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Have you ever taken your 5ers to a track?

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Old 08-02-2009, 07:57 PM
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I have never done that but I would like to try. I heard you need a racing license. What else do you need? Is this dangerous?
Old 08-02-2009, 08:41 PM
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Perhaps you need some sort of license in the People's Republic of California, but in Idaho, all you need is a car and a helmet. I have never raced the E60, but have the Porsches.
Old 08-02-2009, 08:57 PM
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Member, RichardinNC, takes his 550 to the track. He's posted pictures and video's of his trips to the track with his car. Contact him for details.
Old 08-03-2009, 04:57 AM
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I have taken the 550i to Virginia International Raceway twice. Its quite fun. All you need is a helmet. I'd look into BMW CCA or Porsche PCA club events in your area. See a video here:
. The vid is a full session except for the warmup and cool down laps. I actually took it a bit easy for several laps but picked up the pace by the 6 minute mark.

A few other notes:
It does add to the wear of the brake pads and tires, but you can get plenty out of the car without destroying them.
All clubs have instructors that ride along with the newbies. You need that to learn the line, the passing rules, etc. You may also get class time to learn rules and techniques.
Most require a tech inspection form to be filled out before hand. Find a good indy shop. That way your dealer doesn't know you track the car, although they shouldn't care, there'd be less hassle covering potential issues, especially clutches, and rotors.
I feel its far safer for you and the car to push it in a controlled environment on the track, as opposed to the street.
Talk to all the other folks. You'll learn a lot by listening, things like not using the parking brake in the paddock to avoid frying it onto the rotor.
Lastly, you may get hooked on the hobby. You may need to do somethings to the car once you get faster and more serious about it. But I highly recommend anyone to go at least once, and really see what you can do with a 5 Series.
Old 08-03-2009, 04:58 AM
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Calton and I have taken our cars to a private track...165mph in his car and 155mph in mine
Old 08-03-2009, 05:22 AM
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Originally Posted by gregg2gs' post='963719' date='Aug 3 2009, 08:58 AM
Calton and I have taken our cars to a private track...165mph in his car and 155mph in mine
Sounds fun. Let me know if you guys ever plan a repeat. VIR is too far away for me.
Old 08-03-2009, 05:26 AM
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Originally Posted by gregg2gs' post='963719' date='Aug 3 2009, 08:58 AM
Calton and I have taken our cars to a private track...165mph in his car and 155mph in mine
That sounds fun.
Old 08-03-2009, 05:44 PM
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Im in arizona, and I go at least once a month, just for fun though.
I race my girlfriends dad in his boxster.
Old 08-03-2009, 06:23 PM
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all you need in Cali is a helment @ most tracks. A few track may require a license but member Trinity Autosport took his 545 to the track without a racing license.
Old 08-03-2009, 06:45 PM
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Originally Posted by ConviktColby' post='964483' date='Aug 3 2009, 06:44 PM
Im in arizona, and I go at least once a month, just for fun though.
I race my girlfriends dad in his boxster.
Do you let him win??


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