On my way back to work today from lunch, I decided to take the highway cause there is a nice highway changeover which really brightens my day. For those of you here... Fl Turnpike to I595 West. :buttrock

Well, as I'm accelerating briskly up the onramp to get up to speed, a 7series E38 goes flying by. Instantly, my foot goes to the floor. I know he's cooking, so we can travel together for a little while.

Well, I shoot up behind him and I pull to his side... give him the thumbs up and continue to drive. He's given me the nod, so I know we're just cruisin' ...

After driving for a little bit, I'm coming up to my exit... the changeover. I give him a honk and wave and start to accelerate past him and just in case he's going to the same off-ramp, I don't want his heavy car ruining my fun (this is something I look forward to).

As I move past, I see him duck in behind me. Odd... guess he's decided to follow me now... I break off and line up my approach. I look up and my 7series is right behind me. I'm like whoa... this guy is going to fly off the off-ramp. I drop two gears and turn into the corner. I look behind me... the 7series is following me. He's attacking the corners too. :redspot:

This isn't your typical 7series laid back owner, he's blasting through the off-ramp with me. Coming out of the corner, I give it a little gas and pull some on him, probably put about a car or so between us. I'm lining up the next corner and I see, Mr. 7 right behind me. He's powering thru the corners like a guy who knows what's up.

As we blast out of the last corner, my DSC comes on and halts my progress some, but not enough to interferer with him behind me. He pulls next to me now that we are I595 and gives me a wave and thumbs up. I clap and applaud him...

Talk about an interesting lunch...

Wow Kev, think it was stock or had some things done? Sounds like the driver knew what was up and how to drive, makes me think he knows other things too..

7's are fun cruisers!!

cool story, kev... bank vault on wheels with balls....

Must've been Gary's wife, she's feisty behind the wheel, I've been told...

:devillook

Damnit, why is it that I never find people like that around me, and I live in an area where TONS of people have new s500's, s55's, new 7er's, Evos, and other nice quick cars, yet none of them ever do anything like that. The only people that ever do anything are the ricers, with stock civics and altezza's. Nice story.

Alex

I love the older 7 series. My Dad's is a 1995 and it handles quite well for a large car, not at all like you would expect.

Hmm

Never seen that before :az:

Nice Run :buttrock

That active suspension WORKS!

My friends and I drove from Westchester NY to Montreal in 4 hours and 50 minutes. A drive that usually takes 6hours doing 80...

We averaged speeds of 130mph... Which felt like 65!!!

Man that car even hugs the corners!!!

I wonder if it was modified, or if he just knows the limits of his car.

My dad has a 98 740iL and it handles like a floating oil derrick in comparison to an M3.

The 7er has the same engine as the 540....sweet motor
how you think an e39 540i 6-speed would do with an e46 M3 on the highway??

A friend of mine in Dallas has a 740 that drives it like that from time to time... he is German, go figure, must be all that Autobahn experience he has :D :devillook

I've always loved the E38, since the day I laid eyes on it. It must be great when some guy in a IS300 or something along those lines can't shake a 7 in the twisties or the highway.:cool:

That guy in the 7 is a very good driver to keep up with the M3:clap:

i was in my friends dad's 2001 740i, and we went around a turn at 140+ ( too freaked out to watch, and Im really the crazy driver among my friends )

that i dont think id do in my m3, what is it to that active suspension, is it that much better in very high speeds? vs it in low speeds i mean.

one question... have u tried racing a 7? cause one of the newer 7's put like 10 buslengths on me in a straight away... that tank pulled so freakin hard, my mouth dropped.. granted i have a 325i auto... and it also took the turning ramp pretty good... i think i coulda squeezed pass him from the inside but the tank was taking up two lanes... i love riding along with fellow bimmer owners...

Man I just love to read these stories. Yes, I am one of those guys with an E38 that will be right there with you on the highway...or any road for that matter. I think that many people don't give this car the credit that it is due snf sre shocked when it pulls away from them as they give it all they got. I have so much fun in this car it is sick.

I know it is no M5 and it is not designed to be but I get performance and luxury out of it.

If you are not an M....watch out! :)

Originally posted by Greg
That active suspension WORKS!

My friends and I drove from Westchester NY to Montreal in 4 hours and 50 minutes. A drive that usually takes 6hours doing 80...

We averaged speeds of 130mph... Which felt like 65!!!

Man that car even hugs the corners!!!

How in the hell did you average that high????

I have done that drive several times and I was apexing corners and basically taking both lanes on the northway in an s8 at like 115 and was starting to scare myself. 130 on those roads is just plain nvts.

Originally posted by Hugo
Must've been Gary's wife, she's feisty behind the wheel, I've been told...

:devillook

You're right about that! She pulls stuff off that I wouldn't even try in the Z3...

a wife with a sack, so to speak, gotta love it... :D

Originally posted by SilverStreak
a wife with a sack, so to speak, gotta love it... :D

The word «tranny» comes to mind... not car related... :help

:eek:

Looks like the e38 driver was either nuts or has some serious skill to navigate the land yacht through the corners like that.
Nice race.


Hugo - with that tranny in mind, what would that make Gary?:D

Sport package car?

If so, I'm not at all surprised.

I bet it's totally stock and he just knows how to drive. Remember that BMW Film Ambush? They did all that stuff (high speed 180s, etc) on a stock 740.

Yeah, the guy did rather well... by no means was I actually driving 10/10ths or trying to push the limits in anyway, I was just looking to have a little fun. I could've gone a hell of alot faster through those corners, but there was no real need to.

However, the pace that I did take was more than enough to put your average sedan off the side of the road or spinning like an uncontrollable top.

The 7er didn't flinch... well, it didn't appear to, and the driver didn't look to be any worse for wear. I didn't see him sweating bullets or looking for a change of underwear when we were done.

It still says allot for these heavy cars of ours. Guy probably appreciated you not blowing him away on the corners.

Must have been one of the "Sunshine 7's" - these guys are in your neck of the woods. Many of them have a few nice mods - suspension improvements (HR/Bilsteins), CAI/free flow exhausts, re-geared diffs, chips, etc. With an improved suspension, you would be surprised what our luxo-barges can do :D

good story kev. He probly just wanted some fun like you

the 745's arent no slouch either. i barely pulled on one of those monsters a few months ago.

i heard that theres gonna be a 760iL, the short wheelbase model...any info on this?

You have got to come run with us 7's early some Saturday AM. We may be big dogs but we ain't slow

If you see me on the highway, wave a hi and I will be more then game for some highway play...


BMW!:buttrock :buttrock

Originally posted by xustfosorcim
i heard that theres gonna be a 760iL, the short wheelbase model...any info on this?

I saw the 760i at the Chicago Auto Show... I heard they're only doing it for the American market. :dunno

Kevlar - doesn't surprise me at all. My father has a 740 sport and I have had the priv. of racing 2 times with it. The first was me against a e36 M3 (96-99) with a driver and 2 passengers in it. Basically we did some faster than normal side street driving (nothing dangerous as I knew the highway entrance was coming up plus don't trust other peoples driving skills) which led us to a 270 deg. (sharp) ramp onto 280 in cali in which I pulled several lengths on the M3 cause they were too chicken. I slowed to let them catch up an then when we hit the end of the on ramp I shot into the middle lane (nobody around) and gave him the right lane. From about 60-130 I pulled about 2 lengths on him mainly in the 100+ range.

Second race was with a NSX. I was DOOR TO DOOR with him on 280 from 70ish to 120. When I shut it down he slowed, rolled his window down (we were going about 65-70 now) and gave me a thumbs up. He did have a 200+ pound passenger in there with him but I was still amazed.:boobies

We were talking about his car this morning and how he wants to send it up to Turner Motorsport when he ships it back east to do a susp. work and anything else that they offer to give it a little more. He also is going to be dropping in a manual tranny in it. He just needs to retire now:laugh COME ON DAD RETIRE ALREADY!!!:boobies (reads bimmerforums every now and then)

Originally posted by xustfosorcim
i heard that theres gonna be a 760iL, the short wheelbase model...any info on this?

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=174862

You have got to come run with us 7's early some Saturday AM. We may be big dogs but we ain't slow

When & Where?

way to rep the 7's!!!!!!!

How in the hell did you average that high????

I have done that drive several times and I was apexing corners and basically taking both lanes on the northway in an s8 at like 115 and was starting to scare myself. 130 on those roads is just plain nvts.


LOL

NY to Detroit is 600 miles, usually takes folks around 10hrs.

I once did it in 6.6 hours in a 1995 Ford Escort, now that is an average of around 90mph. There was a period for 2 hours straight non stop, I was going 100mph non stop with another speed demon. Now, that I have an E38, I don't even want to drive cuz I know...

I saw the 760i at the Chicago Auto Show... I heard they're only doing it for the American market. :dunno


I drove a 7.60 Li tonight. Ridiculous amount of gadgetry.


Very pimp ride, though.

My dads old 750iL was crazy in a straight line, especially from a roll, but I dont remember it being able to handle like that...very impressive.

After reading this thread, I took my E38 to the twisites this morning after work. :buttrock :buttrock Yes Sir! I haven't really pushed it, till I read about this, since I have driven big cars such as cadillac, lincoln and crown vic. I wasn't eager to lose control. Let's just say that this baby can hug the ground. Twisty curves, posted speed limit = 25mph, can you say 80mph around em?

After I got home, I kissed the steering wheel. Then got in the back seat and sat down for like 10 minutes while I absorbed the joy. If the 7 can handle like this, Gosh, I can't wait to get in a 3 or M3.

I took my lil mazda 323 to that same curves a while ago, while the 323 is no show in acceleration, it is well suited for the curves due to it's small size or so I thought, but after my experience with the 7. I am certain, I would out run the 323 in the 7 around the curves.

You have got to come run with us 7's early some Saturday AM. We may be big dogs but we ain't slow


When & Where?


Ditto / when where?

Damnit, why is it that I never find people like that around me, and I live in an area where TONS of people have new s500's, s55's, new 7er's, Evos, and other nice quick cars, yet none of them ever do anything like that. The only people that ever do anything are the ricers, with stock civics and altezza's. Nice story.

Alex
yeah i live in an area where almost every other car is riced out, yet none of them ever wanna do anything, they're all wussies. Awesome story man i never knew the 7 could hold the road like that, nor did i realize how fast it was. That must been a cool experience for you, i'd love to see a big bodied car play like a toy, but noone around me knows how to drive normally, so you can imagine how horrible people drive when they're playing around.

After reading this thread, I took my E38 to the twisites this morning after work. :buttrock :buttrock Yes Sir! I haven't really pushed it, till I read about this, since I have driven big cars such as cadillac, lincoln and crown vic. I wasn't eager to lose control. Let's just say that this baby can hug the ground. Twisty curves, posted speed limit = 25mph, can you say 80mph around em?

After I got home, I kissed the steering wheel. Then got in the back seat and sat down for like 10 minutes while I absorbed the joy. If the 7 can handle like this, Gosh, I can't wait to get in a 3 or M3.

I took my lil mazda 323 to that same curves a while ago, while the 323 is no show in acceleration, it is well suited for the curves due to it's small size or so I thought, but after my experience with the 7. I am certain, I would out run the 323 in the 7 around the curves.
Nice, I never would've thought they were that good in the curvies.


But talk about dragging a thread back from the dead. I was reading, and finally looked at the date, after about 10 posts. I was like wtf?? :stickoutt