Jimbo

Read up on it here<---.

Another FAQ link<---.

realtyman

Great info Jimbo!

Autocrossing is a ton of fun and with relatively little risk of damage to the car. Also great for developing and fine tuning driving skills. I used to do them quite a bit several years ago. I keep telling myself that I will do them again (if only I can find another day in the week). Local BMWCCA holds their events 5 minutes away from my house. Last one of the season is tomorrow (Sunday). Not enough time to do it myself, but I may stop in to check it out and see if any e60's are running.

Jimbo

Thanks! Glad you found it useful.

JDN

One thing I did not find in a cursory exam of the info was what wear and tear my vehicle would experience. I have heard some pretty bad stories about overheated brakes and tire wear.

realtyman

Tire wear is sort of a given. If you do it on a regular basis you'd want to get a set of track wheels/tires (especially if you want to be competitive). But if you only do it a couple of times a year you probably won't see much difference compared to some "spirited driving" (front tires will wear a little more on the outer edges of course).

Of all of the autocrosses that I have done, I rarely got over 50mph. I spent most of the time in the 20-40mph range. The courses are usually rather tight. Typically there were a few practive runs and a few timed runs. 4 to 8 runs over the course of a day never killed my brakes. If (when) I hit a cone the scuff rubbed right off. It's a ton of fun for very little money.

Where I used to experience brake wear and tire wear issues was when I did time trials on the road course at NHIS (New Hampshire International Speedway). There I was seeing 110+ mph down the straight (E36 M3) and brakes became VERY important.

Rudy

You mean you didn't use a parachute?

realtyman

No, but doesn't Ice have one in his list of options?

What I meant to say was that the brakes got a real workout.

Rudy

I thought that's what the SOS button did -- deploy the chute!

alohalc

we are going to have something sponsored by the dealer here next month. i just need to pretend i want to get another car from them then i'll be able to have fun...with their car . my hair stylist (just bought a m3 couple months ago) asked if i want to go w/him because most of the people are "older" guys and the club is looking for some young, new blood. i'm still thinking go or no go just because most of the members have 3, z3, z4, or m3. probably no e60 owner :'(.