son, boyfriend and girlfriend) and even a couple of families with the kids. The adults were both registered for the event, so they signed all the disclaimers, at the time of the driving the instructors asked if there were any couples and if in the couple both wanted to drive.

For example, the son drove and the grandma was the copilot. No issues because both were registered and signed the waivers. I am confident you can register an extra person there if has not done it before. Best option, register both people online (you will get two incentives, maybe buy two bmw cars).

Perfect, thank you!