BMW M School

Has anyone had any experience with the M School 2-day program at the BMW Center in SC? There was a piece in Roundel that was pretty favorable, but I'd be interested to hear any other reviews. Thanks!

i've done the 1 day M school and its a lot of fun. where else can you drive all the M cars at the same event? good instructors, plenty of seat time, and outstanding facilities.

I second that. They treat you like royalty the entire time you are there! You get classroom instruction, lots of seat time (as pseto mentioned...in all of the M Cars!), they feed you like kings and just make the entire experience outstanding. You will not be disappointed!

It's a blast, but now I want a new DCT M3, so it's an expensive school.

The 2nd day builds on the 1st day, and you learn different section of the track, and then in the afternoon they combine the track and you get to do two sessions (1 in the M5 & 1 in the M3) doing laps around the 1.3 mi course. You can't pass, but they have a hot pit, where they will pull drivers over to let people pass or improve the gapping, and then send you back out. You get swag also - Got a new helmet, so I'm ready for the new helmet requirements. New jacket, hat, polo and t-shirt And you get a DVD of your hot lapping to relive the fun, and geek out with friends(or alienate your non-car friends).

my chapter has 2 ///M school days a year where we share slots with the Tarheel chapter at a fraction of the retail cost. we usually caravan together on Fri, tour the factory/Zentrum, ///M school on Sat, hit the bar Sat night, and caravan home Sun morning. its a great trip, so maybe other chapters can develop their own ///M days with the performance center.

Thanks for the feedback -- I talked with the Performance Center, and it sounds great, if pricey, although the fact that you don't have to share a car for the two days sounds like a worthwhile bump over the 2 day car control class.

I did it last year and had a great time as well, though rather than falling for the new M3 I fell for the M6, which was much nicer than I thought it'd be. And no one's mentioned all the swag - shirts, jackets, souvenirs, hats. You come away feeling you've gotten your money's worth, that's for sure.

It rocks....

Do you have to drive stick or is there the option to drive ATs?

There are no stick-shift cars in the class. It's either SMG or DCT now. That was actually a downer for me, I was hoping to get better at this dying art form.

Not cool.

DCT is awesome

I too grew up driving a stick and wish there was an option for that but the paddle shifting in the M3 is stupid fast...microseconds!
I took the 2 Day School and as others have mentioned the instruction and schwag is great. No one else mentioned that the Hotel is included and dinners as well. Evening of the first night you have a group dinner with and instructor. That alone was worth the price of admission.

It really is a great school. Cannot speak highly enough of it. I am now saving for the Advanced M School. Although none are scheduled yet for this year.

Oh yeah and as a BMWCCA member you get a discount. You have to book over the phone with your membership number. I think the discount is like $400. Pretty good deal.

Thanks -- I'm now on the wait list for April class.