The Nürburgring is so important to BMW's M division that it established a permanent presence there in 1992 with four fulltime employees. This number can swell to 30 when testing is in full progress. The facility also services the Ring Taxi (phone 01149 2691 302698), an M5 which is mainly driven by the racer and two-time Nürburgring 24 Hour winner Sabine Schmitz (Rech). She will take three occupants at a total cost of 130 euros for one nine-or-ten-minute fast lap on the Nordschleife. (How fast is that? Well, a 330i in expert hands takes a little over nine minutes; an M3 will approach 8:40; and Ringmeister Horst von Saurma did it once in 7:57 in an M3 CSL. And you can tell your Cadillac Escalade friends that Hans Stuck took the Über-X5 Le Mans V12 around the Ring in 7:49 minutes.)

The popular Ring Taxi rides are often booked a year in advance. 130 euros divided by three is actually a bargain; it is estimated that your fun actually costs BMW substantially more than you spend. Every ten laps the tires get changed, every twenty laps the brake pads, the wheels at 5,000 km, and the full suspension at 7,000. And every year Sabine and Company get a new taxi.

Oh, and for the truly speedobsessed, there's a new addition to the program: a chance to ride with an expert in the M3 CSL, one acclimation lap and one at speed. That should give you bragging rights back at the chapter meetings for some time to come!----Klaus Schnitzer