# Noob Q to autox in Cali...



## Icecreamfoo (Jul 4, 2003)

Hi guys, my roomates and friends got me interested in autox recently, and i'd like to attend the next autox or driving school event. However, my 330i is a TIP (yes yes i know, i'm lazy in the LA traffic and cant drive manual well). I'm wondering are any of you autox activists here that drive TIP?

obviously not having a manual would hurt the performance on the track, but tracking the car was not among my considerations when i bought the 330. So if i do take the car on to the track, should i run it in the S mode, or put it into the manual mode and shift myself? Can any of you give me some pointers?

I went to the 2nd day (Sunday) of the SOLO2 event at California Speedway this past weekend, didnt see any BMW (except my friends' E36 M). My friends who were there both days told me that on the first day (Saturday), there was a Black 330Ci Tip with the M3 SMG peddle steering wheel retrofit, and some serious suspension upgrade, that ran pretty quick times. Is this someone here? Just curious

Any advice would be great. thanks...


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## The HACK (Dec 19, 2001)

TIP? I assume you mean Steptronic.

Contact Mr. Paddleshift. He's the one that makes the paddle retrofit to steptronic transmissions. He is also an avid track fan and have taken his car to the track and autocross regularly.

I would highly recommend the Dinan tranny software. You can get that installed at Avus motorsports...Look for either Leif or Andrew. Both are big supporters of the local BMWCCA club, and Leif is the president of the club. CCA L.A. holds regular autocrosses at Irwindale speedway and CCA Sandy Eggo holds autocrosses at Jack Murphy I think.

The big drawback with the Steptronic transmission is that it will UPSHIFT when the RPM approaches 6,200 RPM and will not allow you to hold the car in gear when it's bouncing off the limiter, thus limiting you in how you want to choose the gear, no matter what mode you're in. The Dinan transmission software alleviates the problem by allowing the car to bounce off the limiter and not upshift, and also it upshift and downshift faster. Combine that with Mr. Paddleshift's excellent paddleshift retrofit, it will make it a lot easier to live with an automatic on the track or at an autocross.


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## ·clyde· (Dec 26, 2001)

A Step isn't the worst thing in the world for autocrossing, but it's not great. In some ways, getting started with a Tip could be better than with a stick for some people because you can focus on the driving and not worry about shifting.

Did I just say that?


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## Icecreamfoo (Jul 4, 2003)

Thanks for the info on the tranny Hack... I didnt even know the step wont hold the gear... never had the chance to redline in the manual mode. Will keep the dinan softward in mind. i guess i'll just see how the first autox went and then go from there..


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## TGray5 (Jan 22, 2002)

330i auto will do just fine on the track. There is a guy that I've seen at Tracquest (runs in advanced group) and who has raced in the Open Track Challenge in a 330 auto and he is very fast. Trust me the auto tranny will not be a limiting factor until you get a LOT of track experience. BTW, I think he told me that he lets the car shift itself. In terms of autocross, you spend most of your time in 2nd gear, so it shouldn't be an issue there either...although you should manually shift the car during an autox.


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## Mr Paddle.Shift (Dec 19, 2001)

Yup, I have a steptronic as well, and I tracked often. The paddles will add more fun factors to the experience. Here are a couple of videos from Shinobi. He has a 01 330ci with step and a paddle-shift customer of mine. You can see the paddles in action.

http://shinobi.bmw330ci.com/Events/WillowSprings_060703/Videos/shinobi_willowsprings_0603_02.wmv
http://shinobi.bmw330ci.com/Events/WillowSprings_060703/Videos/shinobi_willowsprings_0603_01.wmv

EDIT: that black 330ci with paddle-shift retro belongs to Shinobi. He's a regular at SOLO events.


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## Icecreamfoo (Jul 4, 2003)

Yea i think you are right StahlGrauM. At the track this past weekend lots people didnt get into 3rd.. either they werent fast enuf or there's just not enuf time to warrant the upshift... a few of the M3s just let it bounce off the limiter for a short while... I'll find out how the auto tranny hold up in this type of event

on a side note, is the Steel Grey on ur M the same color as the Steel Grey offered on the regular 3? some how i recall there is a very nice, dark silver metalic like paint avail for M, but i was almost certain it's different from the one on regular 3s


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## doeboy (Sep 20, 2002)

Icecreamfoo said:


> Hi guys, my roomates and friends got me interested in autox recently, and i'd like to attend the next autox or driving school event. However, my 330i is a TIP (yes yes i know, i'm lazy in the LA traffic and cant drive manual well). I'm wondering are any of you autox activists here that drive TIP?
> 
> obviously not having a manual would hurt the performance on the track, but tracking the car was not among my considerations when i bought the 330. So if i do take the car on to the track, should i run it in the S mode, or put it into the manual mode and shift myself? Can any of you give me some pointers?
> 
> ...


I'd leave it in auto mode your first few times... get the feel of things without having to worry about shifting, which if not done properly will hurt your times.

Black 330ci.... sounds like Shinobi....


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## Mdk330i (Feb 24, 2002)

doeboy said:


> I'd leave it in auto mode your first few times... get the feel of things without having to worry about shifting, which if not done properly will hurt your times.


That's what I did at the HPDS at California Speedway. It's much more fun when you shift manually.



doeboy said:


> Black 330ci.... sounds like Shinobi....


There's only one Shinobi.


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## TGray5 (Jan 22, 2002)

Icecreamfoo said:


> Yea i think you are right StahlGrauM. At the track this past weekend lots people didnt get into 3rd.. either they werent fast enuf or there's just not enuf time to warrant the upshift... a few of the M3s just let it bounce off the limiter for a short while... I'll find out how the auto tranny hold up in this type of event
> 
> on a side note, is the Steel Grey on ur M the same color as the Steel Grey offered on the regular 3? some how i recall there is a very nice, dark silver metalic like paint avail for M, but i was almost certain it's different from the one on regular 3s


Yes, the steel gray I have is available on non-Ms as well. There is a sterling gray color...not sure if that is an ///M only color or not.


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## Mdk330i (Feb 24, 2002)

StahlGrauM3 said:


> Yes, the steel gray I have is available on non-Ms as well. There is a sterling gray color...not sure if that is an ///M only color or not.


I believe sterlng gray is an individual color for E46 in the US.


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## Icecreamfoo (Jul 4, 2003)

Mr Paddle.Shift said:


> Yup, I have a steptronic as well, and I tracked often. The paddles will add more fun factors to the experience. Here are a couple of videos from Shinobi. He has a 01 330ci with step and a paddle-shift customer of mine. You can see the paddles in action.
> 
> http://shinobi.bmw330ci.com/Events/WillowSprings_060703/Videos/shinobi_willowsprings_0603_02.wmv
> http://shinobi.bmw330ci.com/Events/WillowSprings_060703/Videos/shinobi_willowsprings_0603_01.wmv
> ...


Yea thats it!! my friend that rode with him on Saturday confirmed it was Shinobi and his black ci. Indeed it does look pretty cool to be able to leave ur hands on the steering and to shift with just a flick of a finger. would be nice to see his car in action one of these days. i guess now this will also go on to my never-ending to-do list. And thanks for the link Mr Paddle shift.


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## binaryfarms (Feb 2, 2003)

You should come out to a BMWCCA autoX, the next one is on November 16th in Irwindale. From what I've heard, it's a little more low key than the SCCA events. People are all very friendly and helpful, very willing to help newcomers. There are several people running automatics, a guy in my class with an auto Z3 was a full second ahead of me and my manual at the last one. You really don't get out of second gear, so I think think the automatic is less of an issue. As others have said, you're probably not going to be outdriving the car for a while. One good bit of advice I got at the last one was to not start modding the car until you're prepared to do it all, since once you're in a modified class, the competitve people will have done full suspension, engine, et. all. There's everything from new owner's grannying it around over several minutes to guys with full mods adjusting camber between runs, so they really take all types. And, of course, it's 90% bimmers, so chances are you talk to someone with a car that is nearly identical to yours. I believe Shinobi was at the first event I went to in Irwindale, so you could more than likely talk to him about the paddle retrofit as well.


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## Icecreamfoo (Jul 4, 2003)

I agree, binaryfarms... most of my friends running their cars out there have upgraded the entire brake system, installed fully adjustable coilovers + sway bars, and put on very sticky tires blah blah blah... i guess it's strategy related of how to best position yourself in a particular class. thanks for the advice and I'll definately try to make it to one of these events if schedule allows.

for the bmw events, do i need to register???


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## binaryfarms (Feb 2, 2003)

Just show up the morning of the event, no pre-registration necessary. They usually take the first 40 people or so, i think they've gone as high as 50 or 60. So you just wanna get there early enough so you get a spot, have time to have your car tech'd, put on your number and run group stickers, and maybe have time to walk the course. I say maybe because oftentimes they have instructors running before the event starts. The gates usually open at 6am, with the event actually starting at 9. Make sure to check the calender and forums on the CCALA site, as there are somwtimes last minute cancellations.

http://www.bmwclubla.org/

Hope to see you in November!


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## PhilH (Jun 7, 2002)

There's a guy who runs a 330Ci with steptronic in the autocrosses I attend who beats everyone's times except for a few of the fastest guys in modified M3s.

You can hear that he shifts into first in a lot of the tighter corners (something that I rarely do).


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## Mr Paddle.Shift (Dec 19, 2001)

Shinobi here in So Cal drives a 330ci step and has won a lot of autox awards as well.

Here's the website: 
http://shinobi.bmw330ci.com/Awards/


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## Matthew330Ci (Sep 9, 2002)

binaryfarms said:


> Just show up the morning of the event, no pre-registration necessary. They usually take the first 40 people or so, i think they've gone as high as 50 or 60. So you just wanna get there early enough so you get a spot, have time to have your car tech'd, put on your number and run group stickers, and maybe have time to walk the course. I say maybe because oftentimes they have instructors running before the event starts. The gates usually open at 6am, with the event actually starting at 9. Make sure to check the calender and forums on the CCALA site, as there are somwtimes last minute cancellations.
> 
> http://www.bmwclubla.org/
> 
> Hope to see you in November!


i'd like to start autocrossing too. the bmwcca event sounds like a nice way to get started but i gotta wait until november!!!


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## Matthew330Ci (Sep 9, 2002)

one question, do you *need* a helmet to auto-x?


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## doeboy (Sep 20, 2002)

Matthew330CiM said:


> one question, do you *need* a helmet to auto-x?


Yes.

For beginners, they may have loaners available though. If you plan on doing these things more often, invest in a helmet...  (believe me... chances are.... you WILL get hooked...)


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