TLDR - Experience video on post 3
Hey guys, it’s been a long time since I’ve been on this forum (or actually been in a BMW for that matter), but I recently crossed off a bucket list item of a 2 day M-School at the performance center in SC.
I wanted to write down my experience on the forum to share with you what M school is like in 2021 and for keepsake reasons. I also want to thank the previous members who posted about their experiences:
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https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1472503)
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https://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1402561)
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https://f10.m5post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=788997)
Forum member Machines with souls:
https://machineswithsouls.com/2020/0...-bmw-m-school/
A little background - in college, I had a manual e36 which I loved to death. Had little money to take care of the car and hence it slowly fell apart, but I drove it to approx 190K miles and sold it to another enthusiast who fixed it back up… go figure.
Anyway, I ended up buying a non-BMW pedestrian sedan (which I still drive today). After years of more school and training, I finally finished and decided to reward myself with this experience (and to see which one I would potentially buy)
Prior to the M school, I had ZERO experience in track driving, never participated in a HPDE, and I pride myself on being a conservative driver on the roads. Hence, I was bit hesitant to sign up for this, but BMW assured me that there is no prerequisite to attend this school and the mantra was “challenge by choice.” For those of you on the fence, trust me, if I can do it, you can do it.
Day - 1
The day starts around 8:30 am with introductions and classroom sessions. The instructors were all seasoned race car drivers. Clint, the head instructor, has been at the school since early 2000s and had a storied racing career. We even had few current race car drivers who came to teach as their side gig. They are all approachable and make you feel welcomed.
The instructors really drill home these basics they want you to hone:
Vision “look where you want to go”
Braking “brake in a straight line” “braking makes you faster”
Follow the Racing Line “be patient, hit the apex”
After the classroom, we were split into 3 groups of 5. You are assigned a group color and a number within that group. This then determines which car you get into for each exercise.
THIS is what you walk out to. What’s even more impressive is when you hear 15 M cars starting up at once... I will never forget that moment.