I've tracked my Beast ~10 times, and had an E39 540i/6 that I tracked a half-dozen times before that. I now own a full set of dedicated track wheels + tires, and I swap between street and track pads for the 2-4 DEs that I do each year. I now change pads and flush fluid on my own for each event, and have done each job trackside on occasion in 30-45 minutes.
If you've not become entirely comfortable with the track manners of your Beast on street tires, then I would not rush to get the track tires just yet. It sounds like a good plan to use and abuse your street tires for the upcoming event. Street tread at the wearbars should not be a problem for a BMW CCA event, nor is it inherently unsafe (unless it rains, then I would use extra caution!). After the event, you can get a dedicated track tire set-up for future events, and you wont be accelerating the wear on a brand new set of street tires.
[I made the mistake of putting a
brand new LF tire on my 540i/6 after discovering a nail the night before a DE at Sebring Raceway. The varied surfaces at Sebring are murder on rubber, and my tire looked like it had traveled 15K miles after two days of use. I got the track setup after that experience.]
One other tire note: You'll be amazed at how quickly the torque from S62 motor eats up your rear tires at the track! While you can rotate your front tires inside-out to extend their lives, your rears are gonna wear from the centers out--switching sides won't help! I find I'm replacing fronts and rears at roughly the same pace--a far cry from my experience on street tires.
I DO think minor brake modifications would suit you well if you plan to track a few times a year. That being said, I have found it possible to virtually eliminate brake fade at the track by doing the following: (1) open factory brake ducts, (2) flush system with high-temp fluid, (3) replace front pads with track compound, and probably less essential, (4) install stainless steel brake lines.
As others have said, this is less critical depending upon the track and your speeds, so you might work up to these changes. At Road Atlanta, however, I found myself experiencing mushy brake pedal in my very first morning of tracking my Beast. After making the aforementioned upgrades, brake fade has not been an issue.
I know that some may take issue with swapping only front pads, but in the early lives of the E39 M5s, there were not a lot of options available for track compound pads to fit the stock calipers. Necessity being the mother of invention, I found that I could change the front pads to a compound that handled track temperatures much better, without upsetting brake balance. I switch my fronts back and forth between Mintex Red Box (street) and C-Tech (track), without having to also swap rotors. The Mintex C-Tech pads are only ~$160 from
www.germanautoparts.com . Originally, I left the factory pads on the rears for all my DEs, and then switched to Mintex Red Box after 45K miles when the original pads wore out.
Finally, I found a nice compromise in my track tire set-up. I bought the full package from TireRack.com for about $1650. For rubber, I've got Yokohama A032Rs and I bought the "house brand" wheels, a clean five-spoke (Borbet Type E). I run a 17" set, and have zero brake clearance problems. R = 275-40/17 and F = 245-45/17.
That's more than $.07. Sorry. Shoot me any questions, and I'll be happy to oblige!
-Dave
and better brake fluid like ATE Super Blue. For 2 events per year, should I go thru the expense and trouble of track pads as well?
Linear Mode
