Hi All, just sold my 1985 524td for a song. Lost my pants on the deal-- very sad, but I'd gotten tired of working on the old girl every weekend and not getting anywhere with a myriad of problems. Love the diesels, though. So sad we're not getting the smaller displacement Bimmers here. Bought a VW Golf (ugh) TDI to replace the td. It's not half the car in so many ways, but everything works and the power to weight ratio is better, I think. It's fairly fun to drive and gets great mileage, like 500-600 miles per tank. Enough of that drivel. The great news is Laura and I are flying to GSP tomorrow to take Performance Center Delivery of her '08 328ic. It's the car she's deserved for a long time and she's going to love it (I hope!). I'm really looking forward to the trip and hope to continue to be a BMW CCA member for a long time. Josh Brehm
Photos and Video Clips from PCD Hi Gang, just back this past week from Greenville/Spartanburg, NC and the Performance Center Delivery experience. Here's what I can report: Arrived at GSP airport mid-afternoon on Wednesday. The Marriott folks were prompt in dispatching the front desk manager in a new 5 series wagon to pick us up. The hotel is pleasant and the staff are all very friendly. Decent little hotel restaurant. Nice buffet breakfast the next morning and a quick van ride to the Performance Delivery Center. There were 11 of us taking delivery of cars. A quick classroom session with Paul and then out to hop in a representative car for the ABS test. We got a 335i that was pretty close to our 328i. -Ish! Paul led in an X5 with a two-way radio and we all had a radio tuned to the same channel in our cars so we could hear instructions. Mostly "Hit the brakes HARDER!! Brake! Brake! Brake!" and the ilk. Lots of fun! ABS is GOOD. Then on to the short track. Some cones and such set up on a short oval-ish track with a slalom and some other obstacles. Nice to see what the cars can do, but a little frustrating to get bunched up. I learned quickly to open a gap on the straight. A quick trip to the wet skidpad and a demo of the DTC system. See video below. A driver rode in each 335i as they demo'd it. Nice system. Really works! Back to the cafe and we were split into groups-- some went to get their cars. We went off with the others to do the X5 course. Fun! Amazing what these vehicles can do-- once we figured out how to get it out of "Park!" Very capable machines. The course was a little unnerving at times, but it's all very slow and steady. Back to a nice buffet lunch and then an offer of hot laps in the M5. How can you say no?! Paul is a definitely a very good driver. Yeah. Amazing. The total sensory experience of sound, motion, and excitement. After that, we piled into three waiting 650i coupes for a quick drive to the Zentrum for our BMW history fix. Nice facility! The factory tour was unavailable was they're building X6's there and didn't want the public to see, yet. Zentrum had a movie of the line, though. Not bad. Nice bikes and some great old-timers. Back to the PC and time to pick up our car. Willi was gracious and patient and spent lots of time doing a quick tutorial of all the bells and whistles. The iDrive took quite a bit of time, as you'd imagine. She did a great job, though and was very knowledgeable. Quick (6 hour!) drive home. Love the new car. A little pissed that somehow I managed to NOT select an (optional) alarm system. Let me know if you can find it on the options list on the BMW site for the '08 328i. That'll be installed in the coming weeks. The car is beautiful and I think Laura will really enjoy it. Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/15576754@N07/sets/72157604132360124 Short vid clips (need a better camera): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJHunUeqbD8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kn6yQ0bgRc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02OsQa-mBq0 Josh
