[parrys]

The BMW Driving Academy:

• The BMW Driving Academy in Maisach, Germany, opened on 14/09/2012. This facility is located 30 kilometers away from the BMW headquarters in Munich.
• This location used to be the Furstenfeldbruck airfield before, covering 130 hectares of land. This is where all the BMW Driving Experience safety training courses will take place in the future.
• 3 km long airstrip, 4 watered zones, 3 circular areas & asphalt + concrete surfaces. A handling course is in the pipeline for the next stage of development.
• Cars available are: BMW 1 series, 3 series, BMW X & M models. Minis can be made available on request.
• Two hangars from 1935 have been protected as historic buildings and carefully restored. A total of 12 such pre-war aircraft hangars are located around the site.

Clear sky, flat track & some BMWs waiting...


H-U-G-E parking lot for visitors & participants.


We drove the grey (behind each silver) 330d.




Before the training kicked off, each of us had to register via an app. Much better than filling a form.


Easy as pie, I went through the entire registration process without a second thought.


Our trainer for the day gave us a short presentation on the dos & don'ts.


Early morning theory session begins.


Be it the city or the track, seating position is of utmost importance. How you sit plays a significant role in how safe you will be in a crash.


What's your style?


The "9 & 3" position is recommended over "10 & 2" on modern airbag-equipped cars.






An eye-opener. See the difference that 20 kph can make.






The nauseatic forces.


Which wheel performs the braking task with DSC intervention during understeer? (Answer: rear left)


Which wheel performs the braking task with DSC intervention during oversteer? (Answer: front right)

[parrys]

On the track:

One line.




The BMW M3.




Our rides for the day, the 330d.


Our course instructor.


First off, the slalom.


Next up, hard braking in wet conditions.




Some managed to brake perfectly, while the ice-cream lovers took cones away.


How to handle understeer.




Two cars at a time. Quite a task to keep an eye on the other car & also get your car to understeer.


Next exercise, drifting... oops, oversteer.


Once we got familiar with the drill, it was all smiles & spinning wheels.




Up next, sharp lane changes, without braking.


A slalom test with a U-turn & lap timing. I was leading the group with a 25.20 second lap-time; then, a fellow participant had the presence of mind to switch to 'sport' mode and beat me by a full second.


Event instructors, happy to help - happy to pose.


Certificate handouts.

[parrys]

Some eye candy at the venue:

That colour...




Black & gold combo makes brake caliper more prominent.


The silent i3.






Pleasant interior trim. Love that info screen area.




Chunky gear selector. Oddly placed start-stop button.


Funky seats match the dashboard colour scheme.

[parrys]

Official photographs from the event: Shared by BMW















Yours truly...
















• Disclaimer : BMW invited Team-BHP to Germany. They covered all the travel expenses for this driving event.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the International Scene. Thanks for sharing!

[Sheel]

Hi!

That must have been an experience. Can spot few know faces amongst Indian journos.

I believe fellow member & a good friend Bunny was the winner in that course.

[abishek2222]

Thanks for sharing, Great pictures to go with it.
I think more information on the same can be found here.

http://www.bmw-drivingexperience.com/en/index.html

[Golf Pro]

Great article, how were the 330D in performance compared to the 320D available here?

[parrys]

Originally Posted by Golf Pro

Great article, how were the 330D in performance compared to the 320D available here?

Got very little time behind the wheel. As you might notice, before every exercise, we had to get out of the car, giving us around 3-5 minutes inside the car / exercise. Also, the exercise kept changing, and hence the driving dynamics.

Would be very premature for me to comment about the performance.
Also, I did not get a chance to floor that pedal, not once.

[Golf Pro]

Ok cool, owning a 320D i always wanted to know the difference in performance with a 330D, anyways will try testing a car in europe on my next holiday, Cheers

[sameerpb]

Originally Posted by parrys

Got very little time behind the wheel. As you might notice, before every exercise, we had to get out of the car, giving us around 3-5 minutes inside the car / exercise. Also, the exercise kept changing, and hence the driving dynamics.

Would be very premature for me to comment about the performance.
Also, I did not get a chance to floor that pedal, not once.

@parrys, I will be in Munich this month wanted to check if it is worth experiencing BMW Academy. I visited the web site and see a safety training available. Also do they need International driving permit to visit BMW academy

- Sameer

[goingout]

Originally Posted by sameerpb

@parrys, I will be in Munich this month wanted to check if it is worth experiencing BMW Academy. I visited the web site and see a safety training available. Also do they need International driving permit to visit BMW academy

- Sameer

I spent 3 weeks there for my training with BMW. Amazing place and awesome people. I did a very extensive course but even the simple ones are quite fun. Don't believe you need an IDL for the academy. Just drop them a mail if you have more questions. Have fun!