I spent a few hours this afternoon tagging along on a BMW M5/M3 drive through the Texas Hill Country. It was awesome! It's the first time I ever pegged the speedo. I was impressed by how well the L handled through some ~80mph turns. However, it does get upset VERY easily by MINOR imperfections in the road during high speed turns. The IRS M cars seem to handle such things much more handily. I must also say how humbled I was. From a 20 roll, the guy in the Ferrari 550 walked me bad! While I know that I'm not the fastest Lightning out there; I had hoped to put up more of a fight. We weren't actually racing; I was just behind him. Also impressive was a new TT 996 that could accelerate ridiculously from any speed. During the part of the drive that I pegged the speedo, this guy made me feel like I was in a school zone. Also in attendance was a 2000 Cobra R. I didn't see much of him since he hung out with the slow pack. I couldn't help but take advantage of the fact that there was a nut leading the way at well over 100. I had never heard my truck whine for such a long, consistent time. Anyway, I just wanted to share my experience and my gas mileage - 9.9 miles per gallon. Surprisingly, this is what I usually get in the city.

 

MMmmkay, lets think here:

$221,125.00 - 550
$123,930.00 - 996TT
$069,900.00 - M5
$045,900.00 - M3
$032,300.00 - Lightning

If you could even just keep up with them you should be very happy, and they should be a little upset.



All in all sounds like your beast did quite well for costing a hellova lot less.

Daniel

 

Shouldn't have been much of a concern...

when you say walked you, how do you mean?

Coldie

 

thepawn,

Don't get me wrong; I was very pleased that the L did so well. The others guys weren't upset at all - they were very friendly and surprised as well. I'll keep the L forever; but now I know what my next car purchase will be. It's amazing that a lot of these guys are just like us - they can't leave well enough alone. They enjoy their mods just as much as we do. It's just on a higher priced scale. Some guy was talking about some Dinan headers for the M5 that sell for $5000! Believe it or not, the whole experience makes me want to do some road course driving. I really don't know the limits of the L. And, at no point during the drive did I feel like I was near them - the tires never even squealed unless I wanted them to.

Coldie,

I mean that it I was on the 550's bumper as we slowed to 20 when a car in front of us turned off the road. We both punched it; and he just started walking away. By the time I hit 90, he was jogging.

 

Now, add in the load-carry capability (yes, I bought the L because it is a truck!), relatively cheap parts, and simplicity of maintenance.

Oh, yeah, and HEADROOM. I am 6'6". I might be able to actually fit in some of the above, but I guarantee you I could not race one, as I'd never be able to get a helmet on.

One of my co-workers has an M-Coupe. They have no oil cooler. To add one from the aftermarket costs between $800-2,500! I am upgrading the Ford factory oil cooler for less than $100. A (non-intercooled) supercharger for the M-Coupe: $10,000. And its a little, teeny chick car.

 

What shocks are on your L?

 

Edward - what was going on in Austin so that your L was in the company of such vehicles?

 

Just the man I was going to ask for help from. I've currently got the stock Bilsteins along with an FRPP drop kit. I'm definately going to buy one of Stan's panhard bars; but what else can I do to improve the handling and still maintain driveabiity. In what order could said mods be installed as money allows. I'm really looking forward to auto-x'ing on a 1.3mi. course next month. The course is 40% straight; and top finishers AVERAGE about 60mph. I was somewhat disappointed watching a local auto-x where the course was about .6mi. of nothing but tight slaloms.

Thanks,
Edward

 

aus,

It began as a BMW M5 Texas hill country drive. Word spread among the M3 community and became an M drive. The Ferrari owner brought the 550 out because the weather was so nice and left the M5 at home in Dallas. The TT owner also owns an M5 but had just finished passing the break-in mileage on the Porsche and wanted to wring it out a bit. The Cobra R owner sold his M5 to buy a Powerstroke to tow the Cobra since he wanted to devote more time to tracking. I've posted on the M5 boards a while back ragging on my buddy since I smoked him in his M5, stop sign to stop sign though.

-Edward

 

Get different shocks. When I got my new L, I drove it for a few day with the Bilsteins and thought they were horrible - they turn the rear end into a pogo stick at higher speeds especially when they are bumps in the road (I posted a similar comment back in the end of May). So, I put them on my old L for the trade-in. It was either that or the trash can. They will stiffen up the suspension too much at the wrong time, as you found out.

Spike

 

That's exactly the problem I experienced. On a turn, if I hit the smallest break in the road, the truck "side steps" abruptly. Do you recommend the QA1's?

-Edward

 

The M3 motors are blowing up, and BMW is voiding people's warranties. Sound familiar!

M3 Motor failure website

 

Actually, it seems that BMW has accepted responsibility now. They're replacing blown engines with new ones; and have even refunded one owner the price of the engine he paid for out of his pocket. The defect in their engines comes from a short-lived main bearing spec change in November of last year. I really don't see the similarity. Those engines that are failing are stock. How many stock engines have blown on Lightnings? (Not counting plug rockets)

 

Until some better comes out (other than the Penske's) that is easily tuned to your suspension and can handle the heat, I recommend the QA1's.