Today was the whole purpose of the trip and probably the highlight for Paul.
We woke up and enjoyed a very good hot buffet breakfast at the Marriott at BMW’s expense which included made to order omelets, Belgium waffles, biscuits and gravy, quiche, scrambled eggs, various breakfast meets, fruit, yogurt, cereal, pastries, etc.
Then our day began at the BMW Performance Center. After a short classroom lecture, we got in a similar vehicle to the one we were purchasing and took it on the track. We were given a 2013 white x3 35i. I can’t count how many times it was repeated to us that it’s “Not Your Car” as they wanted us to really push the car. They broke us up into smaller groups and so we traveled with three other couples to each of three exercises. Each of us got to drive each of the exercises. Here is the car we drove:
The first part was to test out the ABS system. We were told to accelerate to a certain speed and then when we got to a set of cones stomp on the break as hard as we could. We tried this at several speeds. You can see the red and white striped cones which is where we were told to stomp on the breaks.
Second we did laps on a track with tight turns and again we were encouraged to push the car.
Lastly, we tested the traction control. We got into a BMW 335i with an instructor and drove on a track that was wet. The instructor turned off the traction control and we drove as fast as we could around the circle track until we spun out. After a few attempts at that, the traction control was put on and we did the same thing (but didn’t spin out). I much preferred the second part of this exercise as it is a bit unnerving being in a car that is spinning out of control. When it was our turn each of us drove the red one.
Before leaving the track, those who were interested got to ride with a driver in an BMW M3. My stomach had been jostled enough by this point so I passed but Paul was excited for the opportunity.
At this point they split us into two groups: those who would have their cars delivered first and those who got the factory tour first. We were part of the latter group.
We got into an x3 again (although a different one) and drove to the factory but not without a few obstacles on the way.
They did not allow cameras in the factory so I don’t have any pictures to show you but it was really interested. They build x3s, x5s, and x6s currently at this factory. They will be soon be building the new x4 here as well.
Cars are built in invoice order which is different from other manufacturers. So you may see a left hand drive followed by a right hand drive. And you will see some with sunroofs, some with other features all mixed together. Parts are delivered to the line in order as needed. Suppliers have a 2-4 hour window to deliver the parts needed as they have no storage for parts longer than that.
They use a lot of robots (like Sunny who puts in the sunroofs) but it takes a lot of manpower as well. They have a torque wrench that is networked so that based on the location of the wrench it knows how much psi is needed and can switch psi from bolt to bolt automatically.
On our way back to the BMW Performance Center we stopped at their off-roads course to see what the x3s and x5s could do. One of the first obstacles was driving through 22” of water.
We drove up some really steep and uneven inclines.
We then returned to the Performance Center for lunch in the cafeteria. After eating, we wandered the gift shop and saw that our car was being readied for delivery.
Then we finally had our car delivered.
After delivery we took a short trip to the museum and gift shop at the plant. Here is a picture of our VIP parking spot there.
Then it was time to start the trip home. We had to get to Lexington, KY by the end of the day. We took some back roads and at the suggestion of my Aunt and Uncle took Hwy 25 north from Greenville and then Hwy 25E until north of Knoxville. Hwy 25 was closed at one point in North Carolina near the border of Tennessee which sent us on a detour but we can’t complain. The detour was absolutely gorgeous.
We finally made it to the hotel about 9:55 p.m. that night. We stayed at the Four Points Lexington hotel which was quite nice and free (as we were able to redeem points to pay for the night).
Tomorrow ends our trip as we make the long trek home. I feel like this trip has been too short but I also look forward to being home.
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