Originally Posted by peter@vmrwheels' post='751183' date='Dec 23 2008, 07:44 AM

I've had my 550 for 7 months now, and in that time I attended almost half a dozen track events. 4 open track days and 1 DRIFT day.

Many people do not consider the E60 a "track" car, but for me, I like to have a well balanced car, something good to drive around town with, and enough for some "fun" at the track. No performance mods other than wheels/tires/suspension, and I was able to hold my own, was one of the faster cars in the non-advanced run group.

I signed up for the drift event because as a driver I want to know how to control the car if/when I lose control, purposely or not.

Here's a teaser. Will provide more pictures and videos later.



For the track, I've fitted the car with a super aggressive tire setup, but everything else is relatively ok for the streets. It *does* rub in front, but not enough for the fender to cut/pop the tire.

Front: VMR Wheels VB3 Hyper Black 19x9.5 ET22 + 15mm Spacer on 265/35/18 Michelin Pilot Sport PS2
Rear: VMR Wheels VB3 Hyper Black 19x9.5 ET22 on 285/35/18 Michelin Pilot Sport PS2
Suspension: Eibach Pro Kit + Koni FSD.

Two drawbacks that I've learned to live with is the rear diff.... Peg leg burnouts are not fun, but I think BMW was able to dial out the sluggishness using the DSC. Second drawback is the automatic transmission. The tiptronic is basically useless because the ECU upshift and downshifts for you. It reacts relatively slowly to throttle inputs esp if you are coming out of the corners. Since I'm not racing for tenths of a second, I ended up leaving it in "S" mode. The only times using the M mode was useful was if I was planning to pass someone, so i can downshift a little faster.

DSC/DTC: On the track, I found that the DSC was way too restrictive in terms of cutting back throttle. You basically cannot power out of a corner without the DSC holding you back. However, DTC OFF is a good alternative. The car will allow you to break your tires loose and give you reasonable effort to regain control of your car before the DSC takes over. Because I chose to enter/exit certain corners sideways, this one was particularly useful. I did drive a few laps around the track with DSC/DTC OFF (holding DTC for 5 seconds) but because the transmission can randomly downshift, I didn't want to risk completely spinning out

OEM Brakes: Absolutely AWESOME. Driving at 85-90%, you can fully utilize the brakes without overheating them. Driving at 90-95% I was able to get 2-3 hot laps before cooking/glazing them.

Active Steering: I thought that the active steering would get in the way, but I think BMW did a wonderful job in allowing for "spirited driving"

Heated Seats: It was cold as hell, 40 degrees all day. For safety purposes, windows have to be rolled down. So, heated seats came in handy

Originally Posted by Phantom Mark' post='752360' date='Dec 24 2008, 08:01 PM

How much is the quaiffe mate ?? One reason I still love my E34 sport