[tenman]

All,

Since I've sold my E90 M3 and narrowed down to one car, I've been having the itch to do something fun with the daily for shits and giggles, 2014 328d Msport RWD. Looking for autocross advise. I plan to go out bare stock other than the Michelin Pilot Sport AS3+ I've replaced the runflats with. Maintenance is fully up to date (70k miles) and I think the factory M sport brakes will be sufficient for now.

Thanks!
Andy

[Desertnate]

I've never driven a recent BMW 4-cyclinder diesel. What is the power band like RPM-wise?

I only ask because my previous diesel experience in older BMW's, VW's, Vauxhals/Opels, etc all had really short gearing and low RPM red-lines.

The SCCA Region I drive with has access to a massive parking lot and we have pretty long courses which occasionally get pretty fast by autocross standards. Most people still run the whole thing in second gear, but some of the cars with shorter gearing have been known to bounce off the rev limiter in places. In a low geared diesel you could find yourself either on the limiter a lot or having do more shifting which could cost you time.

Tire-wise you should be OK, but you'll be at a disadvantage to folks driving stickier summer or the 200 DOT tires which seem to be really popular in my region. I just run PS4S and I'm probably giving up 1~2 seconds to an equivalent driver on the 200 DOT tires.

I used to believe the car had a lot to do with success in Autocross and if you weren't in a Miata or a BRZ/FRS/86, you'd be at a disadvantage. Then I started looking a the top raw times at our event and saw the cars there were a MK7 GTI, an 86, C5 Z06, a hugely modified Mustang GT from two generations ago, and an E90 M3. Nothing in common there other than amazing drivers.

[tenman]

Originally Posted by Desertnate

I've never driven a recent BMW 4-cyclinder diesel. What is the power band like RPM-wise?

I only ask because my previous diesel experience in older BMW's, VW's, Vauxhals/Opels, etc all had really short gearing and low RPM red-lines.

The SCCA Region I drive with has access to a massive parking lot and we have pretty long courses which occasionally get pretty fast by autocross standards. Most people still run the whole thing in second gear, but some of the cars with shorter gearing have been known to bounce off the rev limiter in places. In a low geared diesel you could find yourself either on the limiter a lot or having do more shifting which could cost you time.

Tire-wise you should be OK, but you'll be at a disadvantage to folks driving stickier summer or the 200 DOT tires which seem to be really popular in my region. I just run PS4S and I'm probably giving up 1~2 seconds to an equivalent driver on the 200 DOT tires.

I used to believe the car had a lot to do with success in Autocross and if you weren't in a Miata or a BRZ/FRS/86, you'd be at a disadvantage. Then I started looking a the top raw times at our event and saw the cars there were a MK7 GTI, an 86, C5 Z06, a hugely modified Mustang GT from two generations ago, and an E90 M3. Nothing in common there other than amazing drivers.

This is the info I found online: 255 foot-pounds of torque from 1250 to 4200 rpm. It's got pep but most on the low end. I've seen some others on here tracking the X drive diesel wagons, so figured I'd have no issues. I got the first event this weekend here in Charlotte.