Memorable Drives in Your BMW

[B C]

I had a flashback tonight driving down a dark country road.

It was the same road I drove down on my cars maiden voyage with the snail installed at about 10pm the night before the 2014 E30 Picnic. It brought back some fun memories and I'd be interested in hearing your most memorable drives in your BMWs.

What makes my first turbocharged drive in my 1991 325i so memorable has a lot to do with the satisfaction of completing a project and not having it be a complete failure. Theres no doubt I was entering uncharted waters with a turbo build and I didnt know what to expect on the first drive. I had fired up the car the day before and got the cooling system bled and checked for leaks so I at least had that going for me, but this was the first time the car had left the garage. It was 10pm which is a pretty horrible time to get any sort of roadside assistance or make a call to my sleeping wife to get the kids up, get in the car and come rescue me from the side of the road with a blown engine or whatever.

I made my way through my neighborhood slowly, taking the long way in order to give the car time to warm up. As I exited the neighborhood I bogged it down in 3rd and let off .... *PSHHH* That was a sound I had never heard before and I took it as an indication that what I spent my winter putting together was working! I get out to a main road and finally muster up the courage to get on it. I scan the road, make a u-turn and go for it. Pedal to the floor, car accelerates like it always had before. Snail steps in, rear steps out and I get giddy. All of this within just a few seconds in a flurry of fear and excitement. And then a *BANG!!!* from the engine bay. The percussion caused the headlights go out which put me in a bit of a shock since I was already on edge. I immediately toned things down and started limping my way home. I wasnt worried that something happened to the engine since it ran smoothly but I was still unsure what was going on. Thoughts of "well what were you expecting to happen?!?!?" filled my head. Driving with no lights is more difficult than I thought it would be. Someone began following me probably assuming I was drunk. I pulled over and popped the hood and pretended to be checking the lights just to humor them, told them I wasn't drunk, just having car problems, and they were on their way.

At home, I pop the hood, replace the headlight fuse, lights work again, check for milkshake in the oil and check for any charge pipes that popped loose.... nope, everything looks good. The 2 connections on the intercooler weren't visible enough so I made the assumption they were good and went out for round 2. I took the car to a country road nearby and decided to try opening it up again. I heard the turbo spooling and the wastegate opening but I was pretty disappointed with the performance. I was fairly certain something wasn't right after the bang that somehow blew the headlight fuse, but I had checked all but 2 connections on the charge pipes and everything was secure. The car was barely faster than it was stock. The clutch started slipping which it had never done before and the engine was breaking up over 4000rpm. The initial thrill and satisfaction slid into worry and disappointment.

Is this really what 10psi feels like?

I've ruined my car.

I should have done an S52 swap.

I went home excited for the E30 picnic but unenthused about turbos and what I had done to my car. In the morning I checked the other 2 charge pipe connections. One of them was loose and causing a massive boost leak. Thank goodness! I made it to the E30 picnic with much more power than the night before and a very unhappy clutch.

Good times.

[KaiserRolls]

Driving back the red e30 I have now from Mankato to Mke. Then promptly overheating it in a parking garage. Good riddance m50

[GunMetalGrey]

I had a pretty memorable drive the other day when I sat in my car and pretended to be actually driving it! 
But for real, the most amusing time I remember is overboosting the crap out of the m50, and just feeling how fast the thing took off, followed by the immediate "oh shit" feeling. That was pretty amusing actually. 
As far as true driving, I always remember the holy hill cruise that we did when I had the e30 swapped with just the m50. The scenery is always awesome, and the car was on point that day (less the rock in the brake dust shield).
I look forward to making more memorable drives this upcoming season, with the stockish m52 and then with boost again!

[shovz]

This past August I drove my e30 back from Phoenix AZ up through Colorado.  Abosolutely amazing...

[m42b32]

Drove my e30 from Milwaukee to Bethlehem, PA, in one shot, alone, without stopping for anything but gas and the bathroom, in early March of 2014. Took me 18 hours to go about 850-900 miles and did about 60% of it in a snowstorm. About 16 hours into the trip is when I took the picture in my signature, at some empty rest station on route 80 at 2:00am. It was a really surreal drive once it got dark, I didn't see another car for hours. Probably wasn't the safest way to travel, but it was a memorable adventure for sure.

[The Full Banana]

Driving my e36 in circles all day on Lake Sinissippi.

[rampelsauce]

The Full Banana said:

Driving my e36 in circles all day on Lake Sinissippi. 

And getting hit by a shitty trooper.  Haha.  JK.  That was BS

[rampelsauce]

Here's a memorable one for me. I traded my red Canadian market 4-door for the Henna 323i euro car. The floors were rusted through and it wasn't the most ideal of rides. That L-Jetronic worked like a champ, even with the several miles of vacuum lines. I had just accepted my current job and had to make my way to Minneapolis for training. Having the 323 as my only means of transportation, I was pretty worried. So I consulted the person I usually consult when I have any BMW related quandary, TJ (wasntm3). "If it will make it around the block, it will make it around the world." Good enough for me. So I set out on a 5 1/2 hour journey with nothing but a full tank of gas and a prayer. Surprisingly, the little 323i made it without a hitch. It even snowed while I was up there so I had some snow drifting fun in the streets of Minneapolis. Drove back with no issues whatsoever (aside from some wet carpets from road spray).

Good times from the little henna that could. A picture from that snowy holiday inn parking lot.

[B C]

Wow, that's a pretty heroic drive by the Canuk!

[The Full Banana]

rampelsauce said:

And getting hit by a shitty trooper.  Haha.  JK.  That was BS

Grrr. I sold that car quite a while ago and I'm still bitter about that incident. 

rampelsauce said:

Good times from the little henna that could.

[6670charger]

My most memorable drive was probably this past spring when I drove my car out to the Boston area in March, put another 10K miles on over the next three months doing work and then returned home only to turn around and drive down to Indy for work training and home again a few days later. The interesting and memorable part is that my front shocks were shot, and I was able to find someone out in Boston to put new ones in for me privately for about $300 all in, and that although i didn't know it at the time, I had a partially blown head gasket and leaking oil pan gasket. I kept up on oil fills, the car ran fine for the most part and never let me down.

Otherwise, nearly every work trip is a memorable one. I'm an insurance claims adjuster and have to carry a 17' ladder with me most of the time which I strap onto a trunk mounted bicycle rack. It does the job, and I usually get a comment about it nearly everywhere I stop. I sometimes think that I should sell this car or trade for an E34 or E32 for a little more room. A hard roof car would probably be a better year round car for what I do, but this one sure makes the trip interesting.