After the great big family fun that the Ferrari cars for Shell brought us at Christmas, just seeing the advert for the new BMW cars collection, made me jump for joy around the room! Last December we organized family races and tournaments with the Ferrari cars, which were some of the coolest experiences I’ve had this past year. Also, I’m a collector at heart, so I couldn’t help but start collecting the new bluetooth controlled BMW cars. This blog post is dedicated entirely to them and their features.

There are a total of 6 cars from the latest collection of BMW and Shell (June 2022). You need 4 fuel stickers and BGN 15.99 to buy one car. Unlike the previous collection, where each Ferrari car had its own built-in battery and bluetooth module, the BMW cars do not have a battery. It is purchased separately and costs BGN 9, but it is universal and can be used by all cars, that is, if you are a collector and do not want to do competitions, only one battery is enough for you. The batteries come with a USB cable (super short, about 10 cm), with which they are charged. The cars are miniature and highly realistic models of real BMW cars, with 3 models of modern cars and 3 models of old and vintage BMW cars, namely:

• BMW M1 – With a 6-cylinder engine and a classic name, the BMW M1 became a major player in the automotive world with its debut in 1978. In real life, such a car costs about 472 thousand dollars (115 thousand in 1980)

• BMW M3 – One of the most iconic cars in BMW M history. The 1986 BMW M3 was the first model of its kind to win multiple championships. In real life, such a car costs about 150 thousand dollars.

• BMW 3.0 CSL – Six European wins and a sensational Nürburgring lap record. In real life, such a car costs about 800 thousand dollars.

• BMW M4 GT3 – Since the start of the 2022/23 season, the BMW M4 GT3 has been battling top class opponents in the best racing series in the world. In real life, such a car costs about 530 thousand dollars, with its impressive 590 horsepower

• BMW Z4 GT3 – The BMW Z4 GT3 has been extremely successful on the GT3 scene and has proven its ability to win races. In real life, such a car costs a modest $400,000 and has 480 horsepower.

• BMW M5 Safety Car – Modeled after the BMW M5 Competition sedan, the BMW M5 Safety Car makes world-famous race tracks safer. In real life, such a car costs about 150 thousand dollars

The carts are controlled by any smart device that has bluetooth and the option to download and install the Shell app – “Shell Racing”. For convenience, there’s a QR code on the cars’ boxes that, when scanned, takes you directly to the Apple Appstore or Google Play, and makes finding and installing the app pretty quick and simple. The batteries are charged via a USB cable that comes with the battery itself. The battery is placed in the lower part of the car.

This is the interface of the riding module of the app:

As for the controls, the car is not difficult to master, but at first you get the feeling that the car is uncontrollable. Then, after a lot of driving, fun and racing, it turned out to be quite maneuverable and not that complicated to drive. The joystick doesn’t offer 360-degree movement in one button, just like the Ferrari carts did. Instead, it is in two parts – two buttons for steering forward and backward, and two for turning left and right. There is also the option to use the smart device’s gyroscope to tilt the device itself in the direction you want the cart to go. There are three additional options such as turbo (I don’t see a difference with or without it), horn and headlights on/off. In the upper right corner, there are also two premade tricks that the car performs – a circle and another shape. In the upper left corner there is an icon showing how much battery is left.

There is also an option in the app to play and race virtually on different tracks with a car of a model that you have (as well as others), racing against other people and completing various objectives in different places of the world. There are even weekly prizes for the best.

There is also a QR code on the car box to quickly find and open the Shell Racing app that controls the cars and where the game is played.

The campaign for the cars is valid from 11/07 – 28/08/2022, but I’m sure that as with the Ferrari cars, there will be a shortage of these very soon. The last car I didn’t have – the BMW M3 turned out to be pretty hard to find back in early August. We had to go around several gas stations where it was all bought out, to finally find it on the highway, in a Shell, near Burgas. I had a hard time collecting all 6 cars. At the beginning of the gas station campaign, it was very strict to show and give points, exactly according to the rules. It took a whole month for the employees to start giving a bonus point more freely when you ask them a lot or buy them a coffee. At today’s fuel prices, if I had to really buy 20 liters of gas for one point, and each car costs 4 points + 16 BGN… I’d have to rob a bank for this collection of cars, haha.

One car, 4 points of 20 liters each, 80 liters in total. A liter of petrol is about 3.50 BGN at the moment, which is 80×3.50=280 BGN, plus 16 BGN for the car itself and 9 BGN for the battery, it turns out that according to the rules, one car costs 305 BGN. We have 6 cars, which makes BGN 1,830 for the complete collection of BMW cars. Oh!

My opinion of the cars is extremely positive, as it was with the Ferrari collection. Their control interface is simple and cool, the app itself provides much more than just controlling a toy car. They have thought out their whole concept well, their presentation is great and I like it a lot. I like the idea of having QR codes everywhere, which can be done literally in seconds and save a lot of time and searching.

The cars are fun to play with and seem incredibly sturdy – something that my two children, aged two and one, have tested many times.

I also made a short video while testing the cars for the first time. You can watch it on my YouTube channel at this link –> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8erBZTyGzM