F.A.O. droid42 - The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard (m5board.com)

JohnH · 27th October 2001, 17:09

Ian,

Just read your article in the MPower News entitled "E46 M3 Impressions after 1000 miles". Made very good reading and would be interested to know if any of your views had changed now you have done more miles and a track day. Pity they showed a PY car instead of yours.

John

droid42 · 27th October 2001, 20:39

John,

Because it took so long to publish (it just missed the last issue) I did in fact submit another version with some thoughts after the running-in service but the editor must have mislaid that. Yes, it's a shame they didn't use the photos that I sent but I suspect the PY shots looked much better.

After 9000 miles and one trackday, my impressions of the car have improved by a fair amount. The engine gets much stronger after 5000 miles and the handling is a blast. Once you've done a trackday you realise how BMW got the chassis and steering exactly right, i.e. you don't need the power on the track to walk all over many other cars ... but it helps

Ian.

droid42 · 27th October 2001, 20:43

Oh ... my only slight complaint after all this time is that the brakes fade a little after heavy use on the track. I had a chat with the chaps at my local BMW service department and they said Schnitzer would be coming up with something soon but it's not finished yet.

On another visit, one of the technicians came out and told me about the brake vent covers. If you put your hand through either of the brake vents (next to the front fogs) you'll come up against a thin plastic panel which is there for road use to protect against water/snow etc. These can be unclipped to allow "cooling as BMW intended" for the track. Wish I'd known this before going to Bruntingthorp ... I'll certainly be taking them off before I go to Donington Park this Weds.

Ian.

JohnH · 27th October 2001, 21:42

You are certainly racking up the miles. I haven't reached 2K yet. Thanks for the tip regarding the duct covers although at the moment have no plans to go on a track day. Let us know how you get on at Donnington Park.

johann · 30th October 2001, 12:47

Quote:

Originally posted by droid42
Oh ... my only slight complaint after all this time is that the brakes fade a little after heavy use on the track. I had a chat with the chaps at my local BMW service department and they said Schnitzer would be coming up with something soon but it's not finished yet.

On another visit, one of the technicians came out and told me about the brake vent covers. If you put your hand through either of the brake vents (next to the front fogs) you'll come up against a thin plastic panel which is there for road use to protect against water/snow etc. These can be unclipped to allow "cooling as BMW intended" for the track. Wish I'd known this before going to Bruntingthorp ... I'll certainly be taking them off before I go to Donington Park this Weds.

Ian.

I also had some problems with my brakes this weekend at Lausitzring, after 15-20 laps in a row they started to get mushy.
No suprise if the coooling vents are covered.

What was even worse is that i ate braked pads in a really hig speed and worst of all was that it was eating more on the right side where there is no wear sensor.

That it ate most on the right side is no suprise since you the track goes counter-clockwise, but that the difference should be that big?

This is how my discs and pads looked like:

More pics at
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/Album...a=13928062&f=0

The "naked" disc is from another E46 M3 that had the exact same problem a couple of hours earlier than mine. Strange thing is that he had the problems on the left side were the wear sensor is and still had no warning!?!?!?!?!

After my first trackday I really felt good about the brakes and was thinking that they needed no upgrade. I will try to open the cooling channels and see if that works and perhaps some other pads. If that doesn't work it'll have to be Movit on this car too.

Cheers,
/Johan

droid42 · 1st November 2001, 21:08

Johann,

I'm very surprised it took as many as 15-20 laps to notice any fade. See my write-up of my trackday at Donington Park (I'll post it within the next 5 mins) and you'll see I was getting VERY bad fade after only 4 laps.

Let me know your experiences with aftermarket brake stuff.

Ian.

johann · 1st November 2001, 21:17

Quote:

Originally posted by droid42
Johann,

I'm very surprised it took as many as 15-20 laps to notice any fade. See my write-up of my trackday at Donington Park (I'll post it within the next 5 mins) and you'll see I was getting VERY bad fade after only 4 laps.

Let me know your experiences with aftermarket brake stuff.

Ian.

Maybe we have different driving styles or maybe the tracks differ.

I'll read your post right away.

I'll post any results of aftermarket brake stuff

Cheers,
/Johan