Pictures and Report: BMW Joyfest 2021 at Ludhiana

It was a fun experience and yes, obviously not a patch on driving a car on a proper track, though keep in mind it was free and a controlled environment to get to know the limits of the cars as well.

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Rewind back to 2019 when after years of ogling and thinking, my family finally decided it was a good idea to get a nice German car, and the X1 was chosen for the practicality, comfort, build quality and last but not the least, the Image. Had it been me choosing the car on my own, I would have picked the 330i any day but it was my Dad's car and the higher seating position and much better ride quality coupled with actual usable backseat, the X1 made more sense. Anyway, it is still a BMW and a good entry point into the brand.

We hoped there would be some more BMW events (as they regularly used to) where i could check out the rest of the cars and get to know the limits of the cars but alas, the pandemic put a stop to everything. I pretty much checked the BMW India website without fail every month to check if they are restarting the events (Joyfest/xDrive/M driver sraining) and finally after over a year of waiting, I see at the start of October; there was finally a schedule. And the best part? First 2 cities on it are Delhi and Ludhiana( I was fine with attending it at either city).

With the BMW website being utterly useless to register or get any info on how to sign up for it, I got help from member Turbanator who gave me the contact of the coordinator for the Delhi event and gave me the tip to contact the Ludhiana dealer who would be making the list of attendees for the event in that city. Unfortunately, as I got to know the Delhi event was totally booked out and I was told I was late by 2-3 days, so I made sure to get in touch with my dealer in Ludhiana (helps as we bought the car from the same place). Of course, they didn't do it at once but I had to call the BMW India coordinator as well to get the dealer to get me in. This also gave me an excuse to visit home (to Ludhiana).

The event:

First look:

The Pavilion:

We reached 15 min early for our slot so that we are able to choose the cars we drive on the event (it is first come first serve), but we ended up so early that we were given an option to go on the previous slot if we were okay with driving the cars that were left. After a good 5 min of me explaining that No I did not want to drive the 2GC or X1 (already drive a FWD BMW), they agreed to let me try for the next (my scheduled slot).

Meanwhile my Dad and I looked around and inside, and put in some fuel for us as well (High Tea):

The lineup of cars:

Finally as the next slot was opening up, I pretty much ran to get the keys for the 330Li (it was either this or the JCW). It was a short slalom course with an acceleration run at the end. So didn't feel like the 520d or 620d options would be well suited.

The SUVs were to be driven on an emergency maneuver course and I chose the X5 30d, as I haven't driven this generation yet, and hoped this would be a bit of a challenge with its size and weight. I was obviously wrong as this car doesn't seem to obey physics with its large size and weight, going about its business like a much smaller car.

Here are short videos showing both the events:

Slalom course Done in G28 330Li M Sport

Emergency Maneuver in SUV done in G05 X5 xDrive 30d Luxury Line

And yes, both cars were in Sport mode and in true Bhpian style, the X5 was in the lowest (Air) suspension setting that I could get and also switched to Sport traction for the final run.

Kudos to both the instructors, got good feedback on every lap so could improve subsequently.

A parting shot:

Closing thoughts:

It was a fun experience and yes, obviously not a patch on driving a car on a proper track, though keep in mind it was free and a controlled environment to get to know the limits of the cars as well. No need to worry about wearing out the tyres, brakes or having a fender bender anywhere.

I would definitely suggest any Bimmer owner to get in touch with their dealer and definitely sign up for this to do at least once. Even my Dad who is always paranoid with me behind the wheel (aren't all Dads?) liked the activities, and instilled more confidence in him about these cars. This is a good place to drive like hell without reaching there (See my signature).

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