The "Z8 Driving Experience" was a a wonderful ?thank you? given by BMW NA to us, their approximately 2,500 Z8 and Alpina owners.
It was essentially a two day car control clinic held at BMW's Performance Center at Spartanburg, South Carolina, which allowed us to find the car?s limits, and feel the nature of the it?s behavior at those limits, in a very controlled and safe environment.
Ben Burrell managed the Z8DE, as well as many of the other BMW driving courses. Ben was a life long road racer, with a huge amount of experience as a driver and instructor, and was a master at making the DE easy, enjoyable, and very confidence inspiring experience for us all.
From the moment we stepped off the plane we were wined, dined, and generally made to feel like kings all at BMW's expense. Along with the drive time and constant entertainment BMW showed us their 2.5 million sq ft assembly plant in town which is really awesome to see in full swing.
The Z8DE was a huge value add for any original owner, and really made the Z8 all the more special and unique because of it. BMW finished running the DE in the early spring of '05 when many of the cars they were using had to be decommissioned due to EPA preproduction prototype rules. The serial numbers of the cars we drove there were all in the first batch of 30 made, cars # 60008-60031. (nb: I didn't get the VIN of the Stratus car that arrived on the second day).
A big thanks to Ben, Bill, Christy, and BMW NA for making such an extraordinary effort to make us feel so special.
Full photo essay here and below are some happy snaps of the two very memorable days.