The short answer
The training is identical to class B and costs the same at the driving school; only the licensing authority's fee is higher. In exchange you get a year of supervised practice before driving alone — and that year demonstrably lowers the accident rate for young drivers.
The question almost always comes from parents, and it has two halves: what does it cost extra, and does it actually help? Both can be answered fairly clearly.
What costs more
At the driving school, nothing. It is the same 14 double lessons of theory, the same practice lessons, the same twelve special drives, the same test. What is higher is the fee the licensing authority charges for the application — both amounts are listed separately on the prices page.
What it gives you
A year of driving practice that otherwise does not happen. Newly qualified drivers have their highest accident risk in the first months alone — exactly when nobody is sitting beside them any more. BF17 moves those months into a period when somebody is, and the accident figures for accompanied drivers afterwards are measurably lower.
Who may supervise
- At least 30 years old
- Has held class B for at least 5 years
- No more than 1 point in Flensburg
- No more than 0.5 per mille while supervising
Not only parents: siblings, relatives, family friends — anybody who meets the conditions. Several supervisors are possible and sensible, otherwise the entire licence hangs on one person's diary. All of them have to be named in the application.
A supervisor is not an instructor
They may not intervene and are legally a passenger, not a supervisor in the training sense. You are the one driving — they sit beside you so you have somebody to ask.
The deadlines
- You may register at the driving school from 16 years and 6 months
- Consent of a parent or guardian at registration
- Theory test at the earliest 3 months before your 17th birthday
- Practical test at the earliest 1 month before your 17th birthday
What to watch out for
Until you turn 18 you hold a test certificate rather than a card licence, and it is valid only in Germany — so driving abroad on holiday is out. Driving without a registered supervisor is not a minor matter: a fine, a point, withdrawal of the licence and an extension of the probation period to four years.
The two-year probation period starts when you pass — with BF17 that means at 17, so it ends at 19. All the detail is on the BF17 page. BF17 combines with a manual, with automatic or with the B197 rule.