22 replies to this topic

[live2beoutside]

First, thanks to Castor & Nomortickets for the info on tracks and car clubs.  Unfortunately, for me, Castor's suggestions are a bit too far outside my circle of travel. I was hoping for something closer to STL since Gateway closed down.  I had never heard of "track days" until I moved to STL 3 years ago.  I had been looking for an opportunity to track my previous car there for a couple of years but, as it turns out, as much as I like driving fast, I like bike racing more.  Seems every track date conflicted with a bike race.    

As far as being a poser.....assuming the car guys have a similar definition as the bike people, I don't think I qualify.  I've always owned the most astounding sports cars I could afford (Eagle Talon TSI, Pontiac Trans AM, various V-Dub's) and driven them to the limits of adhesion and accelleration. I did have a hard time going with a BMW simply because of the poser aura that surrounds the brand - I didn't want to be associated with that cultural phenomenon.  I was looking at (or, at least for) Audi S4's and TTR's when Autohaus BMW came up with a CPO 335i and a trade offer on my car that was just too sweet to pass up.  I'll look into the autocross scene.  Hopefully I'll be able to find a date that doesn't conflict with my already busy racing calendar (note the Steve McQueen quote in my tag line     ).


By the way, I was just thrilled with how I was treated at Autohous.   Everyone there was knowledgable, helpful, friendly and generally easy to work with.  My one previous experience at another BMW dealer in another state had me marching out swearing I'd never set foot on another BMW car lot ever again.    

Edited by live2beoutside, 23 June 2011 - 07:56 AM.

[Ryan]

I have always thought tracking or autocross would be fun, but never made the time to do it.  I'm also not enthused at the idea of turning a couple of hundred dollars worth of expensive rubber into smoke each time I hit the track.  It seems like a hobby that could make bike racing look cheap.

I am a member of the the BMW CCA as mentioned in the other thread and it is a good deal if for no other reason than you get a nice rebate when you buy your car.  You have to have been a member for at least one continuous year prior to the purchase, but it is well worth it.  Membership is around $50 per year and the rebates start at $500.  Its also after the fact and through the mail - its not at all part of negotiating your deal with the dealership.

[nomoretickets]

Those 335's are VERY fun cars. If you get more into the playing aide of driving, pick up a 2nd set ofwheels with tires just to play with, that way you can extend the life if your road going tires. The stl bmwcca has it's own forum. You should get on there, they can help you out alot more with track days and autocross

[nomoretickets]

Ryan, on 23 June 2011 - 07:58 AM, said:

I have always thought tracking or autocross would be fun, but never made the time to do it.  I'm also not enthused at the idea of turning a couple of hundred dollars worth of expensive rubber into smoke each time I hit the track.  It seems like a hobby that could make bike racing look cheap.

I am a member of the the BMW CCA as mentioned in the other thread and it is a good deal if for no other reason than you get a nice rebate when you buy your car.  You have to have been a member for at least one continuous year prior to the purchase, but it is well worth it.  Membership is around $50 per year and the rebates start at $500.  Its also after the fact and through the mail - its not at all part of negotiating your deal with the dealership.

Auto racing absolutely eclipses bike racing in terms of cost. A family friend and I built a '68 roadrunner for drag racing that all told was upwards of $60k by the time it made it to a track... But it did a 1/4 mile in 8.56 sec ;-p

[cleeland]

Autocross is the sh*t.  I did it a number of years ago briefly and it was a complete blast.  If you did a cyclocross time trial with no required dismounts that would be a reasonable approximation of autocross in the bike racing world.  Cyclocross--even if you end up with a stable of tubular wheels/tires for different conditions--is still much much cheaper.

[live2beoutside]

cleeland, on 23 June 2011 - 02:54 PM, said:

Autocross is the sh*t.  I did it a number of years ago briefly and it was a complete blast.  If you did a cyclocross time trial with no required dismounts that would be a reasonable approximation of autocross in the bike racing world.  Cyclocross--even if you end up with a stable of tubular wheels/tires for different conditions--is still much much cheaper.

Hmmmmm.....in that case, maybe I'll stick to pinning the occasional interstate off-ramp in the car (or motorcycle) and spend more time working on my not-so-mad XC skills.....

[Trekker]

live2beoutside, on 23 June 2011 - 03:18 PM, said:

cleeland, on 23 June 2011 - 02:54 PM, said:

Autocross is the sh*t.  I did it a number of years ago briefly and it was a complete blast.  If you did a cyclocross time trial with no required dismounts that would be a reasonable approximation of autocross in the bike racing world.  Cyclocross--even if you end up with a stable of tubular wheels/tires for different conditions--is still much much cheaper.

Hmmmmm.....in that case, maybe I'll stick to pinning the occasional interstate off-ramp in the car (or motorcycle) and spend more time working on my not-so-mad XC skills.....

Was your car affected by the fuel pump recall issue?  I'm not sure on the specifics, but it was a big enough issue that BMWNA had to buy back lots of N54 equipped cars due to lemon laws and extended the emissions warranty to 10yrs/120,000miles.

Also, for the sake of you and any future owners of your car, please don't go with BMW-recommended 15,000 mile oil change intervals.  I'm a Bimmerphile through and through, but when they instituted those recommendations that curiously coincided with their free no-charge maintenance program, a little part of me died inside.

Edited by Trekker, 23 June 2011 - 03:34 PM.

[live2beoutside]

Trekker, on 23 June 2011 - 03:33 PM, said:

Was your car affected by the fuel pump recall issue?

The service records indicated that the fuel pump was changed under warranty by the previous owner.  The fuel pump issue on the N54 engines was indeed quite an issue.  I did some research before committing to a vehicle that had the N54. What I learned is that BMW did eventually figure out what the problem was and fixed the issue.  My understanding is that all N54's affected by the issue are under warranty for life...but since mine has already been changed, it should be no problem.

Regarding maintenance intervals, what I learned with my first VW is that many Americans have had trouble adjusting to modern cars needing fewer oil changes.  When I bought my first VW in 2001, the maintenance guys at the dealer told me VW recommends oil changes every 10,000 miles in every country except the US.  He said Americans just wouldn't buy a 10,000 mile service interval so VW's sold in the US came with 5,000 mile service intervals......

Still...since I don't drive that much, the salesman told me they like to see the cars back for service at least once per year.  So, I'll get my annual service for free without having to drive 15,000 miles (which is 2 years worth of driving for me).

Edited by live2beoutside, 23 June 2011 - 05:29 PM.

[Trekker]

live2beoutside, on 23 June 2011 - 05:25 PM, said:

Trekker, on 23 June 2011 - 03:33 PM, said:

Was your car affected by the fuel pump recall issue?

The service records indicated that the fuel pump was changed under warranty by the previous owner.  The fuel pump issue on the N54 engines was indeed quite an issue.  I did some research before committing to a vehicle that had the N54. What I learned is that BMW did eventually figure out what the problem was and fixed the issue.  My understanding is that all N54's affected by the issue are under warranty for life...but since mine has already been changed, it should be no problem.

Regarding maintenance intervals, what I learned with my first VW is that many Americans have had trouble adjusting to modern cars needing fewer oil changes.  When I bought my first VW in 2001, the maintenance guys at the dealer told me VW recommends oil changes every 10,000 miles in every country except the US.  He said Americans just wouldn't buy a 10,000 mile service interval so VW's sold in the US came with 5,000 mile service intervals......

Still...since I don't drive that much, the salesman told me they like to see the cars back for service at least once per year.  So, I'll get my annual service for free without having to drive 15,000 miles (which is 2 years worth of driving for me).

I know some manufacturers are pushing for longer service intervals, but I have a hard time accepting that.  Oil has so many factors contributing to it's breakdown that I play it safe and change my full synthetic every 5k miles.  Dirty and dusty climates like AZ, high compression and the high heat my turbo generates greatly increase the oil shear.  If I was loping around mid-RPMs all the time, then maybe I could go 7.5k, but the normal day to day driving most of us do necessitate more frequent oil change intervals.  Also factor in the tendency of turbo engines to cause oil blow-by and general consumption and you could be running bone try well within a year.  Again, I do this for piece of mind.  I know it's a cliche, but oil is cheap compared to a new engine.  Plus, I like doing it.  Gives me a connection with my cars and potentially a heads-up if somethings going on.

Edited by Trekker, 23 June 2011 - 07:07 PM.

[ssalmons]

live2beoutside, on 23 June 2011 - 05:25 PM, said:

Trekker, on 23 June 2011 - 03:33 PM, said:

Was your car affected by the fuel pump recall issue?

The service records indicated that the fuel pump was changed under warranty by the previous owner.  The fuel pump issue on the N54 engines was indeed quite an issue.  I did some research before committing to a vehicle that had the N54. What I learned is that BMW did eventually figure out what the problem was and fixed the issue.  My understanding is that all N54's affected by the issue are under warranty for life...but since mine has already been changed, it should be no problem.

Regarding maintenance intervals, what I learned with my first VW is that many Americans have had trouble adjusting to modern cars needing fewer oil changes.  When I bought my first VW in 2001, the maintenance guys at the dealer told me VW recommends oil changes every 10,000 miles in every country except the US.  He said Americans just wouldn't buy a 10,000 mile service interval so VW's sold in the US came with 5,000 mile service intervals......

Still...since I don't drive that much, the salesman told me they like to see the cars back for service at least once per year.  So, I'll get my annual service for free without having to drive 15,000 miles (which is 2 years worth of driving for me).

My personal belief is that the Euro companies started using longer recommended service intervals to make you believe your overpriced German automobile is more well-built than an American or Japanese autos.  This is also why SLUDGE is such a huge problem for late 90's and early 00's Euro cars.  If you love your car only use synthetic oil, a quality filter and change it every 5,000 miles or less.

It is also important to remember that 5,000 miles of city driving is roughly 2x as many hours of highway driving.  If you live in the city and don't get many miles/year, you would be wise to change that oil more frequently.

[live2beoutside]

ssalmons, on 24 June 2011 - 07:32 AM, said:

My personal belief is that the Euro companies started using longer recommended service intervals to make you believe your overpriced German automobile is more well-built than an American or Japanese autos...It is also important to remember that 5,000 miles of city driving is roughly 2x as many hours of highway driving.  If you live in the city and don't get many miles/year, you would be wise to change that oil more frequently.

Well....I don't know if I'd define a VW Beetle as an overpriced German automobile.  My wife's VW New Beetle (1.8 Liter turbo) was the car we bought that had the lower 5000 mile service interval for US models.  

Agreed regarding city driving being harder on a vehicle's oil. However, most of my driving is highway.  My car mileage is low because my bike is my 1st choice to get to work, motorcycle is 2nd, car is 3rd.

Edited by live2beoutside, 24 June 2011 - 11:56 AM.

[nomoretickets]

The n54 is a killer motor and worth every single fuel pump it burns up. I guess that's what happens when you take two turbos off a diesel truck and slap em on a 3.0 liter inline 6 lol.

BMW onboard diagnostics will let you know if you need an oil change sooner so I wouldn't worry at all about the 15k mile oil changes.

[rockhound]

live2beoutside, on 23 June 2011 - 07:47 AM, said:

I was looking at (or, at least for) Audi S4's and TTR's when Autohaus BMW came up with a CPO 335i and a trade offer on my car that was just too sweet to pass up.  

At least the Audi's are AWD, right?  Can't use a TTR for much but hauling yourself around.

[live2beoutside]

rockhound, on 24 June 2011 - 01:09 PM, said:

live2beoutside, on 23 June 2011 - 07:47 AM, said:

I was looking at (or, at least for) Audi S4's and TTR's when Autohaus BMW came up with a CPO 335i and a trade offer on my car that was just too sweet to pass up.  

At least the Audi's are AWD, right?  Can't use a TTR for much but hauling yourself around.

No kidding. I'm a big fan of AWD and was looking at Subaru WRX STi's as well.  Audi dealers kept telling  me "I can order you a TTS..." and I kept telling them "I have to be able to measure the inside with the back seats down to make sure a bike will fit back there (at least with both wheels off) before I can commit to one....."  

Edited by live2beoutside, 24 June 2011 - 02:09 PM.

[live2beoutside]

nomoretickets, on 24 June 2011 - 12:33 PM, said:

The n54 is a killer motor and worth every single fuel pump it burns up. I guess that's what happens when you take two turbos off a diesel truck and slap em on a 3.0 liter inline 6 lol....

Well....what I was told was that BMW moved production of the fuel pumps from a French facility back to Germany and that solved the problem.  No insult intended towards the French.....