BMW to Open Performance Center Driving School in California

By Jesse Sokolow on 9 October 2014

BMW X5 diesel on the skidpad in Spartanburg

BMW announced it will open a new driving school in La Quinta, a city in Southern California, later this year.

The BMW Performance Center West will be located on 32 acres (13 hectares) of land inside the Thermal Club, a private motorsports club. The facility will have a dedicated 1.4-mile (2.2-kilometer) road course, 6.2 acres (2.5 hectares) of paddock, a skid pad, and an 8,500-square-foot (789-square-meter) performance facility.

The new Performance Center West will also have the same driver training courses that are offered at the BMW Performance Center in South Carolina, including the BMW M School and BMW Teen Driving School.

BMW first launched BMW Driver Training in 1977 in Germany. It opened the BMW Performance Center, its first permanent U.S.-based performance driving school and delivery center, near Spartanburg, South Carolina in 1999.

(Photo: Accura Media Group)