My European Trip [56K warning] - Page 5 - The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard (m5board.com)

pvr · 20th June 2006, 13:01

Your post is simply incredible. Like the Energizer bunny, it keeps going, and going... Fantastic!!! Your video camera setup for your car is great, but I've missed the film of you driving the ring from inside your car! Can't wait to find out when you got your car back from the shop. Many thanks.

SUPRA · 20th June 2006, 17:14

Thanks a lot for the pictures!

MEnthusiast · 20th June 2006, 17:28

All I can say is AWESOME! Thank you for sharing so much of your experience I almost feel like I was there with you. I have heard that the new Z06 really is an amazing car as is the Carrera GT. I have several friends who have told me that the CGT is the scarest (in a good way) car they have experienced.

schnelleM5 · 20th June 2006, 22:09

Brilliant photodocumentary

Thank you for sharing your wonderful pictures and allowing us to savor the 'Ring vicariously through your camera lens!

Hope your M5 is back in good order.

1mpowerme · 20th June 2006, 22:58

You should start charging an admission fee to take us on your tour. It well deserves it.

Blue Thunder · 21st June 2006, 09:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1mpowerme

You should start charging an admission fee to take us on your tour. It well deserves it.

Hehe, you guys are free to make donations to my paypal account (thordurm (at) onno.is) - I promise it will go towards the repair cost for the car

But seriously, it is good that you guys enjoy the pics.

And pvr, there is a reason that I don´t have a video from inside the car on the ring - it is banned! Here you can read why: http://www.nurburgring.org.uk/videoban.html

This site www.nurburgring.org is great and I recommend that those that are interested in visiting the ring use it to prepare themselves. Lots of good practical info and the trip stories are very good.

The next installment of my Nurburgring saga is coming up soon.....

Blue Thunder · 21st June 2006, 23:45

Ok, back to the track.

It´s now Thursday (remember, the car broke down on Sunday!!)

When I woke up this morning it was evident that the weather was not good for fast driving and you could not hear any engines roaring in the distance

I was expecting a call from the dealership later today and decided to use the morning to visit the museum at Nurburgring as well as the Formula 1 circuit.
It only takes 10 minutes to walk to the museum from the hotel. On the way these guys came out of the fog like some ghosts:

On the way there is a racing school with a car I would not mind taking for a spin:

On the lot there was also this hideous creation:

This one looked a bit evil in the fog:

Here are some pictures of the museum:

When I saw the entrance I knew this would be a VERY nice visit:

There was a guided tour in half an hour around the grounds but until then I looked around inside the museum - HELLO!!!! 250GTO!!!

This one looked fast:

1955 model of Maserati 300S - 280hp, 750kg and 290 km/h top speed:

1956 model of Maserati 450S - 460hp:

The beginning of the "Silberpfeil" era, 1934 model of MB W25, 316hp - gorgeous:

MB W196, from 1954, 290hp, 290 km/h:

Maserati 250F, from 1954, 270hp, 300 km/h, 630kg:

Maserati Tipo 61 "Streamliner", from 1959, 250hp, 240 km/h, 600kg.
A bit of a funky look:

Here is a magnificent one, MB 680S, from 1927, 180 hp with a supercharger and 2 spare tires:

Now the tour was coming up so I got back to the reception. To kill time I looked some more at this one (it´s for sale if someone is interested):

I´m going to have a "display corner" in my future garage

Here the guide has arrived, I cannot remember his name so I´ll just call him Helmut:

Here he showed us a big sign that had the names of all drivers that had won big races at the Nurburgring. Not much space left for new names, they will need to enlarge the sign pretty soon:

You should know some of the names.....:

Here we are by the building that amongst other things includes the pit garages. The fog was thick so you really couldn´t see far:

Here we are in one of the pit garages:

Now in the pit lane - BMW signage is all over:

Here you can see where Schumacher celebrated his victory a week later:

The VIP lounges that Helmut said had "panzerglas" which I believe is bulletproof glass:

Another picture from within a pit garage:

They already had decided which teams had each of the garages:

Here is Helmut explaining the Nurburgring Nordschleife:

And then the Formula 1 track:

Here we are in the press room:

Here is the view from the press room:

Notice the Mercedes Benz sneaking along the track... get back to that later:

Here we are on the roof of the building:

The Nordschleife should be there in the distance (another Mercedes sneaking in the foreground):

In the building there are floors that companies can rent, here is the BMW floor:

The Jaguar people must have experienced many frustrating moments during F1 races

:

Yet another damn Mercedes sneaking around the track, it´s getting suspicious:

The fog is starting to clear and here is the group on the starting grid:

Here comes the Mercedes out of the fog and then it dawns up on me what they are doing! This is illegal testing for McLaren/Mercedes to prepare for the upcoming race!!!!!

People working full time preparing for the race:

Back to the museum:

1400 hp motor from a racing truck:

AMG Mercedes ITC motor from 1996, V6, 2,5L, 500hp at 11.500rpm:

An active pit stop:

A young promising driver having a seat fitted:

McLaren Mercedes F1 from 1996:

Here you could race on the Nurburgring:

A mean looking Audi:

But I got to the best part - the third hall:

Yesss!!!:

A few massive ones:

A nice looking Z8 safety car:

A mean looking bike:

A nice color for a M3.

Real power:

This one would be great to drive on the Ring:

This one needs no introduction:

Now this is a nice altar

:

Smaller engines to the side...

:

A nice ending to the visit to the museum!!

Here I am on the way back and this is a "testcenter" that BMW is expanding/improving in Nurburg. This is where they keep the ringtaxis:

On the way back I saw that soon it would be possible to drive on the track again - you can see the track in the distance:

Now I got a phonecall from the BMW dealership fixing my car. They had now installed the new gearbox and taken it for a spin.

THE BLOODY SOUND/VIBRATION IS STILL THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And they also have finally found out where it is coming from. It turned out to be a broken bearing in the differential.

They were very apologetic for misdiagnosing the problem and offered to remove the gearbox and install the old one at their cost. I decided against that since there were problems with the old one.

So it was decided to order a new diff asap and get me on the road as soon as possible.

While I waited for more info I went down to the track. By then they had opened and here is Frank the hotel manager going for a lap in the Sylvia Stryker.

Here is one of the most beautiful Porsches I have ever seen, belongs to a Norwegian, 550hp, more about this one later

:

This old one was nice:

Here Frank is back and "orders" me to join him for a few laps

:

Nice to drive in this car even though it is only 90hp, it´s small and light, just see how that Toyota Corolla looks huge in comparion:

Later we went for a few laps in the diesel Golf they have - until the track closed:

It was nice to drive with Frank even though these cars are not that powerful. He really knows the Ring and I learned alot by observing how he drives.

And BTW, heard from the dealership. The diff won´t be in until Saturday morning and they will call out mechanics early in the morning to work on the car and have me ready by noon. We´ll see.....

hughallen99 · 22nd June 2006, 01:57

Just keep it coming! I don't think I was this story to end.... Maybe it's time for another trip with you camera?

Blue Thunder · 27th June 2006, 01:11

Ok, now it´s Friday, the car has been at the dealership since Monday

I have been talking to Frank the hotelowner and telling him about my situation with the dealership. He originally referred me to them and I now asked him if they were really competent? He said they were _BUT_ he felt the whole saga with the problem diagnostics was not ok.

So this morning Frank went with me to the dealership to hear the whole story from them directly and check if there was some funny stuff going on and me getting ripped off.

At the dealership we went over the whole situation and they were very apologetic and reaffirmed their offer of giving me the new gearbox at a discount and not charging me for the install of the new gearbox.

As I see it I had 2 faults in the car when I arrived at the Ring (the gearbox having problems shifting into 2nd and whine while under stress and then the gearbox bearings/guibo making noises under light load) and then the bearing in the diff broke on the ring. So basically there were alot of things confusing the mechanics.

So basically the car is getting into good shape, at least the drivetrain

Here are some pictures from our trip to the dealership. On the first one Frank is on the right and Mr. Eckhart (our contact at the dealership) is on the left. This is after Frank was grilling him about the situation and he is smiling again

:

The gearbox, diff and more stuff from the car all over the floor:

The mechanic showing me and Frank the mess in the diff:

Here is a closeup but it´s difficult to see the inside:

We loaded the gearbox and diff in the car and headed back.

Afterwards Frank told me that this dealership is very competent and they have their own racecar. Their car is an E46 M3 with an S62 motor and that BMW engineers had studied it alot before they made their own M3 GTR. He thought it was interesting that this small dealership could teach the big company.

When we came back to the hotel these guys were getting ready to go on the Ring. I of course was quick to ask for a ride and they said it was no problem - just talk to them down at the entrance to the track. Afterwards I thought it was maybe not a good idea because the driver was on crutches!!!

Here you can see the gearbox and diff in the back of the Ringhaus Passat:

Here you can sell Vala (who works at the hotel) with the hotel cats that crave attention:

They don´t get to go inside the hotel and live in one of the garages:

I then headed down to the track and there was this gorgeous Ferrari 355:

Nice pair:

Here you can see that it´s not just super exotics on the track

:

A gorgeous M3 CSL:

An E30 going for a spin:

Here I saw that the Ferrari dude was just a poser, left without going on the ring, boooooo!!!! :

The guy in the grey GT3 going for some fun:

A lot of M3´s:

The white M3 CSL comes back in, notice the number plate:

The owners name is Thorleif and he is Norwegian - his helmet is very nice:

The guy has over 2.000 laps on the Nurburgring and I could really notice that in the passenger lap I got with him

His best time is 8:10 and it was great to see his car control and how he really really knew this track. His car is stock except for color, wheels and brakes:

Here you can see the smirk on Thorleifs face when he tells me the car really isn´t white - it´s grey!!!:

Huh??? Yes, the car is filmed white!!!! Here you can see the correct color in the door sill: The cost is approx. 1.000 euros and great protection for the paint.
Very well done:

Hmm, is this a stock color for an E30?!?!?!?!?

A lot of BMW's:

Thorleif taking yet another tourist for a ride. We were joking with him and telling him that he was the Ringtaxi today. A good comment from his was when I was talking to him about the Ring he said that you could really say you knew the Ring after about 300-400 laps

Also, notice the shoes

Here we have one of my favorite cars from this trip - ridiculously good looking and powerful:

This is a 993 Turbo that has been modified to GT2, both looks and power.
550 hp that really work. The owners name is Morten (right) and with him is his brother in law Ryan.

I originally spoke with Morten to ask him how he managed to keep the black paint so fresh and good looking. He was VERY happy with the question and it turns out he is a car painter and painted the car himself

He said he applied some goo twice a year and it left somekind of a greasy film that kept the paint fresh (can´t remember the product):

Got to ride both with Morten and Ryan. This car is very powerful and the sound from the turbines at full blast is awesome. The suspension is a bit soft for track use. Here we were going for a lap and they were bringing in a bike after a crash:

Here Ryan is checking out the motor before the last lap that turned out to be dramatic:

No room left!!!.

Ryan going out:

I finally met the guys in the red Porsche with the driver on crutches.
They were racing the next day. The race mechanic checked tyre pressure before we went out and I got strapped in a 5 point harness:

When I had been strapped in I noticed that the car had an automatic transmission that I found a strange choice for a racer. Then when we were driving onto the track Martin, the driver, knocks on his leg and screams over the engine noise "I only have one leg!!!" Then he laughs like crazy

But he was a great driver and the car was on race slicks so it performed great in turns but it was "only" 300hp so nothing drastic on the straights.
I went for 4 laps with him while he prepared for the race.

Frank told me later that Martin had had a motorcycle accident 4 years earlier where some stupid kids in a car had run him over where he was stationery on his bike and that is how he lost his leg.

After these great laps with Martin I met up with Ryan again and he said he was in deep **** because he had damaged the black GT2 on the last lap. He said he had been going easy at 4.000 rpm and then the power just went and the motor started running badly. Morten came back a while later with an unhappy face after taking the GT2 to a mechanic. He read 16 faults from the ECU

The mechanic was fully booked for 2 weeks so Morten had to leave the car there (I heard from him later, it was a burst hose from the IC to the turbo and some other stuff - 6.000 euro bill )

Here is a picture of a GT3 RS being transported off the track to the parking lot. I had seen him on the long fast left hand turn between Breidscheid and Karoussel where it was up agains the armco:

It turned out that the owner (the grayhaired one) had been driving at 240 km/h when the rear tyre blew

The car went for 2 360° spins and stopped against the armco and rubbed a little at the back. You could see that the owner was a bit shaken!!!:

Here you can see the tire:

This guy has to be one of the luckier ones - no serious damage to the car:

They just put the slicks on and raced the day after!!!

aw/ir02smg · 27th June 2006, 03:16

blue thunder,

i know i already sd thanks b4, but seriously - this thread is awesome. thread of the year!!! talk about the most vicarious but exciting road trip! i know you're having fun, but this sure takes some diligent effort.

jack