24h of LeMans - BMW Promo Video

Scuderia Back on Track - Gingerman Raceway with Auto Interests - New Turn 10B

Over Memorial Day weekend we had the opportunity to head out to Gingerman Raceway in South Haven, MI, for the launch of Gingerman's new turn 10B, which completely changes the nature of the track.

Now I've always been a Gman-hater myself and unfortunately the go-pro video of it sucks, but I'll work on posting something. Here's the deal: The transition out of 9 is a constant left arc to the turn in for 10. The track FALLS away off camber to a super late apex then it starts back uphill blind from track out back right across the track to end up mid point down the straight to 11. Much faster and the outside of 10 is all graded downhill, so an off leads to a long ride down the hill.

Looking forward to my next trip out once they plant some grass.

In-Car Video of Bill Auberlen and the RLR M3 during ALMS Qualifying at Laguna Seca

Get a load of the sights and sounds of BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team driver Bill Auberlen during qualifying for the May 22, 2010 six-hour race at Laguna Seca.[via BMW of North America, LLC.]

Car Porn Deluxe - "Always Sunny in Snetterton" edition - Team Schirmer M3CSL Cup

Back in July of last year The Scuderia was clued into the CSL CUP. For those of you that enjoy close racing action between BMW M3 and M3CSL e46's you've come to the right place. Take a ride along with Team Schirmer in a pretty trick cup car.  These guys are going at it pretty hard in the wet, plus some great S54CSL sounds.  Enjoy!


Team Schirmer in the CSL Cup Race 1 Snetterton 2010 from Stephen Gill on Vimeo.

2010 Nürburgring 24 Hours Finish Video - Spoiler alert.

Congratulations to BMW Motorsports!
[via MT89Motorsports]

2010 Nürburgring 24 Hours BMW M3 E92 Nordschleife Onboard Video

Turn this one up. The sound is amazing!
[via MT89Motorsport]

Thursday Practice at the Nurburgring

(BMW Motorsport photo)

Rat Rod Part Deux - The birth of a dedicated track car

To take a cue from Aaron, and the changes he made to his Cayman S, I decided to start tearing apart my 2004 M3 to build safer, lighter, faster track car, and make it almost undriveable on public roads


After 4 years of using it as a daily driver / track car, I thought that I should get serious an build out a more single purpose car. This is phase one, where I added Cobra Seats, Schroth Harnesses, a custom Fall-line Motorsports half-cage, and a Vorsteiner Carbon Fiber roof.



 I bought a 335xi as a daily driver, added a hitch and a brake controller to my wife's V8 Touareg, and called Fall Line Motorsports. Attached are some pics of the process and the end result.

Interior out, Sunroof Gone, Half-cage welded in.

Seats fitted, waiting for Carbon Fiber Vorsteiner roof. 

Car Porn Deluxe- "Return to Glory Edition"- BMW Practice for the 24 Hours at the Nurburgring

The BMW team prepares for the 24 Hours Race on the most challenging race track on earth - the Nürburgring-Nordschleife. Enjoy!(via Tim Hahne and Vimeo)

Ausdauertraining from tim hahne on Vimeo.

Zen lap of the Nurburgring - BMW M3

I thought there was something beautifully simple about this lap of the Nordschliefe in this perfectly stock e46 M3. If you happen to be one of the folks, (like me) that started with a bone-stock car for track days that soon morphed into a collection of adjustable shocks, springs, brakes, wheels, seats and harnesses, it is kind of nice to see the purity of machine and track that exists in this video.  Enjoy!

Fall-line Motorsport at the Fresh from Florida 200 at Daytona.

Some great video from 8 five 8 Pictures highlighting the efforts of Charles Espenlaub and the Fall-Line Motorsports Team during the Fresh from Florida 200 at Daytona.  It's nice to see video that's not shot with a giant wide-angle lens. so that some perspective of speed is retained. It's even better to see Charles behind the wheel of a BMW. Enjoy!

Fresh from FL 200 Daytona 2010 Feat. Charles Espenlaub and Fall-Line Motorsports from Manuel Lopez on Vimeo.

Jim Hall would be proud! How to turn your M3 into a Chaparral

I'm not sure what series still allows for movable aerodynamic devices, but if you happen to compete in a series that does I'd recommend checking out this wing from Aeromotions. It adjusts wing angle for both left and right sections of the wing depending on g-load and speed. If the results are accurate it could shave seconds off your lap times. In this video the difference between no wing and the active wing is more than 2 seconds faster for the active wing.

If you ever wanted to drive a Chaparral or just want to go faster, you may want to give Aeromotions a serious look.

VIR Summer Slam - NASA GTS4 - Bryan Watts

Some great action from NASA Summer Slam at VIR, these are taken from the great Bryan Watts' GTS4 BMW M3. Some great action and great driving Bryan and Derek Schwartz. Enjoy!

(via Bryan Watts and Vimeo)

Part 1 of the GTS4 Sunday sprint race. Derek Schwarz (#815 white Porsche) and I traded positions 4 times, hanging out on each others bumpers for most of the race. A last lap pass at the end of the back straight into the top of roller coaster decided the winner.

It is interesting to see the differences between Derek's lighter car and our heavier, more powerful car (313 rwhp and 2760 in GTS4 trim). Derek seemed to have an advantage out of the hole and in braking while our car seemed better at the end of the straights and in the high speed corners. This was also the first weekend I've run R-comps on our car in 9 years...the "slicks" setup resulted in some interesting oversteer as the race went on.

2009 VIR Summer Slam - NASA GTS4 - Sunday Sprint Part 1 from Bryan Watts on Vimeo.

Part 2 of the GTS4 Sunday sprint race. Derek Schwarz (#815 white Porsche) and I traded positions 4 times, hanging out on each others bumpers for most of the race. A last lap pass at the end of the back straight into the top of roller coaster decided the winner.

It is interesting to see the differences between Derek's lighter car and our heavier, more powerful car (313 rwhp and 2760 in GTS4 trim). Derek seemed to have an advantage out of the hole and in braking while our car seemed better at the end of the straights and in the high speed corners. This was also the first weekend I've run R-comps on our car in 9 years...the "slicks" setup resulted in some interesting oversteer as the race went on.

2009 VIR Summer Slam - NASA GTS4 - Sunday Sprint Part 2 from Bryan Watts on Vimeo.

Car Porn Deluxe -"I'd like to live there" edition - BMW e92 M3

Gee...when I slide around corners my wife just looks pissed! No the case in this video fantasy from, wait for it, BanditoGarage . Enjoy!

The Scuderia back on track - Bratwurst and Snowtire Edition- Badger Bimmer's Oktoberfast

The Scuderia finished up the 2009 Midwestern track season with a three-day home stand at the friendly confines of Road America in lovely Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. The Badger Bimmers Fall event is know to attract drivers from around the region and from across the country to this extremely friendly and well-run HPDE. While this event is traditionally held in September, schedule fallout from the SCCA run-offs, as well as a planned BMWCCA national Octoberfest planned for 2010 contributed to a shift in dates to the second weekend in October.

Historically this weekend treats us to temps in the mid 60's to low 70's with lots of Autumn sun. This wasn't the case this year with hotel parking lot temps ranging between 32 and 28 degrees welcoming us to the Dairy State, and variable snow showers testing the fortitude of the drivers, corner workers, and safety crews throughout the day on Saturday.

One thing that makes this weekend worth the trip (aside from a great breakfast at The All-Season Restaurant with the corner workers) is the wide range of metal that shows up for this event. This year there were some of the usual suspects (for this event) Ferrari 333sp, a handful of race prepared Corvettes, a Porsche Cup Car, multiple Porsche Turbos, and Prepared M3's, but this year they were joined by a Radical SR3, Viper ACR and Porsche GT-2 (in black/orange RS colors )

The weekend ended with a minimum of incidents, given the prevailing weather conditions, with all of the Scuderia able to drive off and/or able to mount a trailer on their own power. Looking forward to seeing you at Road America in 2010. Maybe you too can get some experience with the snow-line, or find out what slicks are like in the snow at 140mph, its worth the trip.

Grand Am Koni Challenge -Turner Motorsports' M3 at Miller Motorsports Park w/ Joey Hand

Awesome dusk battle between the Turner Motorsports e46 M3 piloted by Joey Hand and a smattering of Porsche 911's, and an e92 M3. Nice work Joey!

Mike Skeen at Road Atlanta - e36 M3

The Scuderia always enjoys an opportunity to watch Mike Skeen pilot a car around a track. It's a double payoff when it's an M3 and a nationally known and well liked track like Road Atlanta. I love the way he casually cuts through the field. Nice Work Mike.

Enjoy!

Car Porn Deluxe - "Heir to the Throne" edition - Tom Milner Jr.and the RLR M3 GTR

Tom Milner Jr. talks through his experiences as a RLR M3 GTR pilot with some great in car footage. It's my understanding that the M3 GTR will also be included in the standard Need for Speed Shift game, which looks like another reason to stay home from work for a month. A little jumbled but I think that some of the shots make up for it. Enjoy!

Car Porn Deluxe - "Flux Capacitor" edition - AWW Motorsports e46 M3 at the Ring

Not sure if I'm drawn to this video because of the great driving and car set-up performed by AWW Motorsport, or because of the disco light display on the dash. I'm guessing that it has something to do with monitoring the engine firing order, fuel/air mix, or it is just visualizing some cool German Techno music from a Berlin radio station. Enjoy!

CSL Cup - The perfect series for the e46 M3

In a quest to bring you motorsports from around the world, we present the CSL Cup. This series is a collection of e46 BMW M3's and M3 CSL's in two categories, stock and modified, running on Dunlop slicks. The series takes step to equalize the performance differences between the M3 and M3 CSL cars, and in the stock classes, standarizes items such as brakes, suspension components and wheels/tires. It looks like a bunch of fun, but alas, it is currently only running in the UK. Thanks to Stephan Gill for the video and for the clue. Enjoy!

Car 11 in the CSL Cup, Donington Park, Race 1 from Stephen Gill on Vimeo.

Race 2

Car 11 in the CSL Cup Donington Park Race 2 - 5th July 2009 from Stephen Gill on Vimeo.