G99 M5 Touring PCD Delivery & Cross-Country Trip

Oops, I did it again. Another Performance Center Delivery and Cross-Country Road Trip Home. This time it is the G99 M5 Touring in Individual Daytona Violet. The journey has already happened, but will update the mail with the trip home.

Things have changed from the last time we did PCD (G80 M3 CS). In December 2023, BMW still covered a night hotel, dinner and breakfast in the Greenville Marriott. That all changed in January 2024. Now you are responsible for the hotel stay. BMW recommends a few hotels and one of them (with a special rate) is the Grand Bohemian Lodge. I recommend this. The reduced rate is a fairly good deal compared to the regular rate. The hotel also picks you up from the airport if necessary, cover on valet parking for the duration of your stay, shuttle you to the performance center and cover breakfast on the morning of your delivery in the Between the Trees-Het is pretty good. It is a Handograph Collection Hotel, so it is on the chic side and a very well done hotel.

Our delivery was July 17. And it’s a great experience. You get some “track” time with a vehicle similar to the person you pick up. There was another M5 delivery (G90), an M440i coupe and an X5 that day. You get 3 exercises: skid path, braking and coming in, and a handling course. The Skid path is done in the M340i (not the car that you unfortunately pick up). The G99 used well on the short race full of turns, height changes and a slalom. It was fun. Probably it should have been remembered to switch it to Dynamic Plus, but oh well.

You get a hot round after the practice demonstrations in the M3 Comp xDrive. And then the groups split. Some delivered and others went to the factory tour. We first did the tour (x3/x4) and then back to the PC for the X5 exercise in the off -road course.

And then it was lunch time. You can grab everything you want in the cafeteria and the menu changes every day. Moreover, they have soft service ice cream every day (in contrast to PC West that m/w/f IS PC West has the better ice cream, IMO). After lunch it’s time for delivery!

We have planned PPF, ceramic coating and shade with extreme car Spa in Greenville (who also did the work on the M3 CS). They are a great store and CCA members also receive a discount. Because they were not open during the weekend and our delivery was on a Thursday, we could only wait a long time on Monday afternoon!

So now, what to do in the Greenville region for a few days? On Friday we did the Ultimate Driving Museum in the BMW CCA Foundation. The current exhibition is the Alpina: 60 years of Excellency. The exhibition includes Alpinas in private property, some of Alpina and some of BMW. It is a great exhibition and if you are in the city, you have to do it. It is literally next to the Performance Center.

We also did the Upcountry Museum in Greenville, stopped at the Greenville Drive (Minor League Team) store -Ze were not in the city. And then on the way to a Hub City Spartanburgers Minor League match in Spartanburg (new team). It was fun, and luckily we got seats at club level with some air conditioning because it was 95 degrees plus humidity (and this applied for our entire journey throughout last Tuesday).

On Saturday we took a road trip to Florence, South Carolina for a BUC eas. And this one was wild. We have been to a few BUC-Ee’s (Florida, Georgia, Texas) and have never seen such a busy and busy. I thought it might just be opened (checked and it has been open for at least 2+ years. But it was crazy. But the service was fast, we got some breast roads for lunch and then it went to Columbia, South Carolina to pick up some GameCocks -Merch because I am a child.

On Sunday was another road trip, we considered traveling to Vir for the SRO Sunday Main Race and then realized that the return would be 8 hours for a 90 -minute race in the heat, humidity and thunderstorms, so we decided to get some of the historic down towns in the countryside of Saturday and Laaten. Old charm, but many things were closed. And then on the way to another historic marker: Musgrove Mill-the site of a revolutionary war struggle. You can take a walk (not in 96 degrees again + humidity) if you want on the site.

Monday was the longest day ever, because we had to kill more time to pick up the car until about 3.30 pm. Then we had to drop the rent at the airport. Then we stopped at Thunder Bunny Racing in Greenville. This is a store that racing track preparation, general service, etc. Because and also a racing team with a huge site that also organizes some events for the Sandlapper chapter of the BMW CCA and even weddings! They are staffed by enthusiasts and former and Emertius BMW PC employees (including instructors). So why did we stop here? Friends and catching up the M5 Mom (YouTube BMW commercial below) for a tour and photo with the new M5.

And from there it was on its way to the Atlanta area with a pit stop at Paul Miller Racing at an unknown location. Stay informed.

And intro video for the Daytona Violet M5 Touring: