So I wrecked my car...

[RyanDavies]

I'll throw in some endlinks to those bars I'd mentioned , saves you $110! They're new in box :P.

[E82MSport]

Originally Posted by tuj

Talked to Lockton as an individual, they said 'no go'. But I'll have the event organizer talk to them.

so here's the damage done:
2x stabilizer clips = 152
2x stabilizer links = 110
1 abs cable = 151
1 control arm long = 150
1 control arm short = 130
1 front bumper = 684
1 crossmember = 845
2 lateral airbags = 1080
1 terminal assembly = 143
1 rack and pinion = 1705
1 steer wheel air bag = 1124
1 headliner = 1265
1 headlamp link = 29
1 liner = 165
1 stabilizer bar = 260
1 shock absorber = 364
1 seat belt = 227
1 brake hose = 60
Labor = 2500 est.
Total = $11,114 USD.

tuj any update on your repairs?

[tuj]

OK, so the shop we dropped the car off at doesn't "specialize" in BMW's, they are a Porsche / Euro (non-BMW) / Exotic shop. Seems to me if they can fix Ferraris and such they ought to be able to handle a lousy bimmer right?

Well they did a good job actually. They saved the front bumper and actually buffed out the marks on it (and some other marks I had picked up in a parking lot). They saved the front cross-member and bent it back straight. The front sway had to be replaced along with the end-links and the clips. Much to my chagrin, the head mechanic refused to put in a 28mm front sway without a bigger rear sway; he said it would 'unbalance' the car. Not like he knows anything about tuning E82's....

But I'm sure he meant well. We decided not to do the side airbags and roof liner because of some cost concerns (eg. cash on hand). Also the shop could not do the driver's wheel airbag nor reset the seat-belt pre-tensioner. So on Thursday last week we got the car off and running and went to BMW for an alignment and for the airbag and seatbelt.

BMW hooked the DME up and guess what? BAM, 5 hours of updates! They sent my poor wife home, then Friday they were supposed to finish the car but they didn't have the part for the seat-belt for that was supposed to come in today, so the newest ETA is Tuesday (tomorrow).

That will bring everything put the headliner and the side airbags up to FIXED status. I figure I'll do the headliner and side airbags in a few months. Still not sure what the future holds for myself and my racing, considering I can't get insurance down here and I can't afford another off like this. Probably suggests I need a dedicated track car, which is also out of $-reach right now. Which means the season is effectively over for me at least this year.

And here I was getting ready to drop bombs on some JRZ RS2's for my ride...

Now I'm stuck debating if I should continue on the E82 development or move on to a different platform.

[smrtypants44]

Did you have a hard time sourcing a post-recall drivers airbag?

[tuj]

I think they sourced a pre-recall bag. I don't think there are any post-recall bags out there.

[Fume]

Originally Posted by tuj

OK, so the shop we dropped the car off at doesn't "specialize" in BMW's, they are a Porsche / Euro (non-BMW) / Exotic shop. Seems to me if they can fix Ferraris and such they ought to be able to handle a lousy bimmer right?

Well they did a good job actually. They saved the front bumper and actually buffed out the marks on it (and some other marks I had picked up in a parking lot). They saved the front cross-member and bent it back straight. The front sway had to be replaced along with the end-links and the clips. Much to my chagrin, the head mechanic refused to put in a 28mm front sway without a bigger rear sway; he said it would 'unbalance' the car. Not like he knows anything about tuning E82's....

But I'm sure he meant well. We decided not to do the side airbags and roof liner because of some cost concerns (eg. cash on hand). Also the shop could not do the driver's wheel airbag nor reset the seat-belt pre-tensioner. So on Thursday last week we got the car off and running and went to BMW for an alignment and for the airbag and seatbelt.

BMW hooked the DME up and guess what? BAM, 5 hours of updates! They sent my poor wife home, then Friday they were supposed to finish the car but they didn't have the part for the seat-belt for that was supposed to come in today, so the newest ETA is Tuesday (tomorrow).

That will bring everything put the headliner and the side airbags up to FIXED status. I figure I'll do the headliner and side airbags in a few months. Still not sure what the future holds for myself and my racing, considering I can't get insurance down here and I can't afford another off like this. Probably suggests I need a dedicated track car, which is also out of $-reach right now. Which means the season is effectively over for me at least this year.

And here I was getting ready to drop bombs on some JRZ RS2's for my ride...

Now I'm stuck debating if I should continue on the E82 development or move on to a different platform.

Hope you can get your car repaired and sorted out! I only went to my first couple track days this summer and this is pretty much my nightmare scenario. My second track day, the first thing I saw as I drove on to the track was a corvette smashing into a barrier and get totaled, with ambulances being brought in. It was definitely enough to make me drive a little timid on the track that day, which wasn't as much fun. I definitely agree with the desire to have a separate cheaper dedicated track car that I can afford to drive more aggressively in.

[tuj]

Yeah, well, my first trip to the Nurburgring and on a Tourist Day, they had the track closed because some motorcyclist had died when we got there. Kind of a bummer. Puts things in perspective. But yet I still drove the track (in a *RENTED* Mercedes) on crap tires, with crap brakes, passed people, and generally had the most amazing and halcyon time possible.

And only 1 minor off.

[chris82]

Originally Posted by tuj

OK, so the shop we dropped the car off at doesn't "specialize" in BMW's, they are a Porsche / Euro (non-BMW) / Exotic shop. Seems to me if they can fix Ferraris and such they ought to be able to handle a lousy bimmer right?

Well they did a good job actually. They saved the front bumper and actually buffed out the marks on it (and some other marks I had picked up in a parking lot). They saved the front cross-member and bent it back straight. The front sway had to be replaced along with the end-links and the clips. Much to my chagrin, the head mechanic refused to put in a 28mm front sway without a bigger rear sway; he said it would 'unbalance' the car. Not like he knows anything about tuning E82's....

But I'm sure he meant well. We decided not to do the side airbags and roof liner because of some cost concerns (eg. cash on hand). Also the shop could not do the driver's wheel airbag nor reset the seat-belt pre-tensioner. So on Thursday last week we got the car off and running and went to BMW for an alignment and for the airbag and seatbelt.

BMW hooked the DME up and guess what? BAM, 5 hours of updates! They sent my poor wife home, then Friday they were supposed to finish the car but they didn't have the part for the seat-belt for that was supposed to come in today, so the newest ETA is Tuesday (tomorrow).

That will bring everything put the headliner and the side airbags up to FIXED status. I figure I'll do the headliner and side airbags in a few months. Still not sure what the future holds for myself and my racing, considering I can't get insurance down here and I can't afford another off like this. Probably suggests I need a dedicated track car, which is also out of $-reach right now. Which means the season is effectively over for me at least this year.

And here I was getting ready to drop bombs on some JRZ RS2's for my ride...

Now I'm stuck debating if I should continue on the E82 development or move on to a different platform.

If you change your mind on the JRZs just let me know

[tuj]

Originally Posted by smrtypants44

Did you have a hard time sourcing a post-recall drivers airbag?

Guess what? This has become a major sticking point suddenly with the BMW shop... They mysteriously 'had' the part in stock last week, now they don't and have to "email a guy in the States..."

S H A D Y .

(BMW North America Customer Relations was much more helpful.)

EDIT:

Got the car back tonight. Guess that call to BMW NA did something. I'll explain tomorrow, but somehow an airbag magically 'appeared'. The car's airbag and seatbelt lights are still on (the seatbelt light seems strange...) but its back after more than 2.5 months! Tomorrow I will give it a proper shakedown.

EDIT #2:

OK, so here is how the BMW Takata replacement program works as best I can tell. BMW is replacing the oldest and most risky airbags first. This means the oldest cars in the fleet get the first of the new-model airbags. HOWEVER..there is a special queue called "Interim-Fix". This queue cannot be accessed as far as I can tell by the dealers, it requires someone at BMW NA to issue approval. The dealers need to email to get approval or a customer needs to call BMW NA Cust. Serv.

Now you are asking, what is "Interim-Fix"? As best I can gather, this is a program to divert some of the new-model airbags to customers who have had accidents, are high-value customers, complain a lot, or maybe all of the above.

Somehow I got approved for "Interim-Fix" which meant that I got priority on the parts over anyone else. So last night the "magical" airbag that appeared was really "reserved" for someone else (which p!$$es me off, because I had already called to reserve that part the week before...) but was released to me on priority on authority from BMW NA.

This is just my impressions: I have no inside knowledge of how BMW actually operates.

[smrtypants44]

Originally Posted by tuj

Guess what? This has become a major sticking point suddenly with the BMW shop... They mysteriously 'had' the part in stock last week, now they don't and have to "email a guy in the States..."

S H A D Y .

(BMW North America Customer Relations was much more helpful.)

EDIT:

Got the car back tonight. Guess that call to BMW NA did something. I'll explain tomorrow, but somehow an airbag magically 'appeared'. The car's airbag and seatbelt lights are still on (the seatbelt light seems strange...) but its back after more than 2.5 months! Tomorrow I will give it a proper shakedown.

EDIT #2:

OK, so here is how the BMW Takata replacement program works as best I can tell. BMW is replacing the oldest and most risky airbags first. This means the oldest cars in the fleet get the first of the new-model airbags. HOWEVER..there is a special queue called "Interim-Fix". This queue cannot be accessed as far as I can tell by the dealers, it requires someone at BMW NA to issue approval. The dealers need to email to get approval or a customer needs to call BMW NA Cust. Serv.

Now you are asking, what is "Interim-Fix"? As best I can gather, this is a program to divert some of the new-model airbags to customers who have had accidents, are high-value customers, complain a lot, or maybe all of the above.

Somehow I got approved for "Interim-Fix" which meant that I got priority on the parts over anyone else. So last night the "magical" airbag that appeared was really "reserved" for someone else (which p!$$es me off, because I had already called to reserve that part the week before...) but was released to me on priority on authority from BMW NA.

This is just my impressions: I have no inside knowledge of how BMW actually operates.

Interesting. I had wondered what would happen if someone wrecked a 1 series. Good to know you wont have to wait 6 months to get your car fixed.

[The Wind Breezes]

lol @ driving the track once with DSC fully off. If you aren't doing ALL your track driving with DSC always fully off with barely any thought, you sure as hell aren't ready for either a car as powerful as the 135 and you're definitely not ready for BFG R1.

[tuj]

Originally Posted by The Wind Breezes

lol @ driving the track once with DSC fully off. If you aren't doing ALL your track driving with DSC always fully off with barely any thought, you sure as hell aren't ready for either a car as powerful as the 135 and you're definitely not ready for BFG R1.

That's great. We can all be keyboard warriors.

I spent several years driving an RX-8 at Mid-Ohio and Putnam Park on Dunlops SuperSport Race and later Kuhmo V710's with all aids off. Yes the RX-8 isn't as powerful as the 135i and both Putnam and Mid-Ohio have runoff areas, something El Tunque does not have as you might have seen from the video.

There's a reason I kept the DSC on, its the same reason I don't pull the ABS fuse or take out the airbags.

I have already owned up to the fact that I didn't have the tires in the proper temperature range, and was totally unaware of how fast they would lose grip. *MY BAD* I wish I had a video to show you of the incident with telemetry because I had all that in the car (it was set to trigger at the start line), but from when I increased accelerator position to the loss of traction at the rear was nearly instantaneous. The reaction to the loss of traction; moderation of throttle and immediate counter steer, was swift. Full lock was achieved well before I hit the wall, as was full braking and lockup.

You weren't there, you don't know what happened. You don't know me, you don't know my skill level. You are coming out of nowhere to belittle me.

You don't know that I have done 2 Evolution schools. You don't know how many NASA track days I have done or that I run with Group 3. You don't know how many autox and other track days and schools I have done.

I have only had a car oversteer so suddenly and rapidly on me before one other time, in the wet, on race tires, in a dirty parking lot with the RX-8 at 10/10ths. This wasn't even meant to be 8/10ths.

Yeah dude, I f**ked up. Go rub it in. It cost me. People make mistakes. Guess you must be an infallible driver.

(BTW, I can drive the car around the track on the stock OEM RFT tires all day long with all aids disabled. I don't do it because it isn't faster.)

[lowbudgethero]

i've found the car can oversteer very quickly even with TC fully on under certain conditions

[The Wind Breezes]

In short, you're doing it wrong if you're both going to the track AND feel intimidated by the car to the extent you're using stability control. Get a less powerful car if you don't feel comfortable pushing the 1 and you will thank yourself immensely as you will have more fun and your skills will develop faster. No keyboard warrior here, I push the hell out of my car on street and track and since buying the car I have ALWAYS held the DSC button down for 3 seconds first thing after the engine fires up. I'm not BETTER than anyone, just experienced enough that I have confidence to handle the situations I get myself into. I have years of experience pushing cars, have lost control several times on both street and track, and I ride motocross to cross train. Nothing out there will teach you better traction management than riding an overpowered motorcycle in the dirt. I also now have a welded rear diff and could not enjoy it more while pushing the car, including in the rain, because my skill and confidence are sufficient to manage the car.

[John_01]

When you overheat the rear tires (especially RFT or other street tire), the car can be very hard to control. For newbies who don't have much experience in track day driving, its a good idea to start off with DSC enabled (Also in Traction mode) so that type of thing is less likely to take you by surprise. Later, at some point you can consider to turn the DSC-OFF and re-learn to drive the car's actual characteristics. If you are fooling around on the street, then you had better think pretty carefully and don't endanger other road users.

[tuj]

OK guys, let's break it down one more time.

I have driven this track 4 track days previous, all on RFT's. I have turned off all aids during Day 1, session 3, and found that I could handle the car just fine. I drove multiple times with all aids off during days 2-4 with all aids off, but always found slower times. We do time attack, therefore, I left aid's on about 3/4ths of the time to minimize my lap times.

BTW, if you haven't looked at the video, the track is surrounded BY WALLS.

As said before, I drove years of session with RX-8, all aids off.

I drive Day 5, new R-compound tires, new suspension kit, new brake pads on the car. Run 1, I leave all aids on, because new suspension and tires and brakes. Run 1 goes fine. Run 2 I turn aids off, accident.

Accident diagnosis has already been discussed. Cold tires combined with driver error.

Ultimately I would have had a lot better track day if I would have left the aids on and learned that my tire temps were not getting hot enough.

[Kgolf31]

Serious...OP took his lickings.

I don't see anyone else who is critiquing OP posting up their track videos left and right.

Move on.

[tuj]

Kgolf31 Thanks bud. Appreciate the cap on the hate.

Here's how the front looks now, believe it or not, that's the same bumper.

[E82MSport]

Originally Posted by Kgolf31

Serious...OP took is lickings.

I don't see anyone else who is critiquing OP posting up their track videos left and right.

Move on.

+1

[Fume]

Originally Posted by tuj

Kgolf31 Thanks bud. Appreciate the cap on the hate.

Here's how the front looks now, believe it or not, that's the same bumper.

Nice to see it back in one piece and looking good!

[Ginger_Extract]

Originally Posted by The Wind Breezes

In short, you're doing it wrong if you're both going to the track AND feel intimidated by the car to the extent you're using stability control. Get a less powerful car if you don't feel comfortable pushing the 1 and you will thank yourself immensely as you will have more fun and your skills will develop faster. No keyboard warrior here, I push the hell out of my car on street and track and since buying the car I have ALWAYS held the DSC button down for 3 seconds first thing after the engine fires up. I'm not BETTER than anyone, just experienced enough that I have confidence to handle the situations I get myself into. I have years of experience pushing cars, have lost control several times on both street and track, and I ride motocross to cross train. Nothing out there will teach you better traction management than riding an overpowered motorcycle in the dirt. I also now have a welded rear diff and could not enjoy it more while pushing the car, including in the rain, because my skill and confidence are sufficient to manage the car.

Cool story, dickhead. No need to mock and deride one of the people in an already extremely small group who actually track these cars.

[rac]

our short wheel base and small twin turbo's are not a great recipe for low rpm aggressive acceleration either. i've learnt to be particularly smooth and cautious on the throttle after a couple of snap oversteer incidents, preferably i don't go WOT until i am past peak torque either. fortunately for me i just filled my car with grass clippings. good luck.