BMW high-security testing in Berlin

One of the first most exciting invitations the magazine received was also a very exclusive one - It involved a private flight to Berlin to try out the last BMW Security vehicles.

Very few journalists get the chance to experience these cars as they are top secret in their own right, so twenty of us were driven to a second world-war airfield where we drove a convoy of unarmoured and the fully armoured 760Li and 750Li cars around a track to see the handling differences between the two versions of the cars.

We were then invited by a security driving professional to experience using our vehicles as a weapon if we were driving a VIP. The BMW team set up a situation where we had to avoid a vehicle at 60mph and touch the car against a motorway barrier to see how it felt. This all seem exciting enough - but the vehicle I had to 'break' was a BMW 650i which at the time was brand new on the market (pictured).

What followed was a simular exercise - we again had to avoid a car at 60mph, but then drive into a nearby ditch and out the otherside keeping the same speed. This was to experience how a change in the surface effects the drive. We had to learn how to control the car whilst hitting the grass and mud at speed then hitting the tarmac again the otherside. Most of time our bumpers and mirrors were left in the ditch somewhere - but this didn't bother BMW.

Finally, how do you get away from a hostage situation if you were a chauffeur? Well, your guess was as good as mine - but we experienced how difficult it was to escape from a situation if you are not prepared. Basic anti hi-jack tips were given to us along with a graphic demonstration by the experienced team of how it should be done.