Test Drive!

Recently, I was at my parent's house in NH and had the chance to read BMW Magazine, which my father gets monthly after purchasing the new 3 Series Coupe (the best iteration of the 3 Series Coupe to date, in my opinion). In it, there was an article about William Shatner and his purchase of an X5 4.8i detailing how a friend of his had been telling him about his own X5 while they were on a trip to Alabama. As soon as Shatner got off the plane, he went right to the nearest dealership and placed an order for one under one special condition - he could pick it up at the BMW Performance Center in Spartanburg, SC.

Upon Shatner's arrival, he and his wife were able to test drive an X5 just like theirs on the test track and on the off-road course. The article describes how Shatner was able to push the car to the limits on both the track and off road course. At Factory Five, having such a course is something that has been discussed several times both for customer use and R&D testing, but hasn't come to reality due to lack of space.

Having such a track/course on site is something that can save endless amounts of time and money. For example, I've traveled to tracks in Virginia, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Arizona for testing sessions, some of which lasted an entire week...not cheap even when you have a sound relationship with the track owners. Also, you need to be able to go with a whole list of specific things to test, which can mean bringing extra parts, staff, and sometimes several cars with different set-ups to achieve your goals.

If you have a track on the premises, you can test simple theories and make all the necessary changes quickly. Also, on the customer side, you can set up a test drive with potential customers and even establish regularly scheduled lessons, car shows/track events right at your facility!

After detailing Shatner's experience at the Performance Center, the article ends like this:

"Shatner was introduced to his new BMW X5 4.8i in a dramatic, somewhat glamorous Hollywood style presentation. 'Wow, is this mine?!' Shatner asked with a great, admiring smile."

His reaction says it all. Even though he had seen the same car at the dealership the day he placed an order, after driving one like his all day at the Performance Center - now knowing what the car was capable of - he was not only impressed with what the car could do and how it looked, but truly admired it.

William Shatner's experience only heightens my desire to have a track at each of our facilities, so the customer can share in the experience that we as engineers get to experience all the time as we are developing the vehicle. To me, there's nothing better than to not only see the customer realize the vehicle's potential, but to truly admire what you've accomplished, such as in the case of William Shatner's BMW X5 experience.