[meg180]

First off, what an incredible experience! BMW had a 2-day M school at the Nurburgring Nordschleife in which many people from the US and within Europe participated. Flying into Frankfurt, we noticed a beautiful frozen black M3 in the airport. After getting our rental, we were on our way to the Ring. On arrival, participants checked into the Lindner Congress Hotel right by the GP track. Walking around the back of the hotel, there were about 40-50 brand new E92 (for the participants) and E90 (for the instructors) M3s, fully loaded with competition package and DCT.

After a little time to relax, BMW provided a mini orientation session and a nice relaxing dinner after breaking us up into 10 groups of about 6-8 people (so 3-4 cars per group).

The next morning, after a hearty breakfast at the hotel, it was time to hop into the cars. BMW provided us with USB sticks to use with the in car camera system so that we could record our driving experience. We followed our groups to the 'Ring, where we did some warm up laps and general technique training. Soon, all groups were broken up into different portions of the track for 1 hour section training sessions. This was great, as it broke up the track into little components for us to learn then integrate gradually. Mid-day consisted of a break from the track to re-fuel and to head to the Devil's diner on the "Ring for a satisfying lunch. Our day concluded with intense lead follow laps around the ring at speed. After this tiring day (and putting gas back in the cars without looking at the pump price!) we retired back to the hotel to get ready for another nice dinner and conversation about the day.

The next day was an even earlier start, with more section training that culminated with another lunch at the Devil's Diner then a little more section training before the main event. Nearly 2 hours of lead follow complete laps of the ring. What an intense experience, and now with all the section training, things started to make sense on the track, and we were able to drive much harder and have a satisfying time lapping the ring! Soon after, we drove the cars back to the BMW VIP Lounge for collection of certificates and snacks and to say goodbye to our newfound friends.