Can BMW prove you've tracked your car?

Django x2 · 21 Jan 2014 at 00:35

rare said:
Depends on the model but Im pretty sure they do store how many times the rev limiter has been reached and maximum engine speed.

No, it doesn't. Certainly not using the software I have, which is the same software BMW would use. At best, it will tell them the mileage and things like rail pressure and RPM when a fault occurred (if that fault were to light up the EML for instance).

paddy · 21 Jan 2014 at 06:39

NickXX said:
Z4M and Bedford? I was wondering what happened to it!

Were you participating?

NickXX · 21 Jan 2014 at 06:53

paddy said:
Were you participating?

Haha yes- grey e46 m3!

Freefaller · 21 Jan 2014 at 06:57

That answers why we didn't see it!

paddy · 21 Jan 2014 at 07:40

NickXX said:
Haha yes- grey e46 m3!

Hope you had a good day

Sounded like there was quite a mix of cars. He talked about an Atom and an RS4.

I'm tempted to sign up, he said they were well organised and very cheap (although yesterday's was the cheapest of the year)

kaiowas · 21 Jan 2014 at 08:03

shauncr91 said:
Really though, does that include all BMW cars? Seems a bit of a **** take that they produce cars like the M3 and the old CSL then tell you they effectively won't cover it for driving fast

It's madness but it doesn't stop there. Vix was working a day last year where a guy brought along a McLaren MP4-12C. Mid way through the morning the guy got a call from his son. McLaren had phoned the house, said that they knew where he was and what he was doing and that his warranty would be void unless he paid a not inconsiderable sum for additional track cover. Absolutely ludicrous that they can build a car like that where you can't use more than a fraction of its ability on the road but then they penalise you for going somewhere safe to use it properly.

Theophany · 21 Jan 2014 at 08:24

kaiowas said:
It's madness but it doesn't stop there. Vix was working a day last year where a guy brought along a McLaren MP4-12C. Mid way through the morning the guy got a call from his son. McLaren had phoned the house, said that they knew where he was and what he was doing and that his warranty would be void unless he paid a not inconsiderable sum for additional track cover. Absolutely ludicrous that they can build a car like that where you can't use more than a fraction of its ability on the road but then they penalise you for going somewhere safe to use it properly.

How on earth did McLaren know where he was and what he was doing??

NVP · 21 Jan 2014 at 08:31

GPS y0

Mercenary Keyboard Warrior · 21 Jan 2014 at 12:42

Theophany said:
How on earth did McLaren know where he was and what he was doing??

Maybe just something as simple as a mechanic or someone from dealership or something there at same time.

In a car that stands out a lot you can understand people taking note, although why they would pass that info on...

HummuH1 · 21 Jan 2014 at 12:47

On a Z4M I don't think they could from the ECU stored info, but threads on the internet and no-doubt photos on various forums and websites don't help hide the fact it happened at a track-day, not a great start.

You may see a few BMW's (and others) with blanked out plates when at track-days, this is one of the reasons why, so people can't tell they've tracked the car.

NickXX · 21 Jan 2014 at 18:33

Paddy - one thing I'd mention to your friend would be to get him to check any of the trackday organiser's photographer's websites, including ones on Facebook.

*cough* *cough*

Freefaller · 21 Jan 2014 at 21:21

Housey · 21 Jan 2014 at 21:24

Get some track day plates, stick em on before you get there, no one will notice m'lord

[TW]Fox · 21 Jan 2014 at 21:31

kaiowas said:
It's madness but it doesn't stop there. Vix was working a day last year where a guy brought along a McLaren MP4-12C. Mid way through the morning the guy got a call from his son. McLaren had phoned the house, said that they knew where he was and what he was doing and that his warranty would be void unless he paid a not inconsiderable sum for additional track cover. Absolutely ludicrous that they can build a car like that where you can't use more than a fraction of its ability on the road but then they penalise you for going somewhere safe to use it properly.

So they knew where he was and what he was doing and...

.... called his landline, where he wasn't?

paddy · 21 Jan 2014 at 21:34

NickXX said:
Paddy - one thing I'd mention to your friend would be to get him to check any of the trackday organiser's photographer's websites, including ones on Facebook.

*cough* *cough*

NickXX · 21 Jan 2014 at 21:41

Housey said:
Get some track day plates, stick em on before you get there, no one will notice m'lord

Drangueos · 21 Jan 2014 at 23:37

paddy said:
Because driving on an autobahn at a constant high speed puts significantly less stress on the vehicle compared to track driving. Where you're hitting the redline in each gear and braking at the limit of the car for probably 20 minutes each hour.

depends how you drive and what are you doing, if you are just cruising around or have some cars to play with

I know because I already did

Vix · 30 Jan 2014 at 15:40

[TW]Fox;25701716 said:
So they knew where he was and what he was doing and...

.... called his landline, where he wasn't?

They knew where the car was, I assume through GPS? but I'm not sure the driver had a mobile anyway as his son had to call us to get in touch with him. He was an old boy, drove very carefully!

dovey · 30 Jan 2014 at 18:55

A friend of mine works for VW and told me that during one of the causes he worked on they found photos of the car doing the 1/4 mile at santa pod in the glovebox. They refused to fix his engine under warranty after that.

[TW]Fox · 30 Jan 2014 at 18:57

dovey said:
A friend of mine works for VW and told me that during one of the causes he worked on they found photos of the car doing the 1/4 mile at santa pod in the glovebox. They refused to fix his engine under warranty after that.

So VW do not consider the engines they make durable enough to cope with a few launches?