Nghtstlkr7

i dont normally race on the streets but this guy had it coming. i was headed home from a friends house around midnight just cruising down a back street when i see some HIDs run up on me after i leave a light. he sticks pretty close but i dont think much of it until he comes alongside and paces me... turns out to be one of the newer (03-04) 325Is... not worth it in my opinion.

as we're going down the road and through some turns he continues to pace. by this point im gradually accellerating just to see where his mind is at. sure enough he wants to have a go... he gooses it twice. i continue to ignore him and slow down to the speed limit (40mph). my light comes up and i move over to make my left-hand turn onto 7100 (Fairfax County Parkway) and he... at the last minute... pulls in behind me.

so its obvious to me at this point that he's not going to leave me alone. light goes green, i casually make my turn, he follows... and pulls alongside. i finally decided to go for it. first pull was from 50-90. im in 3rd and i give him the jump. on the first turbo im walking away... once im in parallel im running from him... 4-5 car pull. i slow down again and see if he wants more. sure enough he does... this time from 40-80. i give him the jump, and the same result. looking back i probably shouldve gone from 2nd gear... but it was funny to let him think that he had a chance.

as im about to pull off he gives me the fly-by. seems that he bit off more than he could chew... guess he learned not to believe everything you see on TV.

lgjp2631

lol

KeloidJonesJr.

iTrader: (8)

BMW's suck!!!!

Madrx7racer

R281

"Dammit, I should have bought the M3"

DSMPOWERED

BMW = Because Mazda Wins

niburu

iTrader: (1)

it's not too surprising of a win, according to Edmunds the 2004 BMW 325Ci weighs in at 3200 lbs and has 184hp/175tq
the BMW guy prolly was all pumped up on beating Civics till his rotary smackdown moment

now if it had been an M3 that would have been an actual race

zonblitz

iTrader: (9)

BMW's aren't built for drag races... and guys I've had 3 BMW's and IMO one of the finest cars built and NOTHING drives like it. I used to autocross my 330i and had modded primarily the suspension but it is amazing... No it won't come close to my FD in a race but for a nice comfortable luxury car with a ton of torque and superb handling, they make for a GREAT DD.

Keep in mind that BMW is ranked in the mags for a reason, they make a great product, just don't believe BMW NA's hype and maintain the car as you would any other, oil changes etc. I have over 160k miles on my 330i and autocrossed it for 4 seasons and it's still a wonderful car.

Give props where they are due, the name Ultimate Driving Machine is earned.

woundup7

iTrader: (1)

We have two bmws in the garage. My wifes is a 2000 540i sport pack with the M pack as well. This summer it ran a 14.6 at 96 mph at pacific raceways, On street tires, only mode is Dinan stage 1 ecu flash and a K&N, with 115 k miles on it. It gets anywhere from 22-30 mpg hauls 5 people comfortably, and doesn't auto cross to badly either. Our other car is a 2002 Mcoupe, S-54 315 horsepower na just bought it last month and I am still grinning.

You beat the bottom of the ladder when it comes to bmws' The smallest motor, and the cheapest car they sale in the united states. BTW dumb asses like him deserve to get owned, I would be more than happy to drive the Mcoupe for the rest of my life, over my turbo fb, I know the maintenace cost would be pennies on the dollar to what I spend keeping the fb running..

CompanyXPaladin

lol.. My other car is a BMW - 1980 320i. Great little car to drive and thrash. Of course mine looks like ****, but its got it where it counts. No mods, 1.8 liter 4 cylinder engine, and it still slaughters mildly modded civics, mustangs, camaros, etc. No where near as capable as an RX, but it's fun for canyon carving.

got_boost

iTrader: (16)

do you know the specs of a certain model...
it was IDENTICAL to a '01 M3, 2 doors, with the vented fenders,ac schnitzer mags.
but his emblem was only the "M" not M3.
i raced that against my 240sx/rb25det. but he didnt even had a chance... i was toying with him.

and worst happened to a rich italian kid that daddy bought him the Z3 M.
if i remember it had 3.2 badges on the front fenders & a M logo in the back.
i gave him the spanking his parents never gave him.
even when i was in 5th gear (120 kmh roll, on the highway), i didnt have to dowshift to beat him. i just had to let the turbo spool & he was gone in my mirror....
so i kept braking to let him catch up, we did this maybe for like 10 minutes. and at some point i just waved & floored it. went to 280-290 kmh. slowed down to take a coffee.... get back on the highway, takin it easy , sippin my cup... and guess who passes by me. and thumbs up me !!!
its almost like the kid in the S2K in DirectFreak's video ... who pulls up to him & tells him : "i got hustled" !!!!

so if you could get me the specs of those 2 cars it would be nice !!

woundup7

iTrader: (1)

Sounds like a badged Z3 only the z3 have motor size badges on the side of the fenders. They have 2.5 or 3.0 on the fenders. Those are not M cars. Our M coupe has no badges on the fender. Its a 3.2 with 315 fwhp at 7200. The 3.0 Z cars have 255 fwhp I believe. If I lived in montreal I would be more than happy to run you. My M coupe is 0-60 in 5.0 flat, and I have read 12.5 in the quarter, which I think is a little off probably closer to 13.1-13.3. It flat out flys. Its pretty common for young guys to rebadge plain bmw's as M cars, wishful thinking I guess. Usually they are the ones who always want to race.

Recentlyconverted

not too sure if he's not stock. I've dropped 2 or 3 E46 M3s when all I had was a downpipe. but then again, those guys probably couldn't drive the car how it should have been.

Naegleria_Fowleri

I think the point of the BMW guys' perspective is that they know their car may not be as fast in a straight line (Unless it is M Powered), but they know when they go home at night they've nothing to worry about when it comes to the car; whereas us rotary guys never know. Could blow our engines tomorrow for all we really know.

I'm looking into buying a BMW now actually.

Cowboyfun

I'd take a 335i

oo7arkman

iTrader: (2)

Although I believe this guy got what he deserved....This is sucha true statement. BMW builds one of the finest cars on the planet. I really am hoping to buy a 3series for a DD in the next few years.

niburu

iTrader: (1)

You also have to realize that the 3 series cars are not sports cars not even the M3's. They are sporty compact luxury cars with alot of compromises for ride and fuel economy - especially when compared to the 7's.
I've owned a '92 325is (E36) and I'd say it's on par with my NA FC - it was better off the line and a very stable platform, the FC of course can dig deeper into the corners. I have also driven a wide variety of other peoples M3's (E36 & E46) and it's pretty much the same comparison with my lightly modded FD.

ForceFed

Nice car, but your 540I doesn't get anywhere near 30mpg unless you are pushing the car with the engine off 50% of the time. My 540I 6-spd with 2.81 rear and brand new O2s all the way around gets about 18-19 around town and 21-24 on the highway. This is achieved driving the car under 3,000RPM at all times, shifting early and never going WOT. The 540I is a bit of a relative gas pig. ~$50-60 to fill it (at roughly $2.30/gal for 93 octane)

BTW, heres video of my near-stock 540I trapping 103mph at Rockingham, NC. Only mods were a B&M short throw shifter and a DIY hot air intake. I nicknamed it that because I don't have a heatshield at the moment so it is drawing in warm/hot air.
BTW in the video it was so warm and humid out that the clutch fan was on for all of my runs, so I was down about 12-15HP.

Click here to see Video

rotorette

Nice trap speed. How do you like the short shifter, is it really notchy? The car looks great out there.

As far as the gas mileage goes, I average 22 mpg daily driving it in Seattle traffic. I've gotten 30 mpg on trips from Seattle to Spokane, Seattle to Portland, etc. I drive somewhat spiritedly. I've been driving it over two years with the same results. Gas is a bit more costly over here though at about 2.60/gal, but the consumption isn't too bad. It's much better than the 7 at least.

ForceFed

I like the short throw. Its not notchy, but it requires more effort over the shifter for gear changes (obviously due to less leverage). The OEM shifter was sloppy compared to this one. On the OEM shifter I was usually left waiting for the actual gear lever for slow to average shifts. Now with the B&M, even during slow to average shifts I can now shift much faster, but my new problem is that when I'm driving it at the quartermile or racing someone, I find that my gear changes are faster than the transmission can handle. That is to say that the rather heavy OEM flywheel keeps its inertia for much longer than it should so that when I shift and let out the clutch, the inertia of the flywheel acts as if the car is still revving at around 6,000RPM. When I go WOT for the next gear and the flywheel is still spinning top speed, it sounds like the clutch is slipping for half a second (which it is). My problem is I can shift faster than the transmission; the flywheel can't keep up.

A UUC lightweight flywheel would make a nice X-mas gift though
I'm going back to Rockingham sometime in November and taking out my passenger headlight for direct air flow at my Hot Air Intake system. I'm hoping I can hit 105mph traps then.

GregFD3S

Actually I had an E36 M3, and i can safely say that BMWs definatley DONT SUCK.