(We’d like to thank XPEL for sponsoring this column covering the BimmerLife MiX Enthusiast Weekend presented by Continental Tire.)
When you ask yourself what draws you to BMWs, the answers were most likely found at the 2025 BimmerLife MiX Enthusiast Weekend presented by Continental Tire. Do you like the classics? Or maybe the newer cars? Have you bitten the BMW SAV bug (or did it bite you)? Do you like getting behind the wheel and covering some miles? Or is a car show more your vibe? Do you crave BMW memorabilia? Interested in track activities—in your own car or BMW’s? Do you want to cut through the social media rumors and ask your questions to BMW executives directly?
BMW X vehicles look out onto the skid pad at the BMW Performance Center.
The MiX Enthusiast Weekend clearly provided something for every one of the more than 250 attendees at this year’s event. But for all the opportunities abounding throughout the extended weekend, it might have been the flexibility the program provided that made it such a great event. MiX celebrates BMW’s M cars, i-cars, and X vehicles (while all BMWs are welcome). Yet those initials come together to provide a legitimate mix of club member interests and BMW enthusiasts nationwide. Appropriately, the weekend was not overly structured, even allowing many members to make spontaneous decisions about what they were doing next.
BMW i-cars were not as prevalent as M and X vehicles, but they haven’t been around quite as long either.
Wednesday and Thursday were mostly travel days for many. More than two-thirds of the attendees came from outside the fine host-state of South Carolina. Some of them came via caravans from their hometowns, often growing in size (the caravans, not them, or their hometowns) as they met more attendees in pre-arranged gathering spots. Those ardent travelers enjoyed a MiX Weekend kick-off dinner Thursday evening. Most then headed to the host-hotel, the Greenville Marriott, where the parking lot soon resembled either a quality BMW dealership or a fantastic car meet.
The host-Marriott hotel recognized the number of BMW CCA members staying there.
The MiX Enthusiast Weekend was officially underway Friday but the day was more ripe with opportunities rather then fixed “must be here now” activities. There was the M Club Day at the BMW Performance Center that began at 10 a.m. and provided programming there until about 5 p.m. Thirty-two attendees spent the day driving BMW M2s, M3s, M4s, and M5s through a variety of courses and programs supported by the excellent instructors at the Performance Center.
M2s, M3s, M4s, and M5s provided members plenty of fun at the Performance Center.
Other than that, you could stop by the BMW CCA headquarters and register for the weekend (picking up your name badge and event t-shirt) and maybe check out the BMW CCA lifestyle shop. Concurrently, Griot’s Garage again provided the Car Wash Corral, replete with many car washing resources that so many rain-soiled BMWs needed after their drives.
The Griot’s Garage Car Wash Corral was popular all weekend.
The Test Drive Experience was also based at the headquarters but was “open” from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. Even attendees who stopped by the headquarters not intending to participate soon changed their plans once they saw that line-up. Members could hop behind the wheel of an G90 M5 sedan, a new frozen X3 M50, a G87 M2, an F74 228 xDrive (did you know that chassis code?) a G70 i7 M70, and—wait for it—a G99 M5 Touring.
If you hear that the G99 is “too heavy,” after the test drives, now there are plenty of BMW CCA members who can confirm it is not.
They were all out on road consistently, but the G99 Touring was certainly one with a good wait list. One benefit being a club member provides is the trust to just hop in these cars and go for the drive—unchaperoned. Yep, just sign up, get in, go drive, and return. Happily, everyone did return, but we also know many in the M5 Touring were tempted to just keep right on driving.
Not only do you get to test drive these cars, but you’re unchaperoned.
The host Sandlapper chapter arranged a morning drive and the even provided some social activities at a facility featuring axe throwing, driving simulators, and more.
Saturday started with the Griot’s Garage’s Caffeine and Gasoline car meet and breakfast. Griot’s was front and center with its wide range of resources with Thunder Bunny Racing posted up in front of the headquarters building. Next to Thunder Bunny was a very difficult to miss M3 Competition, but not just any M3. This was the reveal party for the 2025 BMW CCA Dream Car, an M3 Competition xDrive in a bold Ruby Star Neo. BMW CCA Marketing Director Jason Kazian introduced the car and before he was finished, the first raffle tickets were already secured by eager attendees.
A crowd quickly gathered when Jason Kazian announced why that amazing Ruby Star Neo M3 Competition xDrive was front and center as the 2025 Dream Car Raffle Grand Prize!
Other sponsors and attendees on the lawn during the car show were Street Survival, Amica, the BMW CCA Foundation and Ultimate Driving Museum, and Extreme Auto Spa. The Foundation hosted its annual Paint Your Bimmer activity for kids and saw some very creative and colorful painted models before the morning wrapped.
There were some creative works in the Paint Your Bimmer program provided by the BMW CCA Foundation.
Extreme Auto Spa also captured attention with the beautiful carbon-fiber-adorned (including the roof!) E46 M3 owned by Esteban Valentin, M Chapter President. Valentine and Christine Lisa drove up from Florida to attend their fifth consecutive MiX event (yep, that’s every one of them!). After that often-wet drive, Esteban then brought his car to Extreme Auto Spa for his car’s annual maintenance before showing it off at their booth Saturday. Maybe it was Valentin’s M3 or maybe it was Extreme’s reputation in the area, but there was always a line of members at the booth talking to them about their many XPEL solutions.
Esteban Valentin appreciates what Extreme Auto Spa has done for his E46 M3 that he found himself instinctively helping out in their booth.
“For me, whenever I get a new car, I first make sure the paint is okay, and then bring it to Extreme to get paint correction and then have them install XPEL’s Ultimate Plus Paint Protection Film and apply XPEL’s Fusion Plus Ceramic Coating,” Valentin explains. “I love driving my cars, so protecting them is important, especially on drives like these long drives from my Florida home. Coming up to this event annualy is a perfect excuse to bring the car to Doug at Extreme for the annual maintenance the car gets as part of the program.”
Don’t worry, the XPEL hat won’t scratch the Ruby Star Neo paint–it’s protected by XPEL Ultimate Plus PPF.
It wasn’t just Valentin’s car making an impact adjacent to the Extreme booth. That Ruby Star Neo M3 received the Extreme Auto Spa XPEL PPF and Ceramic Coating treatment, too. “We were pleased we had the opportunity to provide the protection solution for this year’s Dream Car Raffle Grand Prize,” Extreme Auto Spa owner Doug Payne says. “A car this nice should be driven, but with a paint that unique, it’s great that it’s protected with XPEL PPF. One of the great features is that the film is self-healing. Many of the light scratches so many of our cars acquire in day-to-day driving (or parking, or washing) not only won’t reach the paint, but will self-heal in the film, too.”
One of the few times the 2025 Dream Car Raffle Grand Prize wasn’t surrounded by people.
Payne participated with Kazian in announcing the M3 Dream Car Grand Prize and even announced another prize. “Extreme Auto Spa enjoys participating in BMW CCA events like this and to further support the event, we’re thrilled to give away a complete automotive tint solution—up to a $1,200 value,” Payne adds. “We provide the range of XPEL window tint, but with this, the winner can jump right to the top-of-the-line XPEL Prime XR Plus. With the heat out here in South Carolina, that’s important because even the lightest in that line, the 70% shade, rejects 99% of UV rays and 92% of infrared heat with any darker shade blocking 96% of IR heat. That’s going to help save a lot of these amazing interiors we see out here at this car meet, not to mention what it can do to help the drivers!”
No wonder Esteban Valentin’s M3 looked so clean!
Payne wasn’t just happy to present his own wares. “I love participating in this event,” he continues. “It’s great seeing all these cars the members display out here. There always seems to be some cool cars we haven’t seen before. We also usually meet or see client again. We partner with the Performance Center and protect their vehicle deliveries and often have those owners approach us here to say hello again. This is a great community and we’re pleased to be a part of it!”
The days’ agendas provided many opportunities and flexibility.
As the Caffeine and Gasoline event wrapped up around 11:00 a.m., another Performance Center event—a Taste of M & X Driving Event—began and extended to 2:00pm. Attendees there got to experience a number of different activities in M2s, M3s, and X5s. Part of the Taste of M & X included driving multiple BMW M and X vehicles, including some on timed course runs. Griffin Dobbs, 18 year old Sandlapper Chapter member, said he really enjoyed the experience. “It was something for sure. I loved driving the different types of cars and seeing what they can really do,” he said. “Driving the M2 on the timed course was my favorite because it actually gave you a goal.” Griffin reported that he finished the course in 19.7 seconds, with the winning time being achieved by Robert Hopkins, regional governor for the M Chapter and also member of the X and National Capital Chapters, with a 19.04 second time.
For those still at the headquarters facility, the test drives continued form 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. There was also a rally-style “Poker Run” in the afternoon, follwed by the Saturday night dinner.
Andrew Liu and Valerie Caprigno co-hosted the trivia game.
The dinner was action packed. Before and during dinner, the BMW CCA Foundation’s MiX silent auction tables were crowded with members bidding on some of the fantastic memorabilia, including signed race posters, classic BMW ads, die cast models, and more. Andrew Liu and Valerie Caprigno hosted a fantastic trivia game with questions ranging from detailed BMW information to fun movie facts. After all those questions, there were no questions about the competitive energy the members brought to the party!
While the energy was on full display during the trivia game, there was definitely some leftover for the fireside chat that followed. This was a fantastic treat for everyone—the opportunity to ask direct questions to two of BMW North America’s leaders. Tom Plucinsky, Head BMW Group Classic USA, and Jay Hanson, BMW Product and Technology Spokesperson, seated in two comfy chairs in front of the dinner audience. They were peppered with questions about the future of BMW driving dynamics, the new VDX driving experience recently showcased at Auto Shanghai, the future of hydrogen and diesel in BMWs, the accessibility of BMW Classic parts, bringing more touring wagons to the U.S., and more.
BMW didn’t just “provide” two great executives for the fireside chat; they provided a fantastic line-up of 3-series cars to celebrate 50 years of the 3-series! All seven generations of the iconic 3 Series were represented.
Hearing from these BMW leaders (and great people, too!) was a unique treat, especially when most people’s access to many of those answers is limited to scrolling through social media opinions. Asking the head of BMW Classic USA the future of classic parts tends to be a bit more reliable than the grumpy E30 owner stating on Instagram that BMW doesn’t care (hint: BMW cares).
Mark Arnold and his kiddos, Nina and James, enjoy the Saturday night dinner.
Sunday was a travel day for many, but for some, it was off to the Michelin skid pad for a fun day of pushing the limits of their own cars. The Ultimate Skid Pad Experience had sessions in the morning and afternoon, presenting a different experience from the Performance Center’s skid pad sessions that use BMW’s cars. Overlapping those sessions, the X Chapter hosted a scenic drive, continuing the theme of many opportunities throughout the flexible weekend.
Doug Verner brought his kids down for this year’s event and participated in the Performace Center and the Ultimate Skid Pad events.
Even fickle and sometimes damp weather didn’t faze the 250-plus members and family who attended this fifth annual BimmerLife MiX Enthusiast Weekend presented by Continental. Many old friendships were rekindled while many new ones were formed. It was great to see so many unique cars and with more than 150 of them coming from out of town. Even for the locals, this was very different from a usual weekend car meet.
