[nerdogray]

Picked up an M5 from PC in Spartanburg, SC on 2/8 and figured I would write a log of the experience.

Specs: 2023 M5 Competition, Grey Black (P60), Tartufo, DAP, Executive, Bowers, M-Driver's, all carbon fiber except engine cover (Pro spoiler), MPE, and a few other minor options like first aid kit, wheel locks, trunk mat, and all-weather mats. No CCB's.

Picked up by Warren in a nice X5 at the airport. Pleasant drive. He gives me a heads up on what to expect the following day. Really good first impression.

I get settled up in the room. Hotel is nice enough. Water pressure is fantastic! Elevator is aggravating. They have two, but only one was in service. I get the feeling the way the doors were timed (very, very short timer) that it's been this way a long time. Could easily miss elevator if someone is getting off a cart, because that elevator really wants to close its doors and be on its way. It's seven floors, so it's constantly moving.

I am hungry. It's a bit late around 8:30PM, but I go downstairs to the restaurant. Food is decent/edible. It will not leave you thinking "damn that was fabulous." It was lukewarm, as well. Note that the drink vouchers they give you only cover beer or wine, not mixed drinks. I despise both beer and wine but do like mixed drinks like margaritas and the such. I just drank water and never used the vouchers. A guy from another party comes over, starts talking to me, and asks to sit down. I just want to eat my dinner and go back upstairs. Apparently, he's interested in more. I don't find penis particularly appealing, so I eat my dessert as quickly as possible, and make a hasty, cordial exit. Very awkward moment that makes me seek the luxury of Jersey Mike's the following night (I stayed an extra night).

Pillows were pretty bad. I slept horribly but not really because of the bedding or anything. I just do not rest well anywhere other than my own bed. I finally drift off and get a few hours of sleep. Wake up, shower underneath a wonderful waterfall of hot water, get ready, and head down to breakfast. Highly overestimated my stomach's capacity between the omelettes they make-to-order and the buffet. You can also get Belgian waffles. The coffee is really quite good.

Meet up at the gathering point with others doing PCD and load up in the van. Everyone that is involved with the PCD experience is professional and very pleasant. Not to say hotel staff weren't either, but the PCD-related staff are just at a level you'd hope for and expect from BMW.

Make our way to the PC and unload at the front door. Quick introductions and we head to class, where more introductions are made by the actual instructors and various things are covered (frankly, I've already forgotten, but it was relevant information). Doesn't take long, we are split into two groups, and we're out back and assigned out vehicles. I get an M5 Competition. It had been a while since sitting in one, and it felt good. They didn't have an equivalent vehicle for one couple (it was one of the top tier SAV's), so they got an M8 Coupe. My group was group 2, so we start on brake exercises. By the way, Clint was our instructor.

I sucked at braking. I also found 40-50 mph quite fast when doing these exercises, but by the last one, I had some measure of success. There was one guy picking up a Mint Green M3, and he was killing it. I gathered from overhearing conversations he had a collection of M cars and had tracked quite a bit.

After that is running an actual track. We get started, and after a lap or so, I'm starting to feel pretty good and start speeding up. Lap after lap, my times get better (but in all honesty, I'm sure it was a snooze-fest for the instructor). It felt fast to me, but I'm taking those curves hard and fast, and the M5 is just absolutely stuck to the pavement. What a rush! I've never driven like that, and it reminded me exactly of the handling of a Go-Kart. I was amazed... and worn out by the end. Very intense, and it's something I would absolutely love to do again.

Next up is the skid pad, and the main intent here is to showcase the M's stability and control stuff by first turning it off and inducing a spin. "Look where you want to go" was repeated a lot. Sounds simple enough, but in the frenzy of the moment, it's hard to remember. My mind goes blank. Get up to speed and then floor it to make it spin out. I end up slightly in the center's grass but at least did not leave a rut (there are ruts all over). Then he turns the stability and control back on, and we repeat the exercise. This is the skid pad and is kept wet at all times. The car does not budge when trying to induce another spin. Pretty impressive.

After that, we are given the option to ride in the car while the instructor does a "hot lap." Wow. "He's not fucking stopping or slowing down" was a repeated exclamation as we approached turn after turn. This driving was on a whole other level. I didn't know what I didn't know, and it was an amazing, if not doubly exhausting, experience.

Next up, our group loads up and heads over to the manufacturing facility for a tour. Good experience, but it's about what you would expect. You don't go into the actual factory but walk all the way down along the edge, and then walk back on the other side where the finished vehicles flow. It looked like the factory goes pretty deep, too, so I got the feeling we saw only a small fraction. We also skipped the section at the end of the first side where the engines are installed, which is the area I would have liked to have seen more than any other. Total tour time is about 55 minutes, and we head back.

Once back from the factory, we take a detour into the off-road course (we each drove over an SAV to the factory). We run the course, which was interesting enough. Off-road has never been my thing, but it was still a good experience. It was also cool that stock SAV's are all capable of what we did on the course. It's lunchtime.

Lunch here is pretty good, and you can eat relatively healthy if you like. Take your pick of a number of cook-to-order items, along with a decent salad bar and other things like breads and desserts. I saw a woman (employee) here that looked like a clone of an ex-girlfriend I had. It was haunting. She was one of those once-in-a-lifetime connections that I will never find another, so this was a really unusual event given the context. Brought up a lot of intense feelings that just did not belong.

After lunch, it's that special time to take delivery of our vehicles. There are various bays where they park them and pair you up with a coach to take you through every aspect of your vehicle and handle things like MyBMW and such. However, they also can fit two vehicles up front in kind of a special display area, and mine and the Mint Green M3 guy's were there. I saw it. I loved it. Spec'ed exactly the way I wanted. Tartufo looks much better in person, as well. We go through everything on the car and get set up, they pull it out front, and we say our goodbyes. All in all, a fantastic experience and highly, highly recommended.

I head immediately to Extreme for window tinting. I do not trust a single person locally to do it. If I had time, I'd have probably had it partially wrapped as well, but I needed to head back. I was able to get there early enough that they were able to complete the job by around 5:45PM (I got there early around 2:30PM). Sheldon originally stated it'd be likely they'd need it the following morning to finish, but they were able to get it done, something which I really appreciated. It looks great, and I also take a look at some of the wrap-work they'd done on other vehicles. Looked very clean, and they take a somewhat mixed approach to wraps. They don't remove big items like bumpers or rocker panels to encapsulate so it's not technically a bulk install. However, the cuts are so precise they are able to wrap around nearly every corner, and you really have to look in specific spots like obscure corners to see an edge. After the abysmal job a PPF installer did on my last M5, I am actually appreciative they do not start yanking off big parts, but they do remove smaller things like door handles. Anyway, if you need their services, definitely worth a discussion. The tint job is very well done, and the interior was clean and unmarked.

After tinting, I go back to the hotel for a bit and then head out to grab dinner (reservation at Jersey Mike's) and then go to bed for the evening. Slept fairly well in spite of not being home due to just being totally exhausted from the day and lack of sleep the previous night. Wake up and start heading home around 6AM. Got home no issues, pulled in, and parked my gas guzzler in my reserved spot right next to the EV charging stations.

Love the car and loved the PCD experience. It's good to be in another M5. I really missed my first one. Such a solid, capable vehicle with actual soul. I've already gotten quite a few compliments on it and have seen groups (of guys) gather up looking at it. It's like in bodybuilding where one of your hopes is improving your attract-ability to the opposite sex. The only people it actually impresses is other guys. So it's unfortunate I am not gay, because I would have a way, way easier time... but then those guys would probably not be gay, so the misery never ends. Maybe a prostitute will at least talk to me, now?

[nerdogray]

Here are some pictures. In spite of having a modern phone (a 14 Pro Max, even), I somehow manage to take the worst pictures. I do have the IND deletion thingies, so those reflectors will be going.

Edit: Why the hell did it rotate the pictures?

[josec70]

Enjoy in good health! Beautiful combo!

[ResIpsaLoquitur]

Originally Posted by nerdogray

Here are some pictures. In spite of having a modern phone (a 14 Pro Max, even), I somehow manage to take the worst pictures. I do have the IND deletion thingies, so those reflectors will be going.

Edit: Why the hell did it rotate the pictures?

Congratulations on finally getting it! Car looks amazing! Love BMW greys with 706Ms. Heritage roundels work really well, too. Enjoy it in good health!

[grimluster]

Congrats nerdogray, I can't wait to go through the PCD! What an awesome experience!

[MackSea70]

What a great recap. That color is amazing! Overall great spec. Congrats and enjoy her in hood health!

[nerdogray]

Originally Posted by MackSea70

What a great recap. That color is amazing! Overall great spec. Congrats and enjoy her in hood health!

Thank you! I absolutely love it.. way more than Nardo, my first one. I had it down to one of the Grigio's and Grey Black and chose the latter. The color changes quite a bit depending on the lighting. At times I swear it has hints of very dark brown.

[M3PGH]

congrats
second M5 as you missed the first one
the lady that looks like an ex girl friend stirred a lot of emotions
may be you should have tried and connect with that lady .
It will be a nice story
second love car and lady in SC

[nerdogray]

I dunno. It just felt wildly inappropriate, or maybe I was just a coward. Maybe it was both? I still love her, though she is long gone. Crazy, crazy PCD moment that knocked the breath out of me.

[Greer]

Thanks for sharing your experience.