# PCD Tomorrow



## tarf (Jun 5, 2009)

PCD tomorrow - August 17th. 328i xdrive. Arrived at the Marriott yesterday and am staying here for three nights. I can't wait until tomorrow. Dealt with a board sponsor (New Motors) and couldn't be happier with the entire process, everything went smoothly.  It was great dealing with Jim Wozniak even though I have yet to meet him in person. I'm from Pittsburgh and since I'm doing a PCD, there was no need to go to Erie. I'm sure I'll be up in Erie for a visit to show him the new car before too long though.


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## JimD1 (Jun 5, 2009)

You'll have a great time. We liked the Marriott although my son thought his bed was a bit too soft. We loved the Performance Center. Everybody was great and it's a well thought out time. 

Have you plotted your path back to Pittsburgh? You ought to be able to go quickly to the mountains and have some fun.

Jim


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## tarf (Jun 5, 2009)

We're still undecided as to which route to take. We are driving two cars back (me the BMW and my wife the Lexus). We will be crossing the mountain range at some point between Greenville and Pittsburgh so its either by way of Asheville or on 77 through VA. It's only a 15 mile difference so Asheville would probably be better. Once we get to Wytheville, Va, the route will be the same.


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## Vitacura (Jul 22, 2005)

Congrats, look forward to a write-up and some pics!


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## New Motors (Mar 24, 2008)

tarf said:


> PCD tomorrow - August 17th. 328i xdrive. Arrived at the Marriott yesterday and am staying here for three nights. I can't wait until tomorrow. Dealt with a board sponsor (New Motors) and couldn't be happier with the entire process, everything went smoothly.  It was great dealing with Jim Wozniak even though I have yet to meet him in person. I'm from Pittsburgh and since I'm doing a PCD, there was no need to go to Erie. I'm sure I'll be up in Erie for a visit to show him the new car before too long though.


I hope to meet you some day. I hope you are or have had a great day! PCD is a great time and the people there are the BEST!:thumbup:


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## JimD1 (Jun 5, 2009)

I hope you picked Ashville. If you did, you started getting into some more scenic country about halfway between Greenville and Ashville. I haven't drive north from there but you should have been able to stay in the Alleghanies most of the way home. I've driven the highway route from SC to Pittsburgh and it gets OK in Virginia but is boring across NC.

Jim


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## tarf (Jun 5, 2009)

Just ended a wonderful but exausting day. Here are a few pictures. My car was in the front of the lobby when everyone walked in. I glanced at the VIN and knew that it was mine. Donnie was fantastic and did a great job both taking me through the courses and delivering the car. Thanks for everything Donnie, Jim Woz and New Motors. More pictures and details to follow later in the week.


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## New Motors (Mar 24, 2008)

Very sweet! Glad you had a great Day. Car looks amazing.

Thanks again Donnie for making this a Great Day too!


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## waiting (May 4, 2005)

It's a ball, isn't it!!

The folks at the PCD are top notch and do everything possible to make it a great experience.
:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:


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## willwin2day (Apr 4, 2006)

no...thanks for making my day!

Donnie Isley


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## tarf (Jun 5, 2009)

More details on my 8/17 PCD:

I arrived at the Marriott with my wife at 7:30 PM on Saturday evening after driving about 4 hours from a Hilton Head, SC vacation. I had gotten a night at the Marriott through Priceline on my initial bid for $45 ($57 with tax and fee). I believe that if you bid 3.5 stars in the Greenville airport area with Priceline, then the Marriott is the only hotel you can get. The Marriott recognized before I got there that I had both a priceline reservation for Saturday and a BMW reservation for Sunday so they had me in the same room for both nights. They said that we could have our BMW dinner either Saturday or Sunday (no liquor on Sundays at the hotel restaurant) but we chose Sunday and had our Saturday dinner at Ruby Tuesday about a mile away. The next morning we had to have our room keys recoded which effectively was the check out/in from Priceline to BMW. They said that since we had effectively checked in with the BMW reservation before the breakfast buffet closed, we were entitled to have the buffet on both Sunday and Monday mornings which was an unexpected surprise. Buffet was excellent.

On Sunday, we visited downtown Greenville which was very nice with many restaurants and parks. No need for lunch after that breakfast buffet. Liquor is allowed on Sundays within the city limits but not outside. Returned to the hotel and sat around the pool, Jacuzzi and sauna for a few hours. That evening we had dinner at the hotel. We both had the fillet which was OK but the dessert (chocolate cake) was excellent. Other choices were Mahi Mahi, Gnocchi, and Shrimp or Chicken spiedini. We liked the hotel so much that we decided to stay another night so we booked through priceline for Monday night after the PCD. I managed to get a room on my third bid for $59 ($73 with tax and fee). I went to the front desk and they arranged for us to stay in the same room for the third night. Wireless access (and unlimited long distance) for your laptop is $9.95 per night which BMW picks up for their night. If you ask nicely at the front desk, they’ll probably waive the fee even for a priceline room which is what they did for me. Another unexpected bonus.

Monday morning we got up, had the breakfast buffet, and got on the shuttle at 7:45 AM. We arrived at the PC shortly thereafter where I immediately spotted my car in the front lobby. Got a quick coffee at the cafeteria and then they split us up into groups. There were six drivers in our group with four cars (two 335’s, a five series and a 135). After about 15 minutes in the classroom with Donnie we went onto the course. My wife and I got a white 335. First, we did many runs on the emergency braking area. I went first and then we switched drivers. Second, we went to the Slalom course for many laps. My wife went first. I think that she was getting a little tired at having two backseat drivers (me in the passenger seat and Donnie on the walkie talkie) constantly telling her to floor it and then brake hard. Anyway she did well and then we switched to me. My wife decided not to ride with me for some reason. I was going pretty fast and caught up with the man in front of me very quickly. Fortunately, Donnie stopped me several times to allow a gap to build so I could fly at my own speed. Then we went on to the wet track to do some loops. Everyone used my car so I went first with Donnie in the passenger seat, then my wife. The man who was next lost his breakfast after a few loops but fortunately had time to extricate himself from the vehicle before losing it. (Caution!!! Exercise extreme care and self restraint at the Marriott breakfast buffet if you are a car-sick type of person. Omelets, waffles, and biscuits with sausage gravy don’t always mix with each other let alone with loops at the BMW wet track.) The man was a trooper though because he enthusiastically returned for the hot lap after lunch.

Now it was about 10 AM and we went with Donnie who took us through the features of our new vehicle, and put on the license plate. Donnie did an excellent job. I already owned an X3 so many of the features were similar. It was now 11:40 AM so we walked around and watched others on the track for about 15 minutes. At 11:55 we had lunch and at about 12:45 we went with Donnie for the hot lap. He used both an M5 (which we rode in) and an M6 for the hot laps. We then went with another person from the PC (I can’t recall his name) for the X5 off road course. That was fun. Then we drove our own cars over to the museum and factory side of the BMW site. The factory tour was fantastic (no photos allowed) and the museum was great. The tour guide said that both the X5M and M6 were faster than the M5 which was a surprise to me. We didn’t finish until 4:30 so at that point I was exhausted and glad that I had booked another night at the Marriott. We returned to the Hotel, again sat around the pool, Jacuzzi and sauna for a few hours. Then we got something light to eat at the hotel restaurant.

The next morning, we drove back to Pittsburgh via Rt. 85 to Rt. 26 north past Asheville to Rt. 81 to Rt. 77 to Rt. 19 to Rt. 79 to Pittsburgh. This was a good route to take because Rt. 26 had very little traffic (except near Asheville) and the scenery was fantastic. The speed limit on Rt. 26 north of Asheville was unrealistically low (55 much of the time) for an empty highway. That was the only problem.

We rented a camera from the PC to record our time on the track. This was a good idea and worth the $50. The only improvement to the camera program that I would recommend to the PC would be to add mics inside of the car instead of having the outside mic. Half the fun would be listening to Donnie on the walkie talkie scream “floor it, brake hard, floor it” in quick succession. Wireless mics for the interior of the vehicle would add a lot to the videos. Also, it would have been nice if the cameras were also hooked up to the X5’s for the off-road course.

It was a fantastic experience for both my wife and I and I would definitely do it again. Again, thanks to Donnie and the other PC personnel and to Jim W. at New Motors for making this a memorable experience.


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## JimD1 (Jun 5, 2009)

Thanks for a nicely detailed post.

I thought of you and googled the route back to Pittsburgh early this week. We lived there for 14 years but now live near Columbia, SC. Google showed the route through the mountains on I-26 and I hoped you went that way. It didn't say the speed limit was so low but I still think it was the better way to go. I think it showed close to 2 hours added travel time which was probably at least partially the lower speed limit. Driving a BMW in mountains still seems more appropriate than on flat roads.

Jim


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## BMW_GAL (Apr 7, 2009)

Super awesome  Have fun and enjoy :thumbup:


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## BobReck (May 6, 2009)

It truly is a great experience. We're lucky to be able to do such a wonderful delivery option and for free! Enjoy your new car! Looks beautiful!
Bob


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