BMW Test Fest 2019

From Racetracks To Mud Pits

- Nick Kurczewski

BMW has a reputation for building high-performance luxury vehicles that don’t wilt at high speed or when the road ahead gets curvy. But what happens when the immediate path in front of your Bavarian-bred machine is bogged down with water, mud, and rocks? At the BMW Test Fest, held in Palm Springs, California, the answer was simple: Hit the gas pedal and forge boldly ahead.

The point of this annual gathering of everything BMW—along with vehicles and brands that fall under the German automaker’s corporate umbrella, such as Mini and Rolls- Royce—is to highlight the company’s full range of vehicles in a wide variety of driving scenarios. Dozens of vehicles were staged and ready for action at the Thermal Club racetrack, which serves as an official BMW Performance Center. With its multiple race circuits, skidpad, and smaller autocross courses, the setting was ideal to nudge the limits of BMW’s lineup of cars and SUVs.

And then it rained—and, boy, did it rain! As residents in Palm Springs were being told by local officials to seek shelter and avoid going outside, we found ourselves with an unlimited amount of BMW SUV keys at our disposal. As the rain poured down and roads turned into bogs, we did exactly what you’d expect. We punched gas pedals in puddles, sank up to our ankles (and BMW axles) in mud and water, and took soggy hot-laps in BMW’s latest and greatest performance SUV. Here are some of the day’s highlights, along with a few soggy surprises thrown in the mix, too.

2020 BMW X3 M