2023 Patrick BMW Gathering
On July 29th we had a membership meeting at Patrick BMW in Schaumburg from 10am to noon. Through the magic of Instagram, I was able to connect with the marketing department at Patrick cars, who didn’t hesitate to say yes to hosting us for an event. On the docket for the day was some delicious bagels and coffee cake from Panera, Barbara’s fantastic chocolate brownies, mingling with friends, followed by some demonstrations of two of the latest M cars on offer from BMW, the XM and M2.
The M2 we saw was Brooklyn Grey with a 6-speed manual. It is owned by one of the parts department crew members, who happily handed the keys over to Emil, Patrick’s BMW Genius, so he could go over all the details of the car. The M2 is very hard to get a hold of, so we appreciate letting us borrow his. It is powered by a 453 hp, twin turbo S58 Inline 6. Sadly, we learned, 2029 will be the final year BMW offers a manual transmission, and it will be in the final year of the G87 M2. Waiting lists for the M2 are very long, so if you are interested, get in contact with Patrick BMW so you can be added.
Next, we got to experience the all-new flagship G09 XM through a demo by BMW Genius, Edin. Did you know this is only the second M car in history to be designed and built entirely from the ground up by the M division? That’s a crazy fact. The first one was the M1, back in the 70s! It is powered by a hybrid V8, that will also be used in the upcoming M5, and is currently being used in the BMW M Hybrid V8 IMSA race car.
Thank you to Patrick BMW for hosting us. Specifically, marketing crew Sylvia and Annette, BMW Geniuses Emil and Edin, and finally parts manager John Connelly for donating some awesome prizes for VINfest 2023. We look forward to future events with Patrick BMW, including a potential Fall-season Cars & Coffee at the end of this year. Stay tuned for that.