[Needsdecaf]

So I got to attend the UDE and one of the Autocross sessions on Monday. I have to say it was fantastic as usual.

I had originally gotten an invitation to the UDE from BMW Woodlands. When I signed up, I saw the car control clinics as well as the free autocross. As much as the car control clinics would have been fun, I don't really have a full day to devote to it. Not to mention that it is $600 and while that is something of a deal, I'd rather spend a few grand on a 2 day M school. So when I signed up, they had the 5 series and 2 series open for autocross. Having owned an F10 535, I know that it's not really the autocross type of car. 2 series is much more appropriate.

The autocross session was noted to start a 3:30 and the "VIP" event as they kept calling it was scheduled to start at 6:30. So knowing they'd have cars to look around, I showed up a little early at 3:15. It was in the Yellow parking lot at NRG Park, over by what I guess is the practice bubble? Turns out I was outsmarting myself. They wanted you to arrive at 3:30 but it really didn't start until 4:00. No bother, there was a parking lot full of cars to take out on a street drive.

The mix of cars was ok. There was a 3 series, a 528, an X5, an i3, but there were also two 6 series. One of which was a Sakhir Orange / Merino White convertible. Monday was still beautiful, in the 70's, and perfect ragtop weather. The person signing out cars told me their'd be better ones later. She was right...

In any event, I went off for a loop around the stadium in the very nice 650i MSport. Up Main, right on Old Spanish Trail, Right on Fannin, right on Buffalo Speedway and another right on Main. Just enough to wind it up a little. No traffic per se yet, so I had it roaring pretty good. I've driven a 650i ragtop before and it's a nice big old barge, a little cowl shake but not awful, and a very nice place to be. Back seats are a joke, though.

So when I got back, I was more or less in time for the Auto-x to start. There was the usual chalk talk session, which I could give by now I have been to so many of these. And then we went out to the track. Since it was kind of an odd time, our session was pretty light. There were 3 instructors to only 5 students! I got placed by myself since I was solo, with Leslie Studdard, a Rally driver from Delaware. She was pretty cool and a good instructor. I started off slow and built speed up since I had "double time" as a solo driver. Eventually I got into something of a rhythm although my feet kept getting caught on the pedals (I wore the wrong shoes, and my feet are a size 13) and I'd hit the throttle and brake at the same time and push wide. Her instructions kept me calm, and kept me moving.

Soon it was time to do the real flying lap. They stuck a camera on the dash to record us (iPhone with two cameras) and emailed us a video of the lap. It was kind of silly, but cool. We got a warmup lap and this time I was with a different instructor. He wanted me to be a little more rough, while Leslie was emphasizing smoothness, so on my warmup lap I was kind of confused. But the second lap I shaved a full 2 seconds off and managed to win the group. Given the people in the group, I wasn't surprised, but everyone seemed to have fun.

So it was about 5:40 by the time we were done. I got myself registered for the "VIP" event and they told me they were bringing in the nicer cars for the street drive. They said that would start at 6. So I sat around for a little while and caught up on work emails while they rolled in the nicer cars for the street drive. And nicer they were! There was a Austin Yellow M3, an M6 ragtop an M6 GC, a 750i, an Alpina B7, an X5 50i, the same 650 ragtop I had driven before, a frozen silver 650 coupe and one or two others. So of course, the M3 caught my attention and I asked the lady when we could start driving and she told me 6. So I sit back down, in full view of the area, and go back to my emails. Next thing you know I look up and she's showing a dude and his wife to the M3. I was like, WTF, I already asked you about that car and you put someone else in first? SO I went over and politely reminded her I was still there. She apologzied, and said she would put me on next for the M3, but would I like to drive the M6 droptop while I waited? Well, that's a pretty nice consolation prize....

I've driven an M5 before but not an M6. This car felt a little different, but not much. The car had 8k miles and the tires must have been shot. The M5's I've driven before have had SOME traction issues, but this car was all over the place. I couldn't even pull away normally from a stop without the traction light flashing away. And never mind getting on it...wait until 3rd gear. That, combined with the 6PM traffic had me spending more time checking out the HUD and the latest version of iDrive than driving, but I still managed to get on it hard. And man, that car is still fast as hell.

So I pulled in the lot right behind the M3. The lady knew I had been waiting and so I just walked right over. They didn't set the nav for the route since they knew I had just been on it. Traffic was still kind of heavy but....

Holy crap, I love the M3. It's just such a well put together machine. I don't have much time in the E90, but from what I remember, this car seems much more planted and tied down. And even though it's down on HP compared to the F10/F11, It seems just as fast because it can actual use the power. With the DCT set to 3, I was able to chirp the tires into third with only part throttle. Make no doubt, the car is quick.

But it also is just better all around. The car I was in was pretty well loaded with Exec and full leather, and the full safety gear. Personally, I'm not sure I'm sold on the HUD. It's nice, but I had never used it at night and in the dark it seems more distracting than not. But that's not really that pertinent. To me, the car feels very, very well put together. It feels almost Porsche like in it's solidarity and it's purposefulness. It really feels like a 4 door sports car, to beat that cliche to death.

I have only previously driven an F8X once, and that was a not so spirited drive in a fellow forum member's car. I took it easy since he had so few miles at the time, but even then I could tell it was a beast. This car had a few thousand miles on it and it was BMW's so I didn't mind thrashing on it. The car egged me on every time! Of course, if you know Houston and the arena area, you know the roads (both traffic and physical condition) are not conducive to speed or any test of handling. But it was fun as hell.

When I got back, I ended up doing a hot lap (two) with the M3 driven by an instructor. That was pretty damn fun, but then they let us do two hot laps in it as well! The differences between it and the two series were crazy! Besides the power, which you can't use, the grip is just outstanding.

So after that, I made it my mission to drive as many as the street drive cars as was practical. I ended up driving the X5 50i (fast, aloof, seats suck) and the Alpina B7 (where's the power, super laggy, needed the active suspension, hate the thin steering wheel). Went inside and had a few snacks and decided that I really didn't want to sick around until 9:00 watching the "celebrity chef" demonstration when I had already been there over 5 hours.

All in all, awesome day and I loved it! I have a few crummy pics that I can post up later, but nothing good.

Now, when can I order that M3?