The Thermal Club

After stints hot lapping the M3 Competition, M4 Competition xDrive and M5 CS on the South Palm circuit at the Thermal Club in Thermal, Calif., I felt that the deck was decidedly stacked against the M240i xDrive, the next model I was to put through its paces. The suspension tuning was a bit softer than the others, the shove wasn’t quite as visceral, and the stopping power of the M Sport brake package wasn’t as urgent as the bigger, pricier carbon-ceramic systems on those top-tier M cars. Yet even on a fast, demanding course like this one, the M240i was not only competent, but also thoroughly entertaining. That is, with the right combination of settings.

All new for 2022, the BMW 2-Series has muscled up for its second act. In M240i specification, it’s now 3.5-inches longer, 2.6-inches wider, 0.1-inch lower and boasts front and rear tracks that are 2.5-inches and 2.4-inches wider, respectively, than the car it replaces. With a more prominent long nose, a short deck layout, bulging fender flares and a power dome hood, the car’s aesthetics alone make it clear that performance is a big part of the equation here.

The 2022 BMW M240i xDrive. 

Photo: Courtesy of BMW.

It also has more grunt to back up the new look. The car carries a 3.0-liter, turbocharged inline-six engine that delivers 382 hp and 369 ft lbs of torque to all four wheels. Managing that delivery is an eight-speed automatic transmission—the sole gearbox available for the M240i xDrive. The latest model iteration not only dishes out an additional 47 hp over its predecessor, but also 17 hp and 26 ft lbs of torque more than the original M2. It’s a combination that’s good for a sprint from rest to 60 mph in 4.1 seconds, and it doesn’t stop pulling until you reach its electronically limited 155 mph top speed. But the M240i xDrive isn’t exclusively focused on setting your hair on fire, and our time on the street with the reworked machine gave us a chance to soak in our surroundings a bit more.

Aesthetics alone make it clear that performance is a big part of the equation with this model. 

Photo: Courtesy of BMW.

BMW largely played it safe here, bestowing the new 2-Series with an interior that looks and feels like a shrunken-down version of the 3-Series. It’s not particularly daring, but it also leaves little to complain about. The sport seats, moonroof and M Sport Package come standard on the M240i, the latter of which adds a leather-wrapped steering wheel, cushioned knee pads on the center console and an array of M badging throughout the cabin.

Also on board is iDrive 7 with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto support. The standard instrument layout consists of analog gauges with a 5.1-inch display between them, and an 8.8-inch center touchscreen. But if you spring for the $2,750 Premium Package—which also includes heated seats, a heated steering wheel, full LED lightning and a head-up display—the analog gauge cluster is replaced by a 12.3-inch digital display and the infotainment system scores a 10.25-inch touchscreen.

The latest iteration is longer, wider and slightly lower than the car it replaces. 

Photo: Courtesy of BMW.

Thanks to its standard Adaptive M suspension, the M240i proved to be an agreeable steed on extended stretches of desert highway, as well as on the twistier bits we encountered. The compliant ride quality was what we needed during long hauls, and the sharpened responses were there when things got a bit more spirited. Still, we couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more to the story back at the track.

A 3.0-liter, turbocharged inline-six engine delivers 382 hp and 369 ft lbs of torque to all four wheels. 

Photo: Courtesy of BMW.

A bit of context: Since the M240i lacks the M1 and M2 steering-wheel buttons of the BMW’s proper M cars (which allow you to call up an array of pre-programmed dynamic settings with a single button press), event organizers had simply set the M240i xDrive to Sport mode. And normally that’s fine. As is the case with this mode on most performance vehicles, the setting stiffens the suspension, sharpens throttle response and recalibrates the gearbox for more aggressive driving. One thing it doesn’t do, however, is loosen up the traction and stability control systems to a point that would allow most drivers to fully exploit the car’s capability. We noticed that the vehicle simply would not deliver the additional thrust we asked for when coming out of slower corners until the steering wheel was almost completely straightened out.

The M240i xDrive covers zero to 60 mph in 4.1 seconds and has an electronically limited top speed of 155 mph. 

Photo: Courtesy of BMW.

There’s certainly a valid argument to be made that more precise driving technique would eliminate a lot of this, but the 2-Series has always been more about having fun than setting lap records. So after getting the nod from the powers that be, BMW sent us back out on track with Dynamic Traction Control (DTC) enabled, which basically means the stability and traction systems were set to partial-off. That might seem like a minor change, but it was transformative for the all-wheel-drive M240i, which was finally able to deliver the response we expected when we stomped on the loud pedal. And that, in turn, allowed us to noticeably elevate the pace in a number of different sections of the course.

With the $2,750 Premium Package, the analog gauge cluster is replaced by a 12.3-inch digital display, while the infotainment system scores a 10.25-inch touchscreen. 

Photo: Courtesy of BMW.

The rear-bias design of the xDrive system also became evident when we exceeded the limits of grip offered by Pirelli P Zero rubber, which resulted in predictable, easily managed oversteer similar to what we had experienced in the M4 Competition xDrive when we put that feisty coupe in MDM mode (ostensibly the M cars’ version of DTC) earlier in the day.
Of course, we’d be disingenuous if we claimed that the faster, more sophisticated and significantly costlier M4 wasn’t the superior tool for the job. But that didn’t stop us from grinning wide as we brought the M240i xDrive back into pit lane.

It is often argued that the best way to modify a car is to first modify the driver. You could throw superchargers, turbochargers and ECU tunes that add 5 hp until you’re blue in the face, but if you’re green behind the wheel, all your modifications are basically money down the drain. The same goes for those shelling out big bucks for something that can lap the Nürburgring in less than 7 minutes. Yes, you may look good rolling down Rodeo Drive in your supercar, but can you make your rocket look good when its tires meet the racetrack? Really, what’s the use if you can’t flex your car’s true muscle?

That’s where racing education comes in, and the BMW Performance Driving School is one of the best out there. I recently spent a day at BMW’s Performance Center West at the Thermal Club, in Thermal, Calif., near Palm Springs to get reacquainted with its racing school, and wasn’t disappointed. I say “reacquainted” because this was my second encounter with BMW’s performance curriculum. Back in 2018, during a first drive of the X4 M40i, BMW let me loose on the tarmac of its Performance Center East in Greer, S.C. My favorite part of that day was getting two hours of drift practice on that facility’s polished, wet concrete skid pad.

BMW’s Performance Center West. 

Photo: Courtesy of BMW Performance Driving School.

Time at Performance Center West will take anyone’s racing experience to the next level, as you are able to burn rubber in a broad range of BMW M cars including the M2 Competition, the F82 (first-generation) M4, the M5 Competition and the $210,995 M4 GT4 customer race car.
The GT4’s recipe is alluring: a 3.0-liter, twin-turbo straight-six S55 engine that makes more than 430 hp and powers a stripped-out body shell adorned with a carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) roof, hood, doors, front splitter and rear wing. Add a roll cage, racing seats and a set of slicks, and you’re literally off to the races. It all adds up to quite a winning combination.

The BMW M4 GT4 at the Thermal Club private racetrack in Thermal, Calif. 

Photo: Courtesy of BMW Performance Driving School.

Recent M4 GT4 victories include three GS-Class IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge races, nine SRO Pirelli GT4 SprintX races, and the SRO Intercontinental GT Indianapolis 8-Hour (GT4 Class). So it must be thrilling to drive, right? Well, not for me. Behind the wheel, I felt too distant from the action on the tarmac; it was as though I was piloting a racing simulator rather than a race car. Approaching 140 mph on the back straight of Thermal’s South Palm track, I felt removed from any sensation of speed. My braking foot begged to differ, however. Shedding velocity is a strain in that the brake pedal requires more than 200 pounds of force for full stopping power. I almost wanted to stick my foot out the door to slow this sucker down. It was hard to imagine having to deal with that repetitive exertion over the course of an endurance race.

The Thermal Club, home to BMW’s Performance Center West, offers more than five miles of track. 

Photo: Courtesy of BMW Performance Driving School.

In the corners, the GT4’s Recaro bucket did a fantastic job of holding me tight as the racing slicks chomped hard into the asphalt. Unfortunately, the best racing seats have a tendency to attenuate the g-forces that signal to your backside that fun things are happening. Overall, then, my M4 GT4 experience was more Sunday drive than “Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!” That said, the M4 GT4 is part of a new SCCA-certified race-license curriculum that can help kick off a professional motorsport career, if that’s your ambition.
More to my taste were the M street cars. On a smaller road course, timed laps in the M2 Competition afforded plenty of practice at hitting the correct braking points, as well as balancing braking and throttle through corner entry, apex and exit. Admittedly, I’m not the best racing driver, and my second-place ranking among six entrants in the time trials proves that. Though I couldn’t claim victory that day, the M2 remains a thrilling instrument for honing one’s go-fast skills.

Students follow the instructor’s spirited lead. 

Photo: Courtesy of BMW Performance Driving School.

Back on South Palm, a session of lead-follows was completed in the street-grade M4. While more satisfying to drive than the racing version, the F82 M4 still left me feeling a little empty inside. Numb steering was the major culprit here. After several laps of that, we hopped into the 617 hp M5 Competition. That barnstormer, paired with the larger track setting, ended up being my favorite car/track combo of the day.
Packing a punch practically hard enough to free the Ever Given freighter from the Suez Canal, the M5’s 4.4-liter, S63 twin-turbo V-8 is one of my favorite engines in production today. With that kind of power, the M5’s portly 4,400-pound curb weight didn’t seem to faze the power plant. Same went for the brakes. On South Palm’s back straight, 125 mph was reached with minimal effort, all from a cockpit defined by luxury. In the corners, the car’s prodigious heft manifests a bit of body roll, but that adds to the drama of going fast, which was ultimately what I was yearning for in the M4 GT4.

A classroom at BMW’s Performance Center West. 

Photo: Courtesy of BMW Performance Driving School.

Rounding out my day, I got to be a passenger in the M5 as one of the instructors took me for a drift lap. I aspire to master drifting at some point in my life, so while sitting shotgun, I went full fanboy, hooting and hollering at my instructor’s opposite-lock skills. There’s nothing like seeing what these cars can really do when a master drops into the driver’s seat.
While the racing M4 is now the BMW Performance Driving School’s latest and flashiest attraction, I’d only recommend driving it if you want to brag to your friends that you’ve piloted a race car, or you want to get your racing license. Otherwise, I’d stick to the programs that solely involve street cars. There’s plenty to learn, and heaps of excitement to be had just from that fleet alone.

Angling for the best line around turn No.3. 

Photo: Courtesy of BMW Performance Driving School.

No matter which program you choose, at the end of the day, you’ll leave the track a better racer, but most importantly, a better and safer driver. The BMW M and M4 GT4 program costs $2,795, but the Performance Driving School offers a variety of experiences that run the spectrum from gratis, for people who purchase a new BMW in 2021, all the way to nearly $10,000.
BMW competitors Mercedes-Benz and Porsche offer the AMG Driving Academy and Porsche Driving Experience programs, respectively, and if you can enroll in those as well, knock yourself out. You can’t overdose on education. But if you’re a BMW fanatic, the roundel’s Performance Driving School is a bucket-list treat that keeps on giving. There’s really nothing like honing a skill set that can last a lifetime.

Learn more about Robb Report’s 2022 Car of the Year at the event taking place in Napa Valley here and in Boca Raton here.

In the first installment of BMW’s new “Power of M” campaign, three-time Emmy-winner Milo Ventimiglia gapes and then exults while he’s drifting around racetrack corners in the 2021 BMW M4 coupe fit with a six-speed manual transmission. Although he’s in the driver’s seat, we are to believe the car is in autonomous driving mode.

The action pauses as the car skids to a stop. “Oh, come on. I drove it myself,” Ventimiglia says, winking at the camera. The transmission goes into reverse, and there’s a crazy, spinning, tire-smoking maneuver before the M4 comes to rest again, and he walks away.

Stylish and trenchant, the spot called “The Ultimate Self-Driving Machine” spoofed the world when released on April Fool’s Day. “Fully self-driving BMWs are not currently available,” the disclaimer informs.

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Of course, we already understand that BMW M models are the most capable ones in the marque’s portfolio. Members of the elite high-performance M lineup receive upgrades to the power train, suspension and electronic functions. And there’s unique trim inside and out. The implicit message of the M4 is that the manual gearbox betokens utmost driver control and fun. Who would even want autonomous-driving capability?
I had occasion to reflect on Ventimiglia’s cheerful malarkey just before jumping on the brakes at the end of a long straightaway at the Thermal Club, in Thermal, Calif. Ventimiglia did the filming here, so for the sake of authenticity, Robb Report accepted the opportunity to drive on this country-club racetrack near Palm Springs to get a taste of the “This Is Us” star’s authentic wonder and joy.

The 2021 BMW M4 coupe. 

Photo: Courtesy of BMW.

Rather than the second-generation M4, I was thrusting along in a bewitching 2022 BMW M8 Competition, provocative and daring outside in Alpine white, voluptuous inside in black-and-tan dressing. With even more features and electronic offerings, the M8 Competition is an “M” above the rest.
Ace instructor Christopher Hill of the BMW Performance Center West, located at Thermal, was leading the way and coaching on a two-way radio. He urged judicious acceleration until the steering wheel returned to center, mindful of the monster under the M8 Competition’s long, sloping hood.

The M4 takes to the private racetrack at the Thermal Club in Thermal, Calif. 

Photo: Courtesy of BMW.

This new projectile from BMW starts at $131,995 and is loaded with a few extra grains of firing powder in the form of the 617 hp, 4.4-liter V-8 engine. Its twin-turbos and internal furies operate behind a series of vertical grille bars and lots of mesh in the lower fascia—all in black. The eight-speed automatic transmission works nicely if the setting is dialed up to Sport Plus. It blips the throttle on downshifts, but one is free to choose manual mode and regulate activity with the paddle shifters.
Weighing in at 4,295 pounds, or 2.14 tons—which seems about right for, say, a coastal defense vessel in the Danish archipelago—the M8 spills out of its swimsuit, so I was happy to rely on Hill’s conservative dynamic settings. The car seemed happy too, lest it find itself departing Turn 8 backwards.

Dreams of drifting can be fulfilled by the BMW Performance Center West at the Thermal Club. 

Photo: Courtesy of BMW.

Despite the “all-safe” settings, the portly M8 was nevertheless imposing. A contributing factor was the unfamiliar driving position that Hill prescribed. It was more NASCAR or IMSA GTP in style and less the relaxed grand-touring posture with arms stretched out.
Still, even as it shed away the effortless blazing speed, the M8 always went where it was supposed to go. Reaching the apex of a turn, I would pick up the throttle and remind myself to breathe and command the moment.

BMW’s M8 Competition, as seen away from the track. 

Photo by Daniel Kraus, courtesy of BMW.

“Look at the flashing light of the stability control,” Hill had said beforehand. “It’s almost like a driving coach.” But I was holding on tight and hadn’t even noticed the head-up display or variable instrument-panel graphics. Urgent updates, if any, from the chassis-management system would go unnoticed.
We finished our laps without anyone puncturing the outer wall and landing in a date grove or, if pointing north, encroaching upon the runway of the Jacqueline Cochran Airport. At worst, I’d missed a couple of apexes but could claim to have pressed as hard as I dared.

Milo Ventimiglia looks back longingly at the 2021 BMW M4 coupe. 

Photo: Courtesy of BMW.

Hill soon loaded me and another student into his bone-stock M5 sedan and made an excellent display of chassis stiffness and car control while drifting through the corners just as Ventimiglia’s M4 had done. For patrons who leave Los Angeles before sunrise to come out to the desert for a morning of motorsport thrills, these hot laps are a way of experiencing a skill-set most can only dream of aspiring to.
In the final assessment, driving the M8 Competition on the track after the long pandemic interval was revivifying. The car is full of dragons and wizards and needs lots of internal supervision, and for all we know a Wyoming data farm is tied up in support of the effort. Ultimately, it was a fun time in a good-looking car.
When Milo Ventimiglia walks away from the smoking M4 on his track day, he says, “Not bad for an actor, huh?” When it came time to relinquish the helm of BMW’s super-coupe, this reporter and avid amateur driver kind of felt the same way.