Baseline: Stock BMW 335i 1/4 Mile Results (N54)
I went to my local 1/4 mile drag strip with the BMW 335i to get some baseline results before I start diving into maintenance and modifications!
It was my first time launching or racing one of these cars with an automatic transmission. Definitely a learning moment, especially after getting used to my 750whp manual 135i. Two completely difference experiences! It was hard to tell the 335i was even doing anything because the stock exhaust is so quiet.
BMW 335i 1/4 Mile Track Results
First-ever pass down the strip netted me a 14.71 at 95mph. Not great. I foot-braked the car and wasn’t sure how high the stall would let me go before starting to spin the rear tires.
For the second pass, I left off idle thinking that might help. It didn’t. Lost a tenth to the 60ft, but seemed to go down the back half of the track faster. The car was a lot cooler on this run as it didn’t heat-soak in the staging lanes like it did on for the first run.
Dragy Comparison
I’ve been wanting to test the accuracy of my Dragy device, so I had it on during my first two runs. I was impressed to find that it was within 0.03s and hit the MPH on the head! Take a look at the Dragy results below compared to the actual slips and you’ll see each measurement is almost spot on. It’s an awesome little device for measuring all sorts of stuff. 1/8 mile, 1/4 mile, 1/2 mile, 0-60mph, 60-130mph, etc.
You can order one from Amazon or Burger Motorsports!
Street Test Results
Since the Dragy is so accurate, I hit a couple backroads on the way home instead of waiting in line for 1 hour per pass. For my third attempt, I held the e-brake along with the foot brake to stall up the RPMs. Once I was ready to go, I released both brakes and it resulted in a much better launch.
Unfortunately, the tires spun on my first street attempt because the tires were cold. So I did a u-turn and went right back to the same spot and did a 4th run after warming the tires up. Same exact launching strategy and the tires hooked, resulting in a better 60ft and much better ET than my original 14.7.
All passes were done in sport mode, without manual shifting to keep things consistent. I probably could’ve squeezed some faster times out of it if I shifted earlier to keep the car in it’s powerband. I can feel the boost tapering off up top being stock.
Best of 14.31 @ 97mph leaves a lot of room for improvement. Next step is some much needed maintenance. The car has 140k miles on it and has never been walnut blasted, and it could use some spark plugs/coil packs.
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