Raced my 328 against my M coupe'

Now i know that you all take a dim view of racing on the street but i was bored last night and tossed the keys of my BMW to my GF and me in my 328 to settle a score with myself for once and for all.

We went to a deserted double lane road and did a series of rolling start races.
Each time she signalled go i was in third holding steady at 4000 rpm. I would floor it and pull a car lenght ahead of her and change to fourth and then as i changed to fifth she starts reeling me in quite sharply.

I was feeling quite smug about this finally proving Ferrari rules and dismissing the on paper claims of ( 6.00 sec vs 5.4 sec 0 - 100 ) that the BMW is a better performer as typical Italian innacuracy.

Then she told me indignantly that she was rolling in fourth each time and flooring it from there and catching me before she changed to fifth... Afterall i told her not to bugger my car up and to stay off the redline...

That little 321 hp BMW is flipping fast.

Skin.

 

Uhm, isn´t this very risky in RSA?

I´ve been working for a couple of month in East London and we were told that you have both: Frequent radar controls and heavy penalties.

While being there I read a story about a driver who was caught "speeding" at 110 mph or so. His car was seized and he faced charges that could lead to jailtime. All foreigners there were pretty scared by such stories

 

I suppose its as risky as anywhere. Its not something i do often and generaly donmt speed intentionally but last night i was .. as i say bored.

Radar is quite uncommon inland. You are more likely to be caught in a camera trap or a manual trap. The Coastal areas are known for radar or laser type traps though.

As for having you car confiscated.. I have never heard of this. The most that will happen is you may be arrested if you do about 60% over the speed limit and your car will be driven to the pound. You are likely to be taken directly to court, night court at night if you are lucky and fined and jailed until you pay the fine or serve your time. Meanwhile you can have your car released to another person.

Driving at 60% over the limit can earn you a fine of R 2500.00 to R10000.00
ie 350 - 1500$

Reckless driving is most likely to land you in jail ie doing 60 miles in a 30 zone etc.
There is almost always a alternative of a fine.

 

328 owners- beware the M-Roadster!
I took my 348 Turbo out to see just how fast the M-roadster was and found out it is VERY FAST. The car HAD been modified, (only a k&N cold air intake and rechipped), but it nearly gave my 348 turbo fits. I did out run him, handily, but have had easier times with a z06. All starts were from a stand still or very slow, and then up to about 100 or so. I later drove the snappy little car and gotta tell everyone, it is very torquey and fun! Do not try this in your 328, if you aren't prepared for big embarrasement!

 

And the Euro / South African version with the 3.2 M3 motor has some 80 horses more than the US version.
So the thing pulls like a jet midrange to limit. The car is most impressive at 160 km/h or 100 mph in fifth, @ 4000 rpm when floored, It does what most cars do in third. It plants you back in your seat. and the needle accelerates .. not creeps.. it accelerates to the limit of 250. / 156 miles. But it does it in such a way that you dont realise it.

Skin.

 

That´s less drastically then I thought. Still speeding stickers are cheaper here

 

Hi Greg,
good to see another South African on board Where abouts are you based?
I live in Edenglen.My father and I have been looking at 328's lately but they so rediculously priced at the moment ie R580 000.

Marco

 

I WORK in Eastleigh. !!! PM me if you want me to narrow that down.
Fancy that !!!

Seriously what can you buy for 580 000 here ? That is a very good price for a nice car or a fair price for a car that is not top notch.

If you do the exchange rate sums tho and compare with what the US guys are paying $ 40000 x 6.3 = R 252000

An early 355 here is 1.2 - 1.3 bar. There $80 000.00 x 6.3 = R 500 000 unless i am mistaken
So we are still paying over twice and in some cases close to three times what they are for the same car. Probably that is a residual punishment for the import taxes paid on these cars. Probably 100 % or something equally ridiculous.
But then we are all millionaires here and our standard of living is much higher.. So is our crime rate.

skin.

PS I think i am going to buy up every ferrari and Cessna and Piper in the states, import them all here , sell them and retire forever

 

I believe we got the euro spec engine in 2001 for the M-Roadster...

 

I think not many US/Euro f car owners realised how lucky they are.
I just purchased my 328GTS 1988 for an equivalent sum of US$90,000.
The import duty here in Bangkok is so high eg. 1997 355 would cost you about US$200,000 a brand new 2004 360 Modena is about US$450,000.

That's life!!

 

The M Roadster's motor is not quite the euro spec. The only reported difference between the two is supposed to be the placement of the cats. However, the M Roadster's motor was detuned from the U.S. E46 M3's 333hp (SAE, I think) to 315hp.

Greg A