[CoffeeBean]

I've always enjoyed these European Delivery threads, but it makes me wonder: do you just forget about the engine break-in period when you go out doing 155 on the Autobahn and racing around Nurburgring?

[red.66mustang]

Originally Posted by kingc0bra

Had no idea! Thats pretty crappy of bmw

In addition to no RWD available, only transmission available is the auto. I would by a F31 tomorrow if I could get a 328 with a manual in the states.

[dclowd9901]

Originally Posted by Chowbow

Long post... TL;DR is in the next post.

Hey B! It's Dave, the guy who used one of your tows at track day Didn't know you frequented bimmerpost! Great diary, man. Reading now, and ramping up for the trip -- Next Saturday! Shit, I can't believe it's already that close.

Take care man! Wish you were coming to NCRC with us!

[Chowbow]

Originally Posted by Ross328i

I've always enjoyed these European Delivery threads, but it makes me wonder: do you just forget about the engine break-in period when you go out doing 155 on the Autobahn and racing around Nurburgring?

Some people don't think that the break-in procedure is necessary or recommended. There's lots of articles / opinions / facts / myths for and against a balls to the wall break-in vs. a pansy-foot break-in. My personal experience on both is I have had less long term internal engine problems with a hard break-in.

My E46 burns 1qt of oil every 1500 miles or so - not bad. My E36 doesn't burn a drop, and it gets the hardest miles as my track car. Both are of similar high mileage. The E36 was driven hard from day 1, the E46 was broken in following the manual. My E36's autotragic was slipping in a gear by 130k miles though - but the fluid was never changed and it's a common problem on those E36s. My E90 was also driven hard from day 1, raced by the first weekend, and haven't had issues yet (knock on wood: N54) but it's only at 45k miles.

If it makes people feel better, I drove 1200 miles in circles following BMW's break-in procedure before doing anything mentioned in my first post.

Originally Posted by dclowd9901

Hey B! It's Dave, the guy who used one of your tows at track day Didn't know you frequented bimmerpost! Great diary, man. Reading now, and ramping up for the trip -- Next Saturday! Shit, I can't believe it's already that close.

Take care man! Wish you were coming to NCRC with us!

DD! Yes, been on here forever but haven't been able to provide much value in a while since I've been mostly working on the E36. I'll try and remember some extra tips for you before you go. Might have some extra Euros around that I can exchange you too.

And I'll be at Thunderhill. I got a spot as a lot of people are canceling due to the rain. See you there!!

[Riddik]

Originally Posted by Chowbow

Day 1 (Thursday) in Munich: we check into the Leonardo Royal hotel. Nice place and recommended by the BMW ED travel folks. I really enjoyed it because they had a cigar lounge and a good scotch selection. Don't drink and drive.

The hotel is also super close to BMW Welt, and easily accessible by subway. Nice rooms except the frosted glass door to the bathroom. Definitely not a hotel to share a room with some bros unless you want to see the silhouette of someone wiping their ass.

Hehe I stayed also in this hotel during my Munich trip with my fresh new GF and I loved the frosted glass door

[Maddict3]

really enjoyed reading this. Congrats

[Imola.ZHP]

Great post, thanks for sharing.

You mentioned the audio controls on the steering wheel. I tried to zoom in on your pics and video's but couldn't quite tell, did they swap the cruise control and audio controls on the F3X's too? On my e46, the cruise is on the right and the audio controls on the left. I recently had an i3 for a few days and I was maddened that they were flipped. Why does one need any steering wheel mounted audio controls 3 inches from the dash-board audio controls?

In my e46 when I'm just tooling around I drive with my left elbow on the window sill right at the spot where the audio controls are, and shift my manual transmission with my right hand. Sure, no shifting needs to be done in an i3 (or an automatic F3x) but still I don't understand why they flipped them on the steering wheel.

I'm sure this seems minor, but I've been driving my e46 this way for nearly 9 years. Its getting close to time for a new (or newer) car (to add to the e46, not replace it) and something as simple as that just rubbed me wrong. I had a few e90 loaners back in the day and don't recall them being flipped.

[Chowbow]

Audio controls are on the right side of the wheel. I will say that they are better from an ergonomics standpoint than the E46. They're in a super weird to reach spot on the E46. The E90 is probably the best in that the buttons are actually where your thumbs can easily reach. Just something to get used to, I doubt it's a big deal once you have the car.

[Chowbow]

Originally Posted by Riddik

Hehe I stayed also in this hotel during my Munich trip with my fresh new GF and I loved the frosted glass door

[Jackbmw]

Nice F31 I love the colour.

What a pity you can't buy a 335i F31 in the USA. Shame on BMW for the weird marketing policy. I don't get it why everyone who wants to have a Touring needs to have xDrive and must resign from 6 pot motor. Strange decision.

I drive currently 335i RWD with AT. The next car would also be a Touring but I think I will need to look for it in Germany, cause all the used 335i F31 offered here are xDrive. Senseless if you don't drive much and want to have fun with RWD.

[Chowbow]

Well in the US it's VERY rare to see the wagon. I wouldn't be surprised if they stopped offering it here at some point. If there was a 335i model here I think we'd still get the 328i auto. It's got enough power and we really don't need anything more for the wife. I would keep everything the same except for the xDrive.

[Fugly M3]

this is awesome

[DrivenByE30]

Originally Posted by Riddik

Hehe I stayed also in this hotel during my Munich trip with my fresh new GF and I loved the frosted glass door

Anything frosted with the GF is

Originally Posted by Imola.ZHP

Great post, thanks for sharing.

You mentioned the audio controls on the steering wheel. I tried to zoom in on your pics and video's but couldn't quite tell, did they swap the cruise control and audio controls on the F3X's too? On my e46, the cruise is on the right and the audio controls on the left. I recently had an i3 for a few days and I was maddened that they were flipped. Why does one need any steering wheel mounted audio controls 3 inches from the dash-board audio controls?

In my e46 when I'm just tooling around I drive with my left elbow on the window sill right at the spot where the audio controls are, and shift my manual transmission with my right hand. Sure, no shifting needs to be done in an i3 (or an automatic F3x) but still I don't understand why they flipped them on the steering wheel.

I'm sure this seems minor, but I've been driving my e46 this way for nearly 9 years. Its getting close to time for a new (or newer) car (to add to the e46, not replace it) and something as simple as that just rubbed me wrong. I had a few e90 loaners back in the day and don't recall them being flipped.

Yes they switch it and it's maddening!!!!!!!!

Originally Posted by Chowbow

Audio controls are on the right side of the wheel. I will say that they are better from an ergonomics standpoint than the E46. They're in a super weird to reach spot on the E46. The E90 is probably the best in that the buttons are actually where your thumbs can easily reach. Just something to get used to, I doubt it's a big deal once you have the car.

I Have the car over two years now, and I am nowhere near being used to this illogical set up.... it just does NOT make any hell of a sense.


Hey ChowBow, thanks for the photos of the rest of your garage!
My E36 is gathering dust in front of mine... i want to turn her into a track rat as well, how mich are we looking?
Do you have a thread on your E36?

[R N M]

Very cool ED pickup.
Great pics - what camera are u using?

[E90M3JETS]

Looks great. Congrats. Wishing BMW would make a M3 version of this car. It would look sweet.

[Chowbow]

Originally Posted by E46M54325Ci

this is awesome

Originally Posted by DrivenByE30

Hey ChowBow, thanks for the photos of the rest of your garage!
My E36 is gathering dust in front of mine... i want to turn her into a track rat as well, how mich are we looking?
Do you have a thread on your E36?

I don't have a thread on my E36. It's quite basic though honestly. I can basically list everything in bullet point here...

• Stock M52 engine, just changed the cooling fan to electric.
• Basic Bilstein coilovers - got these when it was a DD and never changed them
• Swapped M3 front strut hats and offset LCABs to get -3.2* camber up front
• Adjustable rear LCAs
• Subframe mount reinforced. Like the E46, the E36 subframes like to just fall off the car if they're not reinforced.
• Poly bushings everywhere. Vibration central.
• Manual swap (ex-autotragic), AKG shifter, M3 3.15 LSD
• 4 point roll bar / fixed back seats / harnesses / HANS
• E46 330i ghetto BBK upgrade

If you want to start tracking the E36, just get it checked it and take it out. Do nothing to it - it'll be fine. If you're going to turn it into a track car then start with the cooling and and subframe reinforcement, then safety stuff. Just know that if you do a cage / roll bar, then you're all in and you have to do the seats and harnesses etc. all at once to do it right. Either have stock interior or go all the way.

All the other "go fast" stuff like brakes, power, suspension, etc. is probably less useful than seat time. I was just on Thunderhill Saturday and was not very fast, and even had a spin in the rain. I doubt anything would have made me faster except for seat time.

Originally Posted by R N M

Very cool ED pickup.
Great pics - what camera are u using?

The wide angle ones are from my GoPro. The others are from either my iPhone or Nikon dSLR.

Originally Posted by E90M3JETS

Looks great. Congrats. Wishing BMW would make a M3 version of this car. It would look sweet.

[DrivenByE30]

Thanks for the tips... that will save some time and money... and guess work!

Now all i have to do is convince the wife...

[Chowbow]

Following up as promised, pics of the car with the M-Performance brakes installed once it arrived back stateside. First post updated as well.

[saaltonen]

Great post! My wife an I were just in Europe last September ourselves, visting a few of the places you mentioned. We just bought our F31 Pre-Owned, but saved a good deal of money on a well equipped model that was a BMW Executive's. The Nurburgring was axed from that trip, but we did get to do the Stelvio! Highly recommend it, if you make another trip. Would have been a great experience in the F31 rather than the dreadful rental we had, lol. It was a really foggy day, so we couldn't get the full picture of the scenery, but the drive.... that made up for it ten times over. We got to go to Maranello too, and take a Ferrari for a spin so I guess I can't complain too much...

[psuibmw]

155 mi/hr that's fast ... When i did my ED many years ago, i tried to push my F10 to the limit but Autobahn was not helping ...I guess it depends on which part you're in. I got only to 140mi/hr

[Chowbow]

Originally Posted by saaltonen

Great post! My wife an I were just in Europe last September ourselves, visting a few of the places you mentioned. We just bought our F31 Pre-Owned, but saved a good deal of money on a well equipped model that was a BMW Executive's. The Nurburgring was axed from that trip, but we did get to do the Stelvio! Highly recommend it, if you make another trip. Would have been a great experience in the F31 rather than the dreadful rental we had, lol. It was a really foggy day, so we couldn't get the full picture of the scenery, but the drive.... that made up for it ten times over. We got to go to Maranello too, and take a Ferrari for a spin so I guess I can't complain too much...

Awesome. We really wanted to do the Stelvio pass as well, but in order to fit the Nürburgring into our trip we actually had to rearrange the whole thing and skipped the Stelvio pass (we were worried it may be closed during that time due to weather). Next time we'll definitely add the Stelvio pass to our trip!

Originally Posted by psuibmw

155 mi/hr that's fast ... When i did my ED many years ago, i tried to push my F10 to the limit but Autobahn was not helping ...I guess it depends on which part you're in. I got only to 140mi/hr

Yes there were definitely areas that are more congested and had lots of cars. We were lucky to get some really open areas and I had the option of following a bunch of cars that were ahead of me hauling the mail.

[Chowbow]

Added my Blackstone Labs oil analysis to my first post, for those interested in looking at what the oil looks like after 2000 hard miles...