BMW 550i GT - autocross?

So my car is in the shop yet again. They gave me a new (888 miles) 2010 550i GT - the one with the giant hatchback. Turbo V8 pumping 400hp to the rear wheels. My 944 won't be ready to run in tomorrow's autocross. Do I take the BMW, or skip it? It's at a kart track an hour away that I've never run, but I had good success running my 750 on a similar kart track last year. What say you, people of GRM?

with some tape for cone guts hell yes.

Is this really a question?

Of course take the BMW. Just don't eat too many cones.

Yeah, is this a trick question..?

Go flog the hell out of it and report back!

Take it to the autocross and have fun with it, but be careful on those kart tracks, I'd hate to see the BMW end up like this Contour.

Contour SVT rolls on kart track.

Bob

Don't care for the looks of the thing, but I do think you should break in the engine and suspension for the dealer.

They have given you the 550i GT because they want you to imagine owning it.
If you owned it you would take it to the track!

Schmidlap wrote: Take it to the autocross and have fun with it, but be careful on those kart tracks, I'd hate to see the BMW end up like this Contour. Contour SVT rolls on kart track. Bob

I was present at this incident. The roll over was caused by turning in too early and following the advice of someone else that he could take the corner flat out. I could see it coming, as the driver kept turning in too early and putting 2 wheels off into the gravel on the right hand side due to the early turn in. Flat out was not going to be good as the car was relatively stock and a front driver needs some weight transfer off the rear in order to get the chassis to rotate. It was great that he did not get hurt as there are 4x4s supporting the fence that is against the tyre wall.

I think your BMW will go nuts as the nanny aids try to reel you in .

m

Let's see, you have a chance to flog a car and you have to ask. Very well, you have my permission. Not that it counts for anything.

All right, I'm gonna be the dissent here. Am I understanding its a dealership car? If so, I'd say no. There's the issue of it being someone else's property, but more important, what if you wreck it? Unlikely, yes. But I've seen it happen. (Also, see above) In all likelihood you wouldn't be covered by your insurance. (Not to thread jack, but has anyone ever tried to make an insurance claim for an autocross crash? I'm curious) Not sure I'd want to pay for a new BMW out of pocket. I'd say scare up a friend who's going and co-drive.

kazoospec wrote: All right, I'm gonna be the dissent here. Am I understanding its a dealership car? If so, I'd say no. There's the issue of it being someone else's property, but more important, what if you wreck it? Unlikely, yes. But I've seen it happen. (Also, see above) In all likelihood you wouldn't be covered by your insurance. (Not to thread jack, but has anyone ever tried to make an insurance claim for an autocross crash? I'm curious) Not sure I'd want to pay for a new BMW out of pocket. I'd say scare up a friend who's going and co-drive.

Nobody likes you, everybody hates you, you should go eat worms.

Buzz Killington makes his point heard.

OTOH IMHO beat it senseless, it may teach them a lesson on loaning fast cars to GRMers

Well, I've never seen an incident at an autocross that wasn't directly caused by driver stupidity, including the contour posted above. So, assuming you understand basic driving technique (if you've ever thought "hey, since my turn in point causes me to put two tires off at exit, maybe I should try that turn flat out...", stay home) and aren't going to purposely try to hurt the car, I don't see what could go wrong.

Besides, tracking/autocrossing cars doesn't damage them in any way aside from unusually fast tire and brake wear, so it's not like your taking someones car out and using it up or whatever point kazoo was trying to make.

Use soap to write "It's a loaner!!!" in the rear window and see what it'll do. Just don't be stupid with it.

David

Sooo, I didn't do it. Family obligations popped up. Otherwise I'd have run it.

I put film on one of those this week. I was not impressed with the car. It felt bloated when driving it around the lot. The car has NO sight out the rear of it, to the point I think it would be dangerous. Having worked a dealerships for about 5 years, I'm used to moving cars in tight spaces. I had to be very cautious with this. I thought the X6 was a totally useless vehicle, this isn't far behind. I'd take an E class wagon over this any day. That said, the new 550 sedan impresses the hell out of me.

Was the AutoX at BMP? I thought that was closed down....it's right by my house to show how much I pay attention to it.

I'm impressed with how it goes down the road, it seems to handle OK for as big as it is. I agree about the rear visibility - it's like looking out of a gun slit from 10 feet away. A rear camera ought to be standard on this.

BMP is shut down. The autocross was at Cherry Valley Motorsports Park near Syracuse.