523i vs 525i: A Real Life Experience
11-26-2006, 11:45 PM
#1
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Hi all,
Last night I was driving my humble 523i and overtook a 525i. He seemed to be pissed off that I passed him so he started following me. The streets were rather empty at 2:00 AM, so we turned them into a race track. The guy did manuvers with the car that were physically impossible. I thought I was the most talented E60 driver in the world (just kidding of course
), but it turned out that I finally found a match.
The reason why I am stating the story here is that after racing with him for sometime I started noticing that the difference in acceleration between the two cars was minimal
. When he was behind me he could not pass me, and when he got in front of me - due to to some traffic blockage - I was sticking behind him in a manner I could not believe was possible 
.
After 10 minutes of racing the guy pulled to the side of the road and we both got our side windows down:
Guy: Nice driving man, is that a 523i you are driving?
Me: Nice driving to you too, yes it is a 523i. What about your car, is it the new 525i or the old one?
Guy: The new 2006 model, 218 bhp.
Me: So how on earth....
The guy interrupts me: I know, I don't understand how the difference is so minimal!
Me: Ok, why don't we try a straight line race now?
Guy: Ok
So we both started racing at around 50 km/h (30 mph), and damn was I amazed. We stopped the straight line race at around 170 km/h (106 mph), and the difference was not more than 8-10 meters
!
From my driving experience, no way that the difference between both cars is 31 bhp (218 compared to 177). His car should have around 18.5 % more power than mine, but that translated into no more than 10 meters at 170 km/h.
From BMW specs:
---------------------523iA-------------525iA
Power (bhp)--------177---------------218
Torque (Nm)-------230---------------250
Top speed (km/h)-232---------------242
0-100 km/h---------9.3---------------7.9
The difference on paper is huge, in reality it is not that apparent .
I thought that it might be due to the fact that my car has 16" normal tyres, while his 525i is running on RFT 17" tyres. The specs given above in BMW manual assume that both cars are running on 16" non RFT tyres, maybe the RFTs are making his car much slower than it should be ?
I would appreciate your feedbcak on this matter if you have had any similar experience.
Last night I was driving my humble 523i and overtook a 525i. He seemed to be pissed off that I passed him so he started following me. The streets were rather empty at 2:00 AM, so we turned them into a race track. The guy did manuvers with the car that were physically impossible. I thought I was the most talented E60 driver in the world (just kidding of course
), but it turned out that I finally found a match. The reason why I am stating the story here is that after racing with him for sometime I started noticing that the difference in acceleration between the two cars was minimal
. When he was behind me he could not pass me, and when he got in front of me - due to to some traffic blockage - I was sticking behind him in a manner I could not believe was possible .After 10 minutes of racing the guy pulled to the side of the road and we both got our side windows down:
Guy: Nice driving man, is that a 523i you are driving?
Me: Nice driving to you too, yes it is a 523i. What about your car, is it the new 525i or the old one?
Guy: The new 2006 model, 218 bhp.
Me: So how on earth....
The guy interrupts me: I know, I don't understand how the difference is so minimal!
Me: Ok, why don't we try a straight line race now?
Guy: Ok
So we both started racing at around 50 km/h (30 mph), and damn was I amazed. We stopped the straight line race at around 170 km/h (106 mph), and the difference was not more than 8-10 meters
! From my driving experience, no way that the difference between both cars is 31 bhp (218 compared to 177). His car should have around 18.5 % more power than mine, but that translated into no more than 10 meters at 170 km/h.
From BMW specs:
---------------------523iA-------------525iA
Power (bhp)--------177---------------218
Torque (Nm)-------230---------------250
Top speed (km/h)-232---------------242
0-100 km/h---------9.3---------------7.9
The difference on paper is huge, in reality it is not that apparent
.I thought that it might be due to the fact that my car has 16" normal tyres, while his 525i is running on RFT 17" tyres
. The specs given above in BMW manual assume that both cars are running on 16" non RFT tyres, maybe the RFTs are making his car much slower than it should be ? I would appreciate your feedbcak on this matter if you have had any similar experience.
11-27-2006, 01:14 AM
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i've raced a new 525i (218hp) and from a start it has a little of an edge...just enough that who ever get the better start will stay above... but im sure once you get to triple digits that the power will become more apperent as we didnt go past 120... we were just checking the difference in acceleration... however i have also had some agressive driving with the 523i and i have to admit i was a little amazed by how we it did seems like it was doing very well...
at slower speeds <150km/h the difference is minimal but im sure those extra hosepowers will come in effect after 150km/h..at high speed driving my car seems underpowerd...
nick... only in america do the 525 come as 3.0l, most of the world including europe get the 2.5l engine on the 525...
at slower speeds <150km/h the difference is minimal but im sure those extra hosepowers will come in effect after 150km/h..at high speed driving my car seems underpowerd...
nick... only in america do the 525 come as 3.0l, most of the world including europe get the 2.5l engine on the 525...
11-27-2006, 01:55 AM
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Originally Posted by madoon' post='361006' date='Nov 27 2006, 12:14 PM
nick... only in america do the 525 come as 3.0l, most of the world including europe get the 2.5l engine on the 525...
11-27-2006, 11:42 AM
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IMO, wheel size is in your favour, plus you probably were not running all out considering there were some traffic. If you were to race him side by side with out traffic in the mix, the different in power would be more noticeable.
11-27-2006, 01:53 PM
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Gee Shebs, please do not race on the streets!
The 523i (also a 2,5 l) is a stronger one that it is on paper, i.e. the German cops use it!
A BMW engine gives its best only after some 30 - 40 k km's.
The driver makes the differance (use to the transmission) not the tyres - in this case.
The 523i (also a 2,5 l) is a stronger one that it is on paper, i.e. the German cops use it!
A BMW engine gives its best only after some 30 - 40 k km's.
The driver makes the differance (use to the transmission) not the tyres - in this case.
11-27-2006, 03:45 PM
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You should have pulled along side him with all bandages wrapped round your head - I bet he'd have left you for dead thinking he'd just had a race with a mummy. Sorry couldn't resist it.
I think don't think 31 bhp would make that much difference. It could soon get swallowed up i.e. with the weight of options etc. I've had races with lower and higher powered cars than mine with some strange results.
Sorry couldn't resist it. I think don't think 31 bhp would make that much difference. It could soon get swallowed up i.e. with the weight of options etc. I've had races with lower and higher powered cars than mine with some strange results.
11-27-2006, 08:43 PM
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Wow... interesting... I would thought that a 2006 525 would put a little more distance than that... was he carrying more weight than you? How much gas do you have in your tank? maybe he had a full tank of gas...
Oh and should this be moved to the competition forum?
Oh and should this be moved to the competition forum?