BMW is making ice driving dreams come true again

Driver training and driving experiences are big business for luxury brands.

BMW, Audi, and Mercedes-Benz all offer days allowing owners to experience a range of performance cars without speed limits hanging over their head, usually with a trained instructor looking over their shoulder to share their wisdom.

Training days and track days are common, but what if you want an experience that’s less about being neat and tidy… and more about controlling a sliding car on ice?

After five years on hold, the BMW Snow and Ice Experience is back to offer just that.

Set at the Southern Hemisphere Proving Ground outside Queenstown, New Zealand, the program is designed for drivers to “learn not only how to conquer icy terrain, but also how to unleash [their] full potential at the wheel”.

Prices start at $4450 per person for a single-day experience, and extend to $6500 per person for a longer package including two nights’ accomodation and a helicopter transfer to the proving ground. Scenic sideways action doesn’t come cheap.

Both include the opportunity to pilot the likes of a BMW M3,X3 M40i, and members of the Mini Countryman range, among others.

A snowy motorkhana, snow drifting, drag racing, and a ride-along with a professional are part of both experiences, which share elements with the equivalent programs in Switzerland and Austria.

BMW isn’t alone in offering the chance to experience its cars on the limits on New Zealand; Lamborghini in 2023 announced its Esperienza Neve was coming to the same proving ground outside Queenstown.