Ever since I got my license, and even before, I love driving. Im almost 18 now and I've realized that driving fast on the street is stupid and it really limits you (laws, pedestrians, curbs, etc) so I am really interested in attending some Auto-X events, and maybe later on some track days.

I'm located in Stamford, CT (southeast ct-"suburb" of ny) so I want to join a club that holds its events not too far away. The closest one I know of is NY BMWCCA Chapter, which holds AutoX days at the Nassau Collesium (1 hour away). Are there any other groups that hold events within the same distance?

This brings me to another question, does AutoX really take a toll on your car? I have a 2000 E46 328i with 115k miles on it. It runs fine, but what parts should I worry about breaking? Will driving an hour, then running my car in the events really f*** things up?

I'll also post this in the regional forums, just putting it up here cuz this forum gets alot more traffic. thanks :redspot

I think the main wear item in fast autoxing is tires. Not nearly as hard on the car as road course events.

I ran my first 2 years in a (nearly) stock Eta, 45 minutes each way, with almost no problems (the only issue was an early-E30 specific problem). Just keep an eye on your brakes & tires and you'll be just fine. Also make sure all your fluids are topped off and current.

The car will be fine. Driving on worn tires/parts may/will cause issues though. BMW will last 200k or more if the maintenance is kept up with. Oil change, fluid changes, etc. Bushings/dampers last 80k. Throwing the car around at an autox with bad shocks or worn control arms could tear something up. But if it is tight and running well it is not an issue at all. What kind of maintenance history does your car have? At 115k you should be on your second set of shocks and front control arms. This is about the time to start looking into replacing the rear trailing arm bushings. (called RTABs here) Make sure the brake fluid has been flushed in the last two years. Make sure your brake pads are above the minimums. The thinner your pads are the longer pedal travel you have to make them stop you quickly. Make sure the tires are evenly worn and properly inflated.

HTH

Please ask more direct questions if you need.

The car will be fine. Driving on worn tires/parts may/will cause issues though. BMW will last 200k or more if the maintenance is kept up with. Oil change, fluid changes, etc. Bushings/dampers last 80k. Throwing the car around at an autox with bad shocks or worn control arms could tear something up. But if it is tight and running well it is not an issue at all. What kind of maintenance history does your car have? At 115k you should be on your second set of shocks and front control arms. This is about the time to start looking into replacing the rear trailing arm bushings. (called RTABs here) Make sure the brake fluid has been flushed in the last two years. Make sure your brake pads are above the minimums. The thinner your pads are the longer pedal travel you have to make them stop you quickly. Make sure the tires are evenly worn and properly inflated.

HTH

Please ask more direct questions if you need.

I just got the UUC Stage 3 Susp. Kit (shocks+struts) along with the swaybars. I don't believe the control arms have been replaced, and steering does feel very light to tell you the truth. Should I replace the whole control arm itself or just the bushings? I was looking into the polyurethane RTABs and CA bushings from bimmerworld, so I might save up for those.

I heard pads and brake fluid should be switched every track day. Does this apply to AutoX too? I really don't think I can do this myself, especially since the E46 is so complicated to get up onto jackstands. Thanks for the info :thumbup:

Autox really isn't that hard on brakes, you shouldn't have to worry about pads or fluid as long as they are good enough to run on the street. You'll hit the brakes hard maybe twice or 3 times per run (from less than 60mph) and then have at least 10 minutes between runs for everything to cool down. Tires will be your main consumable at autox.

I regularly drive an hour and 40 minutes to events, run 6 or 8 runs and drive home. It won't ruin your car. Make sure you have enough oil, power steering fluid, etc. and you'll be fine.

The biggest temptation you'll have after your first event is to buy a whole much more seed parts for the car to make you faster. In reality, the driver (you) will be the slowest part of your car. Be patient, don't buy mods and spend as much time and money as you can getting seat time learning how to drive the car. When you go to events, have instructors ride with you. Have them drive YOUR car to show you how fast it can go. (You'll be amazed!) Get as much help as you can. Autocrossers are generally a friendly bunch, don't be afraid to ask for help. I'm in my 4th season and I still learn something every time I have an instructor in the car with me.

Here is a link to a site that lists most if not all the clubs running autox events in the northeast:
http://www.autox4u.com

You have a lot of options living in Connecticut.

Edit: I see that you are not 18 yet. Check with the club before you go to your first event. You may need your parents to sign waivers for you before you can drive in an event.

Have fun!

Scott

Hopz

Do you have an 328 or a 528? Your info in the upper right corner says 528.
The 528 is a little different animal in the front suspension dept. It has a multi link setup that is way different than an E36 or E46. If it is a 528 and you do not have any shimmy in the front end when you brake then the control arm bushings are probably fine. There are two control arms, an upper and a lower and they have a ball joint on one end and a bushing on the other. When those bushings go bad(usually way before the ball joint) you get a shimmy on braking. If it is an E46 then you do have a single control arm with 2 ball joints and a control arm bushing. If you are over 100k on original control arms and are really looking to get into autox I would pre-emptively put control arms on and put the urethane bushings on when you did. Be aware that most regular shops will not install customer supplied parts so you may have to call around to find one that will. The RTABs can wait a while longer as they will last longer from new. But again if you are serious about autox then they should be on the list of things to be done, say within a year. Running hard on bad RTABs can lead to the trailing arm pulling it's mounting bolts out of the unibody. This is a worst case scenario but it can, and has, happened.

With either car though the first thing you will notice if you start autoxing is that they push like pigs. The factory sets them up to understeer to protect us Americans from ourselves. To counter this you can throw a whole bunch of expensive parts at it and make it feel like a buckboard when you are not autoxing or you can change some simple alignment settings to help balance the car a bit better and make it turn in some. After an autox or two you will know what I am talking about and then you can start changing some things.

Go out and have fun. Do a couple of events. Talk to some people there.

Just a heads up, I've been getting E46's of all varieties ripping out the rear floorboard sub frame mounts. Way more likely in M's but is getting to become a problem for high mileage street 3's.

ComBIRDable: Thanks for the info man. Yea, I am turning 18 in Feb so thats not too far away.

Specter325: I have the E46 328i, I have to update that. How can I tell if I need new RTABs?

philsans5: that may actually be the only thing holding me back :( E46's are notorious for their subframe problems, and its most common in earlier models (which I have :mad) Would AutoX put that much stress on the subframe? If it werent for the 1000 labor charges I would opt for the reinforcement kit

Well it is kind of hard to diagnose sitting on the ground. You get severe toe changes during cornering. This makes the back end seem to be loose and you get some odd tire wear. Straightline you might see some throttle steering. Nail it and the car wants to go one way, drop the throttle and it goes the other. If the car is up on stands, a prybar will be able to wiggle the bushing carrier easily. In all of these without a good example to compare to it is hard to tell if what you are seeing is bad or not. If you really suspect something then replace it and worries are over.

Subframe bushings are a PITA to replace but with the tool you can do it without removing it from the car. Good healthy subframe bushings are the key to keeping the subframe from ripping the mounting points. No real indications until it is too late. When you hear the clunking noise it is already ripped. Again best bet is healthy bushings. For autox I would replace bushings and go. For the track it is reinforcements for sure.

I learned to autox in a total POS car with higher miles than your BMW. You will have a blast with the car and you don't need anything super special the factory hasn't allready givin you. Just take it the way it is and make improvements later as parts need to be replaced. Make sure you plan to buy an extra set of tires...or two... every year. You'll be hard on the tires in your first season or so until you really learn to feel the grip and work with them.

As far as the car...just make sure it's not making any funny noises, isn't leaking anything, and all the fluids are fresh. Do the Diff and Tranny fluids once a season, bleed the brakes twice a season while you are checking the rotors and pads. Make sure the coolant is the proper color and reasonably fresh. The E46 has alot of plastic cooling parts. Make sure none of them have a milky white chalky residue on them. If they do, make sure they aren't leaking, if they are leaking replace them. The car will be going fast and as the inevitable creaks, groans, thumps, vibrations, shimmys, clunks, etc develop make sure you inspect the car so that you know they aren't a major issue that will leave you stranded. The OE front Control arms on the E46 kind of suck so keep them relatively fresh.

RTABS and Control Arm bushings are a nice upgrade on the car and will improve the feel of the steering and handling. With 115k they certainly aren't going to be fresh as a daisy and they are relatively inexpensive. After you do enough events to tear up a few sets of your street tires and brake pads your first big time autox purchase will be a second set of light wheels and sticky tires. Then things get really fun.

Good Luck, get a good job you'll need the spare cash!

For a car club closer to you look up the Westchester Sports Car Club.wscc.org (http://www.wscc.org/)

BMWs can take a lot of abuse. Autox will wear your tires more than normal. I've done 8 autox's, 2 track events, nothing out of the ordinary broke due to autox/track. I started getting into all of that stuff at around 100k miles too. I also have to drive an hour to get to any nearby event. Your car will hold up fine, considering maintenance is up to date ie cooling system, brakes/rotors, bushings etc...