so i have nothing on my car, no helmets, no drving school, nada. What do I need to do, and how much should i expcet to spend?

Slap on some new brake pads, change all the fluids (especially brake fluid, use some high perf stuff), rent a helmet from OMG, sign up for a BMW CCA driving school and have the time of your life!!

All the other stuff is completely unecessary until you become either a) really adicted or b) really fast. A. will probably come first. :)

First get a helmut, 95 or newer rating on inside sticker of helmut. Then check your brakes out, how much of your pads are left, what shape are the rotors in? If the pads and rotors are ok then change the brake fluid, ATE SuperBlue or Motul are good ones. Check your shocks and springs and sway bars to make sure they are in order. Check your oil level and coolant level! Make sure there is nothing rolling around inside your car,everything should be secure, includeing your battery!:D Now you should check your tire pressure, run about 3 or 4lbs higher than you normally do. OK now your ready to go to a BMW driver school. Take it slow and try to learn the tendancies of your car out on the track, listen to your instructor and you'll learn the correct lines and braking techniques, be smooth and have fun.:eek:

Okay, first things first, are you a member of the BMWCCA (http://www.bmwcca.org)? If so, you can check your chapter website for the track events near Sac-o-tamato, like Sears Point and Thunderhill Raceway. If not, cough up the $35 and join. Did I mention many dealers and/or mechanics give CCA members a discount? Plus, you get the Roundel which is a top notch magazine.
The BMWCCA has the best $$$ to fun ratio of any track driving you can do. Yes, you can find cheaper. NASA and some others will send you out on the track for less, but it may not be safer. That is a key issue. FWIW, many BMWCCA instructors teach at other non-CCA track schools. Personally, I'm a bit leery of taking my M3 on the track with cars that are worth maybe 1/3 of my own. It isn't snobbish-ness, it's that the people I'm driving with on the track have as much invested in their cars, careers and lives to not do something totally stupid.
For a rookie driver, the BMWCCA is a great place to get their feet wet and have a lot of fun while still maintaining a safe atmosphere. I can't stress than enough, driving 120 mph on the back straight of Buttonwillow, or whatever (I'm too chicken to look down) into turn 2 at Laguna is an incredible rush. Doing it in the middle of a pack is awesome, but with that adrenaline rush is a huge responsibility to your fellow drivers (and vice-versa) to not do something stupid and/or dangerous. There is little margin at those speeds.
Driving Concepts (http://www.drivingconcepts.com) is another organization I would highly recommend for a newbie track driver. Carl McGinnis is the principal of that company. He is also the chief driving instructor of the LA chapter of the BMWCCA.
$$$$? Ah well, it is VERY expensive. Depending on your mechanical skills, the car setup can be found by checking the requirements of the organization. Most have the tech inspection form on-line and that will give you a lot of info. Tires and the brake system need to be in good shape. Most BMWCCA chapters will rent you a helmet for maybe $10. My last weekend at B/w? About a grand. Rotors, PF-90 pads, an x-brace, rotate the tires, hotel, gas and spending money brought it up to that much. Did I need to do all that? Nope. I could have stayed with stock pads and I needed rotors and wanted to install an x-brace anyway. Fun isn't cheap.
Sign up, prep your car and come learn to drive. Keep it stock. I ask myself, "could Ralf Schumacher drive this car in this condition faster than I?" Of course the answer is a resounding YES! So, the way I look at is that I'm not driving it to its potential. Therefore, why spend big $$$ when the problem is me, not the car?
"invest in the driver, not the car"
Mike
'95 M3
drive hard

Great post, Mike. I couldn't have said it better myself. Make the driver faster before making the car faster.

Great posts guys! You beat me to everything I was gonna say. The Golden Gate Chapter has a great bunch of instructors and you will learn alot from them at their Car control Clinics an High Perf Driving School. Like Mike said, "invest in the driver, not the car." You learn the limits of your car in a safe environment. Don't be afraid to makes mistakes as this is the place to make them, not on the highway. Much of what you learn there can be used on the street and will make you a better driver. Remember, cones don't hurt, but guardrails do!

Forgot this. Check for leaks before tracking your car and if any are found, fix them before a track event. You really don't want any system on your car to go when you're running at WOT, or just any speed. And you really don't want to dump your fluids on the track and cause yourself and others to lose control of their vehicles.

Wow! thanks for all the info guys. I just need to wait till summer break- and then hopefully i have enough saved to have some fun out on the track. I hope to see some of you out on the track in a few months! :cool:

..you can always come out and autox. Since you're in Sacramento, there are usually at least 3 autoxes each month over at Mather Regional Park in Rancho Cordova. Car prep is minor - just make sure nothing is leaking, all fluids are filled up between the lines, battery is securely fastened, and your wheels are secure. Add a few extra pounds of air to your tires. Loaner helmets are usually available.

Jim

I live in Orlando FL. I really want to take my 95 M3 to a track, but there aren't that many around here! Man, I wish I lived in Cali!!! Anyway, can someone help me out in finding some tracks. Thanks

Originally posted by ///M3 4-LIFE
I live in Orlando FL. I really want to take my 95 M3 to a track, but there aren't that many around here! Man, I wish I lived in Cali!!! Anyway, can someone help me out in finding some tracks. Thanks

Have you checked either the Florida chapters of the BMW CCA or SCCA? With 4 BMW CCA chapters in Florida, and 2 SCCA regions, I can't imagine that there aren't any driving events. Start at http://www.scca.org and http://www.bmwcca.org to find out what's going on in your area.

Jim