Well, some updates on the Beemah, I drove it about 1,300 miles in the past week to/from the Tail of the Dragon area, all over the roads there, and then to/from Carolina Motorsports Park for two track days (about 2.5 hours running laps). I have to say, I am actually pretty darn happy with this car and glad I bought it back. For the money, it was the best thing out there, and I certainly don't think I would be enjoying a Type R 3+X more (which is the cost difference). Round one of ownershit, I think the biggest cause of disdain was that it was hugely let down by the tires, particularly the run fuck
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in the front. I don't think I am quite so dumb as to not realize that at the time, I really just didn't need the car. It all worked out as I got 50% more for the C5 than I would've in 2020 and I did get some more track time and other fun memories with the Corvette, it was still my favorite car I've owned and I imagine I'll have another one day.
But back to the Bimmer, I have now put about 5K miles on it since re-purchase, half of which were the return trip from LA to NC and this past week's car shenanigans. It's sitting right under 45K now. I originally bought it at 15K miles for $21K in fall 2018, sold to Alan with 31K miles for $15K in summer 2020, bought back for $16.5K with all of the mods and 39K miles in summer 2021. I had a couple of small issues round one, broken parking brake cable which was a pain in the
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, a couple of weird misfire codes.
I was honestly pretty impressed with the performance at the Dragon and really
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at the track this weekend with how fast I was relative o other stuff.
The good:
- I love the look of this car, particularly the color, and the
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courtesy of
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. The big blue fixed calipers also look quite dope.
-Road trip comfort, the seats are fantastic and the car is pretty refined, it is a great thing for pounding out highway miles, after driving it all day, I feel good.
-Fuel efficiency, it easily gets mid-low thirties highway, which for the size/speed is impressive
-Chassis - this thing fucks in this department with the square setup and suspension. It's balances, almost no understeer, it's easy to initiate a slide and just as easy to save it when needed. Mechanical grip is pretty good, as mentioned I kept up with some more serious stuff on track - Mustang GTs, 370Zs, track prepped E46s, etc. I did pass a Viper and C6 'vette but I think they both were in serious need of better drivers
-Practicality - it seats four and holds plenty of shit, while still not being too huge/heavy
-Build quality and fit/finish are pretty nice
-So far is seems to be reliable and really robust. I went 10/10 on track and had no overheating issues or brake issues like on my Corvette
The bad:
-rev hang in this is fucking horrid; it was most apparent on track where I'd have to upshift really slowly and lose a second+ of acceleration on straights. It sometimes even jumps UP in revs when the clutch is depressed. Shifter feel is also OK but not the best
-The sound - no turbo 4 is all that great, but these things just sound particularly meh IMO
- I'm not a tech guy but this is sort of pathetic for a $45K MSRP in 2014 car - no BT, heated seats, backup cam, etc. from the factory. Fortunately the BT was an easy enough fix in ownershit round one
-Steering feel is meh, this combined with the sounds/shifting experience certainly make it a less fun car to drive after eight+ years owning two seat sports cars
-I feel like from a driving perspective, it just doesn't have a ton of character. It drives really well overall, but it certainly doesn't offer the most exciting or memorable experience... kind of more personal feeling