2018 BMW Test Fest Track Day Gallery

BMW invited SlashGear and a slew of automotive journalists out to Thermal Racetrack in beautiful Palm Springs, California to test out the all-new M5, X2, M4 CS Pre-Pro, 340i M-Performance, M3, and M2. It's the location of the BMW Performance Center West, where the automaker gives existing and potential owners the opportunity to see how their cars perform at speed.

It was also an opportunity to compare a variety of different BMW models, along with some contributions from MINI, and see how they hold up. Turns out, though you might not think of pitting a diminutive hatchback against a sports sedan, they do have something in common. Meanwhile, BMW wheeled out the latest prototype of its upcoming M4 CS.

If there's one thing we typically take away from track days, it's that a little instruction goes a long way to making a more confident driver. The Thermal Racetrack may not be the longest course out there, but it's one of the more technical ones, and it demands more than just hellish acceleration on the straights.