Talk me out of this

I'm thinking bmw 5 series (e28) for a challenge car. I don't think it would be competitive - but seems like a fun car with a 5spd and m30 engine. Where's the error in my thinking? How is this likely to go horribly wrong?

oldtin wrote: I'm thinking bmw 5 series (e28) for a challenge car. I don't think it would be competitive - but seems like a fun car with a 5spd and m30 engine. Where's the error in my thinking? How is this likely to go horribly wrong?

Is'nt going horribly wrong part of the challenge procces?

As long as you have fun you're not going wrong.

I brought a horribly put together car in 2009, finished toward the end of the pack, sold the broken car out of the parking lot at the end of the weekend, and loved every minute of it.

Don't discount the E28 from overall winner... they can be made to boogie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzZlakDcCKI

You're in the wrong place to have someone talk you out of anything! There's no such thing as can't do around here!

For example, "I just got a great deal on an old Cessna wing" which leads to the inevitable... "great, strap it on a Miata or put a V8 in it and take it to the challenge!"

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: Don't discount the E28 from overall winner... they can be made to boogie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzZlakDcCKI

Yeah, but that's an M5 with cubic dollars invested... I've seen that car in person and it is really nice and really fast (in fact, I have the original brakes off that car sitting in my garage right now, they're going on my M535i this spring.) This is not to say regular 535i can't be a lot of fun. They're not particularly fast by today's standards, but lots of guys have installed homebrew turbo kits that will wake them up. They handle pretty well with some reasonable mods, and they're built like tanks - several LeMons teams have used them with success.

Edit: you can take a lot of weight out of the car by stripping out the interior, power accessories, the big US bumpers, etc. The best place for e28 knowledge is www.my28.com .

I've been lurking around mye28.com lately - Looks like there could be decent runners that are challenge priced. Last year I took on too much of a project and ended up as a spectator (still worth the entry fee). This time the plan is to at least have a car.

love the e28

dissuading you would be like dissuading a crack addict from buying another rock...

I endorse this idea. My E28 with a 5 speed and standard M30 2.8 is a blast to drive. Bit heavy, but still plenty of fun.

...does the M30 take well to turbocharging?

Also, someone ran an e28 in the most recent UTCC, and didn't finish too badly, (mid pack, from memory.)