pennetta

I know to turn all of the "nanny" controls off by holding the DSC button for more than three seconds. Is "power braking" a benefit or will you just smoke the tires and lose time.
I was guessing power braking up to 1500-2000 rpm to get to the beginning of the max torque curve, then flooring it after I release the brakes.
Would you think with the Sport Auto that the automatic mode with the sport button pushed would be best, or manually shifting? Any ideas?
I haven't heard of any actual races between the 550 and 535 in magazines or here for that matter.
Is the 2008 550 any faster than the 2007? It seems all of the specs are the same between the both of them.

AlexFW

Pennetta, if you will use the 'power braking' pay attention on he will use it too .

Anyway, the 550i should be faster than the 535i .
+60 HP and more torque .

Bimmer32

1. Lose as much weight as possible like with less gas, junks in the trunks, spare tire, or anything else you don't need.
2. Brake torque will benefit your car only to the point where the TT kicks in but not too much where it will create wheel spin. A chirp won't hurt though.
3. If this is a straightline race, let the tranny do the work in DS mode. If you where tracking like style, then manual shift mode works (given that you know the gears' sweet points).
4. After triple digit speed, the 550 might gain on you, so don't be surprise.

westcoast550

Even though I'm on the V8 team the other tip I'll give you is weight reduction, simplest way is to run on an 8th of a tank of gas. Good luck .I will look forward to your results.

Cheers

HPIA4v2

I'll say check some of the e90post.com forums on launch disccusion.

The concensus seems to be, you want to disable DTC but DSC on/off doesn't matter, so 1 quick push (don't hold for 3 sec).
Power-brake launch logically sounds since you need to start on the RPM where your torque curve start to flatten out (2000-2500).
Both DS-mode and sport button on seems to give me better result but I haven't raced anybody so don't quote me

Good luck and have fun

pennetta

I know intuitively that the 550 should be faster both 0-60 and top speed. and BMW states that the 550 is quicker 5.5 vs. 5.7 sec
The only thread to hang onto is the 335's have been tested in various car magazines and the best that I've seen are at 4.8 sec to 60 which is fast.
The rationization is the 535 is lighter than the 550 by 100-200 hundred pounds, the final gear ratio is higher numerically giving a better mechanical advantage and the engine revs higher which again gives a better mechanical advantage.
I spoke to my dealer and he says that both Dinan and BMW Motorsport will have 535/335 performance software upgrades available in January 2008 with torque/hp increases of 60/80.

westcoast550

Is the guy you're racing on this Forum ?? To make it fair we could give him a few tips as well.....

Cheers

pennetta

He is not but I told him about it and I told him that there will be an audience for this within the forum. I haven't been on the forum much lately but my wife thinks we are all nuts.
The guy I'm racing is generally a competitive guy and he will not listen to me anyway as he will feel he knows the best way to race.

westcoast550

Sounds like he is a typical V8 blockhead !! ooops
PS I think all of our wives think we are nuts !!

Race safely.... we want to read the results

FRANK970

It will be interesting to see the results. I agree with the other posters that you have to brake torque to some degree. This really helped when I drove a 335. Keep us posted.