First time tracking my 328i. Questions/advice

Kong Sheng Han · 04-13-2016, 10:48 AM

I'm not new to tracking and usually take my M3, but I've deemed it unfit for DEs due to engine belts/pulleys going bad. So I'll be taking the 328 to an event in five hours today.

The 328i is all stock, minus clutch stop. Manuel, sports package, factory spec alignment performed yesterday. Tires are stock sized Bridgestone RE760s; have used RE760s on the M3 on track and have no complaints. It has 48,3XX miles, and maintenance was always performed at a BMW stealership until maintenance plan expired last December. A brake flush was recently performed.

When performing a tech inspection yesterday, fluid levels were fine, but I noticed that brake and PS fluids were green. Is that normal? The fluids I use on the M3 are red, so I'm not sure. I'm hoping fade is minimal; track doesn't look to be hard on brakes. The front right shock is leaking. Car feels and drives fine, and I'm hoping the shock doesn't blow on the bumpy track.

Would anyone be able to try and explain how the car behaves without traction control? On the M3, it's easy to control the car during oversteer, but I've read the diff on 328 is uninspiring with that regard?

Can I flog the 328 without having to worry about the motor blowing up or something?

TIA

Taskmaster · 04-16-2016, 03:03 PM

You should be fine.

Needbmwpartzz · 04-16-2016, 06:47 PM

Flog away.....328 will mostly under steer with traction control off but is very predictable when you get used to it.....that is when tires are nicely warmed....so my best advice is to wait till warm if you really want to push it.

justpete · 04-16-2016, 07:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kong Sheng Han

Can I flog the 328 without having to worry about the motor blowing up or something?

Absolutely. Pretty tough to blow the engine without moneyshifting or way overrevving it. Have fun with it, it's a very forgiving car.

Kong Sheng Han · 04-17-2016, 10:11 AM

Event was fine. Experienced lots of understeer. Started chunking my two day old tires lol. Shifted at 5-6000 RPM and still felt like I was abusing the car lol. Passed cars that had more power than me.

Did experience some brake fade due to boiling fluid. Best part is that I finally got to practice car control/skid recovery on a track.

NocturnalEVO · 04-17-2016, 01:12 PM

Thanks for sharing! Very interesting to watch!

Kong Sheng Han · 04-18-2016, 06:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NocturnalEVO

Thanks for sharing! Very interesting to watch!

No problem. Glad you liked it.

E90ALLMANUAL · 04-20-2016, 08:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kong Sheng Han

I'm not new to tracking and usually take my M3, but I've deemed it unfit for DEs due to engine belts/pulleys going bad. So I'll be taking the 328 to an event in five hours today.

The 328i is all stock, minus clutch stop. Manuel, sports package, factory spec alignment performed yesterday. Tires are stock sized Bridgestone RE760s; have used RE760s on the M3 on track and have no complaints. It has 48,3XX miles, and maintenance was always performed at a BMW stealership until maintenance plan expired last December. A brake flush was recently performed.

When performing a tech inspection yesterday, fluid levels were fine, but I noticed that brake and PS fluids were green. Is that normal? The fluids I use on the M3 are red, so I'm not sure. I'm hoping fade is minimal; track doesn't look to be hard on brakes. The front right shock is leaking. Car feels and drives fine, and I'm hoping the shock doesn't blow on the bumpy track.

Would anyone be able to try and explain how the car behaves without traction control? On the M3, it's easy to control the car during oversteer, but I've read the diff on 328 is uninspiring with that regard?

Can I flog the 328 without having to worry about the motor blowing up or something?

TIA

The P/S fluid should be green. The brake fluid should be gold. It turns green when is contaminated.

I used to live in Austin. Driveway Austin was my playground. I wanted to Harris Hill but didn't had the chance.

Kong Sheng Han · 05-09-2016, 12:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by E90ALLMANUAL

The P/S fluid should be green. The brake fluid should be gold. It turns green when is contaminated.

I used to live in Austin. Driveway Austin was my playground. I wanted to Harris Hill but didn't had the chance.

That's not good. I'm gonna check again tomorrow. The dealership was supposed to have flushed brake fluid a few months ago.

I've wanted to hit up Driveway Austin, but 1) the only way to get track time there is to go through their driving school program and get licensed and 2) their driving school program is expensive. Really wish they offered HPDEs.

E90ALLMANUAL · 05-09-2016, 04:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kong Sheng Han

Quote:

Originally Posted by E90ALLMANUAL

The P/S fluid should be green. The brake fluid should be gold. It turns green when is contaminated.

I used to live in Austin. Driveway Austin was my playground. I wanted to Harris Hill but didn't had the chance.

That's not good. I'm gonna check again tomorrow. The dealership was supposed to have flushed brake fluid a few months ago.

I've wanted to hit up Driveway Austin, but 1) the only way to get track time there is to go through their driving school program and get licensed and 2) their driving school program is expensive. Really wish they offered HPDEs.

?They should allow experience(with real proof) drivers do their sessions.
?I only did their level 1 class and it was nice to go on a Saturday and sometimes during the week on my lunch break, do one or two sessions and go home without having to compromise the entire day or weekend.

Kong Sheng Han · 05-09-2016, 07:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by E90ALLMANUAL

?They should allow experience(with real proof) drivers do their sessions.
?I only did their level 1 class and it was nice to go on a Saturday and sometimes during the week on my lunch break, do one or two sessions and go home without having to compromise the entire day or weekend.

I wonder if youtube videos of me would work as proof of experience..

I called them a while back, and I was told that to be able to do the full course (level 3?), you have to take both courses, which equals $990. Oh, and a 30 min session on the full course is $100.

The HACK · 05-10-2016, 11:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by E90ALLMANUAL

The brake fluid should be gold. It turns green when is contaminated.

Unless someone flushed it with ATE SuperBlue.

Cloud9blue · 05-10-2016, 01:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kong Sheng Han

That's not good. I'm gonna check again tomorrow. The dealership was supposed to have flushed brake fluid a few months ago.

I've wanted to hit up Driveway Austin, but 1) the only way to get track time there is to go through their driving school program and get licensed and 2) their driving school program is expensive. Really wish they offered HPDEs.

From my experience with dealerships and some indy, their definition of "flushing" brake fluid is simply topping up the brake reservoir...

r4dr · 05-12-2016, 08:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The HACK

Unless someone flushed it with ATE SuperBlue.

Unlikely, they stopped selling the blue version a while back. I doubt a dealership would keep stock long enough to still have Superblue.

The HACK · 05-18-2016, 02:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by r4dr

Unlikely, they stopped selling the blue version a while back. I doubt a dealership would keep stock long enough to still have Superblue.

It's entirely possible the PRIOR owner put Superblue in the car. Once you put Superblue in the car, it takes about 5-6 full flushes to get that "green" (cause, you know, blue mixed with amber/yellow is green) stuff out of the system.

I put Superblue in my MZ4 Coupe ONCE when it was new, back in 2006. It wasn't until about 2008 time frame when the fluid coming out isn't tinged green.

And I flush twice a year (once a year now that it's being driven for about 3,500 miles per year).

Cloud9blue · 05-18-2016, 02:52 PM

I think the OE fluid has a greener tint to it, comparing to more yellowish Castrol, ATE, and Motul fluids. That's probably why.

r4dr · 05-19-2016, 07:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The HACK

It's entirely possible the PRIOR owner put Superblue in the car. Once you put Superblue in the car, it takes about 5-6 full flushes to get that "green" (cause, you know, blue mixed with amber/yellow is green) stuff out of the system.

I put Superblue in my MZ4 Coupe ONCE when it was new, back in 2006. It wasn't until about 2008 time frame when the fluid coming out isn't tinged green.

And I flush twice a year (once a year now that it's being driven for about 3,500 miles per year).

Ugh, I had no idea the blue dye stuck around for so long. As nice as it was to have different colors, I can't say I miss Super Blue.

Kong Sheng Han · 05-27-2016, 12:16 PM

Honestly, screw it. I'll just flush the brakes again myself. Knowing how shitty my local stealership is, I think it's safe to assume that they never flushed brakes. It's not a difficult task either.

Car was one owner (I'm second owner), female who I assume had everything done by dealership under maintenance plan.

04-13-2016, 10:48 AM	#1
Kong Sheng Han Banned 303 Rep 1,140 Posts Drives: Something something racecar Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Austin, Texas iTrader: (2) Garage List 2011 BMW 328i [0.00] 2001 BMW M3 [0.00]	First time tracking my 328i. Questions/advice I'm not new to tracking and usually take my M3, but I've deemed it unfit for DEs due to engine belts/pulleys going bad. So I'll be taking the 328 to an event in five hours today. The 328i is all stock, minus clutch stop. Manuel, sports package, factory spec alignment performed yesterday. Tires are stock sized Bridgestone RE760s; have used RE760s on the M3 on track and have no complaints. It has 48,3XX miles, and maintenance was always performed at a BMW stealership until maintenance plan expired last December. A brake flush was recently performed. When performing a tech inspection yesterday, fluid levels were fine, but I noticed that brake and PS fluids were green. Is that normal? The fluids I use on the M3 are red, so I'm not sure. I'm hoping fade is minimal; track doesn't look to be hard on brakes. The front right shock is leaking. Car feels and drives fine, and I'm hoping the shock doesn't blow on the bumpy track. Would anyone be able to try and explain how the car behaves without traction control? On the M3, it's easy to control the car during oversteer, but I've read the diff on 328 is uninspiring with that regard? Can I flog the 328 without having to worry about the motor blowing up or something? TIA
	Appreciate 0 Tweet Quote

04-16-2016, 03:03 PM	#2
Taskmaster Banned 2465 Rep 9,004 Posts Drives: M235i 6MT / E92 328 Msport 6MT Join Date: Nov 2013 Location: Florida iTrader: (6)	You should be fine.
	Appreciate 1 Quote

04-16-2016, 06:47 PM	#3
Needbmwpartzz Colonel 851 Rep 2,793 Posts Drives: 2009 bmw 328i x-drive Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Kitchener/Waterloo iTrader: (0)	Flog away.....328 will mostly under steer with traction control off but is very predictable when you get used to it.....that is when tires are nicely warmed....so my best advice is to wait till warm if you really want to push it.
	Appreciate 0 Quote

04-17-2016, 10:11 AM	#5
Kong Sheng Han Banned 303 Rep 1,140 Posts Drives: Something something racecar Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Austin, Texas iTrader: (2) Garage List 2011 BMW 328i [0.00] 2001 BMW M3 [0.00]	Event was fine. Experienced lots of understeer. Started chunking my two day old tires lol. Shifted at 5-6000 RPM and still felt like I was abusing the car lol. Passed cars that had more power than me. Did experience some brake fade due to boiling fluid. Best part is that I finally got to practice car control/skid recovery on a track.
	Appreciate 0 Quote

04-17-2016, 01:12 PM	#6
NocturnalEVO Stock 171 Rep 1,275 Posts Drives: 2009 E92 335i Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Long Island, NY iTrader: (8)	Thanks for sharing! Very interesting to watch! __________________ '09 E92 335i (6MT) Jet Black/Coral Red '11 E90 328i XDrive (6AT) Jet Black/Saddle Brown (wife's car) '06 Evolution IX MR (sold) '06 R6 Anniversary Edition (sold)
	Appreciate 0 Quote

05-18-2016, 02:52 PM	#16
Cloud9blue Brigadier General 711 Rep 3,251 Posts Drives: around the potholes Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: NY/NJ/MA iTrader: (13)	I think the OE fluid has a greener tint to it, comparing to more yellowish Castrol, ATE, and Motul fluids. That's probably why. __________________ 09 BMW E92 335i: Top Mount EFR 7670 / Dinan / AP Racing / Wavetrac / TC Kline [Full Mod List] 07 BMW R1200S: Shine Yellow / Akrapovic / Ohlins 19 Volvo V90 T6: R-Design / Bowers & Wilkins / Polestar Optimization
	Appreciate 0 Quote

05-27-2016, 12:16 PM	#18
Kong Sheng Han Banned 303 Rep 1,140 Posts Drives: Something something racecar Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Austin, Texas iTrader: (2) Garage List 2011 BMW 328i [0.00] 2001 BMW M3 [0.00]	Honestly, screw it. I'll just flush the brakes again myself. Knowing how shitty my local stealership is, I think it's safe to assume that they never flushed brakes. It's not a difficult task either. Car was one owner (I'm second owner), female who I assume had everything done by dealership under maintenance plan.
	Appreciate 0 Quote