They say the Nordschleife can serve up “four seasons in one lap.” We were dealt a rare exception—two straight days of sunshine on the Eifel’s mountain ribbon. Ring regulars also joke: if you don’t see the castle, it’s bad weather; if you do see the castle, bad weather is coming.
Not this time. Under a high blue sky, The Speed Journal’s Jeff Francis joined BMW’s two‑day M Nordschleife training for an immersion that respects the track’s bite as much as its mystique.
BMW’s program is one of many BMW M Driving Experiences available. The Nordschleife course is a concentrated, two‑day agenda of section training and guided lead‑follow laps, limited to small groups of eight, with two participants per vehicle—BMW‑supplied M4 Competition coupes. The arrival evening includes a brief classroom session on dynamics and a dinner at the BMW M lounge; track days then alternate between section coaching and full‑lap running behind the instructor. It’s deliberately methodical because this track demands it.
The Nordschleife remains the headline act: roughly 20.8 kilometers, an official 73 corners, and about 300 meters of elevation change. The numbers only hint at what matters—the constant sequence of blind crests, linked load changes, and surfaces that evolve corner to corner.
Our classroom refresher was classic but necessary: seating, hand position, push‑don’t‑pull steering, threshold braking (hit hard, then bleed), and the language of a corner—brake point, turn‑in, apex, track‑out. Instructors—active international racers deeply at home here—pressed the same fundamentals on vision: you go where you look, so look as far ahead as the track allows. Then we met our personal instructor, Riccardo, whose calm on the radio belied the pace he would set.
The Car
BMW supplied rear‑drive M4 Competition coupes. The current Competition’s S58 twin‑turbo inline‑six is rated at 530 hp (650 Nm), paired to an eight‑speed M Steptronic. Top speed is 290 km/h (180 mph for the U.S. coupe) with the M Driver’s Package. M Drive Professional’s 10‑stage M Traction Control and the M‑specific Integrated Braking system (with two pedal‑feel maps) round out the stability toolkit—useful here, where a dab of understeer or a loosened tail can snowball. The cars wore Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires, a star‑marked OE fitment for many BMW M applications and the official tire partner for BMW’s racetrack experiences.
Day One
We assembled after breakfast and headed straight for a lead‑follow sighting lap on the Nordschleife. After finishing on the front straight, BMW slotted in warm‑up drills—slalom to wake hands and tires, then threshold‑brake runs to feel ABS and the brake pedal’s “Comfort” vs. “Sport” mapping. The day then divided the Nordschleife into four of the eight total sections we’d study over the two days.
Lead‑follow ran five cars nose‑to‑tail: the instructor’s red BMW just ahead, then a rotation so each driver could spend time in the “clean air” directly behind the leader. The brief was simple to say and challenging to do from third or fourth in line—watch the instructor’s car, not just the car right in front, or you’d inherit someone else’s missed brake point. When the group stayed tight, the train moved like a single piece of ribbon laid over the landscape. Passing was forbidden except on Döttinger Höhe, where—on Riccardo’s command—cars would quickly swap positions while traveling at speeds in excess of 220 km/h without gapping the pack. We easily saw 260 km/h, which the M4 carries with startling calm.
Lunch both days was at the Devil’s Diner beside the Nordschleife access. It’s equal parts view deck and pit stop, and on busy days the parking lot reads like a global registry of track toys. But on these two days, the Nordschleife belonged to BMW.
The afternoon training included the Niki Lauda section, through the long, fast sweeper that inevitably stirs memories of Lauda’s 1976 crash. The track acknowledges the history with “Lauda Links” in that zone—a quiet reminder to respect weight transfer and patience.
We ended Day One with two full lead‑follow laps behind Riccardo, putting into practice the sections studied earlier in the day. They were intense enough to feel like a mental download—the pleasant kind of fatigue that comes when the brain has been operating a few notches above normal.
Day Two
No classroom; straight to work. Our morning section included the Caracciola Karussell. With the marshals’ blessing, we parked on the embankment and walked the banking—rare access that transforms the concrete “gutter” from lore into geometry. The line that looks obvious from in car becomes more nuanced when you’re standing ankle deep on the Karussell’s rough concrete, tracing the lower seam with your toe and imagining the lateral loads at speed.
We pressed on to Brünnchen—“YouTube Corner”—and the Pflanzgarten complexes, where Riccardo used the word “tricky” often and appropriately. Pflanzgarten’s “small jump” invites a brake‑before or brake‑after decision that separates neat from messy; nail a light, clean landing, and the M4’s calm responses make you braver for the next blind crest.
After the final section training, BMW turned us loose for two separate, two‑lap lead follow runs at maximum pace. The radio chatter stayed calm, the guidance precise, and the margins safe. Credit to the instructor team for knowing exactly how far to let the leash run without compromising the risk envelope.
Context matters here
The Nürburgring has marked 100 years since the laying of its foundation stone—September 27, 1925—conceived explicitly as a permanent mountain racing and test track to create jobs and catalyze an automotive proving ground in a rural region. Modern safety made enormous strides in 1970–71 with added fencing, emergency lanes, and crash barriers, but the character remains. Official operations run clockwise; unlike some games and videos, you don’t “drive it backwards” here.
BMW’s roots at the Ring run deep. The brand operates a dedicated test center at the complex and, in 2025, extended its record as the most successful manufacturer in the 24 Hours of Nürburgring with a 21st overall win for the M4 GT3 Evo. For enthusiasts, that lineage underpins why a factory‑run school here feels authentic rather than promotional.
The Nordschleife’s current profile owes as much to today’s headlines as to history. Max Verstappen’s GT3 outing—and victory—on the Nordschleife put the “Green Hell” squarely into mainstream conversation once again, beyond its already fervent audience. American brands ambitiously leverage Ring milestones, too: Ford trumpeted the Mustang GTD’s sub‑7‑minute lap target and achievement; Chevrolet’s Corvette ZR1 had an even stronger response. The Ring is a global yardstick now, not just a German one.
What the two days teach
Break the track into digestible pieces. Trust vision more than memory. Feel the steering‑load changes; let BMW’s M tech work for you, not instead of you. The 10‑stage traction control is a scalpel, not a crutch. The Integrated Braking system’s two maps change the way your brain perceives threshold braking. The Active M Differential (and 2WD setup) lets you meter rotation without drama. And a high‑grip road tire like the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S, properly warmed, communicates remarkably well at Ring speeds.
Driving here still rewards humility. When our group alternated stints, the off driver could ride along or step behind the guardrails to photograph—with the Eifel birds the only soundtrack when the cars disappeared down the valley. The moments of quiet nature were welcomed. You study how the serpent of five cars—when it’s perfect—laces a single line through blind crests and late apexes you can’t see until you’re already committed.
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Two sunny days in a row at the Green Hell will spoil anyone. But sunshine didn’t tame the Nordschleife; it just let the lessons land.
The Speed Journal thanks BMW M Motorsport for an unforgettable, expertly run experience on a track whose reputation is both earned and evergreen.
