Nannies?
 

What exactly do the nannies allow? Will the rears step out at all without turning them off? Or are you always kept fully in check?

Asking for a friend...

Yes, they let you play a bit before intervening (particularly if your inputs imply you’re willing and able)

^^^Agreed.

I've tracked various Porsches and also an M2 heavily. BMW nannies are terrible and highly intrusive. Porsche on the other hand has it nailed. The nannies are there as a safety net and do not get in the way of driving fun. If you're bumping into them on the road something is wrong with your driving. On the track they are there to gently remind you that you're approaching the limit. I see no reason to ever turn them off.

I’ve been able to step out rear with all “nannies” on.

i agree that Porsche got it right. Allows you to have some fun.

Im not willing to turn them off unless I have a lot of runoff room around me to learn the limits.

Nannies great.

I never turn off

They don't stop you from doing stupid things so I'd say they are really good.

What they do in real life I'm not sure of as I don't lean on them. I'm pretty sure that I was saved once in Wipperman (on the Ring).
I also know that I was not saved in Aremberg :)

When the lamp starts to blink it says: "You are doing wrong - try it another way".

Technically As I understands it there is Stabilization which helps you when you are about to loose the car like when over steering
Next level is anti spin which helps you not loosing traction.

As mentioned before there is big difference driving a BMW with systems on and a Porsche.
The BMW you must turn off the systems otherwise the car is over protecting (generally speaking).

In my Porsche's I leave nannies on and in BMW's I turn them off - unless it is wet then I might turn nannies on/off during driving depending on the situation.

So with all the stability systems enabled can one drive the car on track without interference? I'm coming from the high intervention state of BMW (which I shut off) so feedback for track use is helpful.

Absolutely

What has been stated above is all true. It can be a difficult concept to accept for some, though. ESC system use can be a religious crusade for some people who are convinced there is no such thing as a good esc system. I've had multiple people accuse me of being a clueless driver only because the systems are on. Of course, none of them have driven a late model Porsche to see for themselves. They all say I would crash in an older car. Except I have a race car from 1991 with no abs, no power steering, no esc, and I do pretty well in racing. These guys also tend to be not so good at driving themselves. I'm not willing to let go of a safety net on a 200k car just to satisfy a bunch of people I couldn't care less about.

Can the system cause bad habits if don't know what you are doing? Yes. Does it mean it can't be used properly? No.

Personally it gives me confidence and gives me hints of when I am doing something stupid on track. The only time I turn everything off is in an autoX. I find it a good safe* environment to learn the dynamics of the car. (it's my first 911) I did one this weekend with everything off and whilst I became more comfortable with the car I was a little slower through the course with everything off.

When I drove at the BMW performance school, mostly in M240i's, they had us turn the nannies partially off. Which was done by pressing the button quickly vs holding it for a few seconds - if memory serves. This changed the car from being totally conservative to letting the rears out a few degrees in a controlled oversteer - which was a blast... !

Side note - BMW can be coded to "euro-MDM" which is a less intrusive level of their reduced nanny level setting "MDM". It's much better than nannies on or regular MDM. For the short time I had an M2 it was acceptable to me on the track while the normal MDM was terrible - so bad as to be useless on the track honestly (the M cars are great DDs).

I've got a 2005 competition package M3 with the "track" stability mode, and it's exactly useless on the track.

I drive a E90 325 in VLN. If I have systems on going into the Carouselle there is a big chance that I will be hit from behind because the car almost comes to a halt.

I like what they've done with the handling of the .2 GT3s. You can still kick the rear out and spin even with ESC on. I haven't spun yet but got close a few times and was definitely very sideways.