Our 335 Coupe....

[Steve Ekstrand]

Is on this boat.....

[Kurt Rahn]

Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeet.

[Aaron Goldsmith]

now steve and I have something in common besides a club. Picked up my 330 from Tom yesterday.

[Giovanni Jaramillo]

Ah yes...........more members to the cult! Welcome to BMWCCA. Schenker? Where's your order? We'll take in your dilapidated Miata as trade-in.

[Steve Ekstrand]

Good choice Aaron, congrats!

[David Barrish]

The local BMW club can be found at: http://www.bmwclubla.org" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The next event is the 19th of October at the Autoclub Speedway. Steve, these are a events that bring together drivers of all skill levels.

You are going to run circles around 6-cly. stock.

David Barrish

[John Coffey]

I can hear the murmurs in the dockside crowd now, "Si, Si, Commandante' Ekstrand's BMW es on dis boat right here."

[Steve Ekstrand]

Si si, Ekstrand's BMW es right here blocking commodante's M6 convertible....

"Roll the pig off into the canal, I want my M6 now!!!"

[Jeff Ringer]

congrats....what colour combo?

stick or auto ?

[Thomas Smith]

Here is Steve's car carrier reacting to todays stock market....

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[Steve Ekstrand]

Yeah, it looks like we'll be taking a car loan out. I don't really want to sell any stocks today to pay for it...
And when we got it $300 over true invoice I thought that was a killer deal on an '09 335 Coupe. Not so much anymore, we probably couldn't beat the deal on a 335, but we could certainly come close to matching it. So no real deal. Kinda depressing.

Its an Alpine white with red/black interior. ZPP/ZSP Coupe (premium and Sport package car). 6sp auto with paddles. Style 189 18" rims with the dreaded run flats. Basically every option except idrive/navigation which Stacey hated. She has a top of the line Magellan GPS she likes instead. But that means no Google Search. I well we have our crackberrys.

Its not an autocross car or we would have bought a stripper ZSP manual 135i. Its Stacey's commuter car to replace our terror of the 101 former STU SRT-4. We had a need to actually use the back seats which are pretty good in the 335 coupe. Not so good in the 135 coupe. That is the main reason we didn't go 135. That and Stacey likes the 3 series coupe styling much better.

The run flats are so bad..... I'm thinking about immediately slapping on a set of tires. Dunlop Direzza Z1 Star Specs or Kumho XS (quite a bit cheaper than the Bridgestone re01r) are most likely candidates based on bang for the buck. I haven't gotten clear answers on whether 245-35-18 front and 275-35-18 rear will fit okay on a stock 335 coupe with the 189 style 18's. Looks like some are okay with it, and some report unacceptable rubbing.

[Robert Puertas]

My new F-Stock car is faster than your new F-Stock car!

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[Steve Ekstrand]

I don't know... If we swapped rides, I could probably make your new Vauxhall Monaro VXR slower. Especially, right now in extra gimpy mode.

I really like your new steal. Put a chain puller across the top hats and give it another 2 degrees of front negative camber. And then go heat gun and enforcer on the critical tire contact areas.

[Robert Puertas]

Oh, it can get 3 degrees negative up front without bending anything.
And squeeze 275's up there as well...

It may not do it on a national level, but locally it should be fun. At least fun enough for when the Noble can't come out to play.


Or, I could buy some Dunlops and have the most powerful (and heaviest) STU car in the country...

[Steve Ekstrand]

I'm surprised that the GTO can't touch the Shelby GT's. Whats the deal you think?

With the 335 its the lack of a diff and its camber challenged too and can't fit much front rubber. Forgetting hp numbers and just going off 1/4 mile times there are some impressive claims out there for the 335, so I don't think its too down in power.

[Robert Puertas]

I think only one guy has really tried.

Both Sam Strano and Pat Salerno think the GTO could get it done in FS. Apparently it's a good transition car, and obviously it has more than enough power with 400/400, but the lack of front tire vs. the Shelby might be it's achilles heel on a sweeper intensive course.

It's certainly a much nicer car than the current Mustang, and at $20k for a '06 with 11k miles, it seemed like a decent deal too. Regardless, it's a fun and comfortable daily driver with plenty of back seat room for the boys.

[Steve Ekstrand]

I drove one once in relative fury and really liked the car. I just watched the Top Gear test of the Vauxhall version and the car sure seemed to give them smiles.

[Bob Beamesderfer]

I drove one once in relative fury and really liked the car. I just watched the Top Gear test of the Vauxhall version and the car sure seemed to give them smiles.

They liked it a lot. Drifters showed the potential in that arena.

[Bob Beamesderfer]

It's certainly a much nicer car than the current Mustang, and at $20k for a '06 with 11k miles, it seemed like a decent deal too. Regardless, it's a fun and comfortable daily driver with plenty of back seat room for the boys.

Chrysler interiors are cheap, but Ford interiors are cheap and have the worst switch gear in 3 decades.

[David Barrish]

Steve,

The only place you will have any fun with your new toy is at the BMW auto-x's. They all run with the same set of challenges and in the stock class you can not run "R" tires. Think of it as the purfect place to melt the right rear and the out-side edge of both front tires in one event.

Run flats have a place in life, just not on Bimmers.

[Kurt Rahn]

Forgetting hp numbers and just going off 1/4 mile times there are some impressive claims out there for the 335, so I don't think its too down in power.

I drove at one of those BMW promo events where they had an autocross course set up, and the instructor said that even though they're rated at 300/300, they put out more like 315 to 320. The one I drove was *considerably* faster than my car, which ain't a slouch at 298/260.

[Steve Ekstrand]

I can't believe the variance in 1/4 mile times I've seen for bone stock paddle shifted 335's. From like 12.85 to 13.95. I can't believe thats all launch technique. I wonder if with the turbo if its very sensitive to fuel quality or temp or air density. The SRT-4 had active turbo management and set a performance target. So, temp and alt changes or fuel quality would mean very little. The car had the capacity for much more and detuned to always match the target. The Bimmer might set a safe A/F target and then just go for it.

Almost made me want to order 5 cars and dyno them all....
}:)

[Bob Beamesderfer]

I can't believe the variance in 1/4 mile times I've seen for bone stock paddle shifted 335's. From like 12.85 to 13.95. I can't believe thats all launch technique. I wonder if with the turbo if its very sensitive to fuel quality or temp or air density. The SRT-4 had active turbo management and set a performance target. So, temp and alt changes or fuel quality would mean very little. The car had the capacity for much more and detuned to always match the target. The Bimmer might set a safe A/F target and then just go for it.

Almost made me want to order 5 cars and dyno them all....
}:)

You didn't get the BMW version of DSG, right? That's an M-only option?

[Mako Koiwai]

What's the Intercooler set-up on that car? Turbo Subies are very temperature sensitive. Can feel fabulous at night and flat during the day. There are lots of different after market and diy intercooler sprayer set-ups ... just don't drip on the track ...

[Steve Ekstrand]

Standard 6sp auto with paddles. Nothing fancy. Later in 2009 you will be able to get the M3 7 speed double clutch tranny, but its an expensive option. Like $1800 more than the auto I think although final pricing isn't set.

Its Stacey's commuter car in rush hour 101/134 traffic. She has osteoarthritis related deterioration in her knees so driving a manual in traffic has been hard on her.