This past Saturday saw the inaugural BMW M-Festival taking place at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit and boy oh boy was it everything that they said it would be – I couldn’t have celebrated the most powerful letter in the world any other way.
The day was incredibly well organised, from the moment you drove into the circuit you were met with absolute order and excellent signage in terms of where to go. The good folk at BMW had organised me an M-VVIP weekend pass, which meant I was bestowed with the absolute best – VVIP parking, a private lounge with a view of the track, all day drinks and canapés as well as a spending card to purchase any of the day’s memorabilia that was on sale.
The viewing from the lounge was excellent and we got to see the track experiences that people had pre-booked as well as the drag race, my absolute favourite, though, was the M4 DTM doing laps around the circuit, an absolute visual and auditory delight!
Taking a walk around the actual festival set-up was lovely, the music and food stalls were well organised and the kiddie’s area as well. It was lovely to see families out and about for a magnificent day out, young and old alike had a lovely day out. As I was walking around they also had on display a few of the BMW models, including this glorious M4 and of course, one of the nation’s favourite legend (my favourite to see in the day definitely), the iconic 333i!!!
The day saw the launch of the all new BMW M5 and was it a sight to behold or what? The innovative all-wheel drive system with its 441 kW engine truly changes the game, this is one high performance sports sedan with unbelievable power, precision and agility, taking pure driving pleasure to a whole new level.
I thought the pop up dealership that was set up on the day was incredibly successful, in the time I walked around at least five new vehicles of the 300 exclusively selected models were sold in the space of thirty minutes and there were plenty more ‘SOLD’ signs on the awesome vehicles – recession for who when you can just pop into a festival and drive out with a brand new Beemer?
All in all I had a fantastic time at the inaugural BMW M-Festival and being a part of history at the largest of its kind in the world was definitely awesome. Thanks once again for the truly VVIP treatment from the good folk at BMW SA. The only thing I would have done differently? I would have had a prominent display of “M” over the years, some form of “The Evolution of BMW M” – THAT would have sealed the deal for me. I definitely look forward to next year’s instalment of a day of sheer M pleasure!
Writer & Photographer: Palesa Motau
Cover Picture: @Thousand.Vision