330xi acceleration

[NY330xi]

I own a 2002 330xi with the Steptronic and i absolutely love the car. But when i look up its 0-60 time on BMW's website it says 7.5 seconds. Ive timed my car with a stopwatch many times and always got 6.8-7.0 and i have also raced a few cars that are supposedly supposed to be faster than my BMW's listed "7.5 second" 0-60 time and an estimated (if BMW did 1/4 times) 15.5 second quarter mile. I've raced a Volkswagen GTI VR6 6sp(0-60 6.6) with I/E and lost only by half a car, an Acura RSX-Type S with I/E and won by a about a car 4 times in a row (suppose the RSX w/ I/E runs a mid 6 high 14s quarter mile), a MINI Cooper S and won by 3 cars (7.2, 15.3) and beat a Volvo S80 T6 (6.6 14.8) by a car. Lost to a stick Mustang GT by about 5 cars (5.8 14.3). Also ive seen a BMW 530 with Step run a 6.7 and 15.3 as tested by Car and Driver AND the 530 weighs 100 pounds more then my XI.

So does anyone really know how fast a steptronic 330xi is 0-60 and quarter mile? Ive never seen one accurate spec on those figures and ive searched all over the web. So how fast is it??

 

[MrElussive]

Welcome to the forum.
I can't tell you how fast the 1/4 mile of the 330xi auto is, but I can tell you that your car does so well against other "quicker" cars because the 3.0 liter engine has such a flat torque curve (a lot of torque throughout the rev band). The really nice torque makes for really good "real-world" acceleration against other cars, even if they are "faster".

 

[NY330xi]

Ohh I see. Interesting, I've never really thought about that as a factor. Any exact figures anyone?? Still waiting.

 

[Average Jae]

could be a driver thing too. since you have the step, slip whever tronic, all you ahve to do is mesh the gas. other "fast" cars maybe operated by manual drivers who aren't all that good, or they to may have the slush box and that boots their 60 times up by a tick or so.

also teh 530 question: as brought up before by previous posts, the gearing also has a lot to do w/ how quickly the car reached 60. i believe 530 has more agressive gearing, if not an extra gear to work with, so it'll get quicker times. (this is also another reason why manuals are quicker, due to better gearing for starts.)

 

[AWD330XI]

I am willing to bet that the 330xi runs about a 14.7-14.9 with Steptronic. The manual was tested at 14.4 in Motor Trend. This is from my driving experience because I have owned several cars in the 14-15 second 1/4 mile range. The AWD helps with off the line acceleration because you can floor it without wheel spin. Hope this helps!

 

[NY330xi]

A high 14 quarter mile? Thats nice to hear, i had always figured about 15.0-15.2. Any actual test data though?

Actually, The BMW 530 i was talking about has the exact same 5 speed Automatic transmission and the exact same gearing for every gear as my 330xi (look it up at BMWUSA.com its the same at least with the old 5 sp Auto) and it ran a 6.7 15.3 and it weights 100 pounds more then my 330xi. So what about that?


Also, another question/comment. Ive read magazines and websites reviews on the 330xi and generally they all bash its handling capabilities as opposed to a base 330i or even other other cars with "good" handling. Ive taken my 330xi to what i like to beleive are its limits, but tha might only be 8/10ths, and it handles like a dream. However Car and Driver put its lateral on the skidpad at 0.78-- ive seen Camry Solara's higher than that. What gives?

 

[NY330xi]

Oh and another question, whenever i race people from a standstill i Brake-Torque the engine to about 2600 RPM and keep the gas mashed then let go of the brake. Is this really bad for the car and does it help acceleration any significant amount?

 

[tblue3ci]

4WD actually hampers accelaration, rear wheel drive cars accelarate faster because you need a little wheelspin to keep engine revs up.

 

[slats]

Oh and another question, whenever i race people from a standstill i Brake-Torque the engine to about 2600 RPM and keep the gas mashed then let go of the brake. Is this really bad for the car and does it help acceleration any significant amount?

Yeah, its eventually bad for the transmission. However if really want to win that race there isn't a better substitute for the boost you get at the beginning of the race. If you didnt rev the engine before racing, nature tells you to slam down your gas pedal all the way because you associate that with being fast - and we know that actually makes you go slower when youre still in the lower gears.

 

[NY330xi]

"4WD actually hampers accelaration, rear wheel drive cars accelarate faster because you need a little wheelspin to keep engine revs up"


I'm pretty sure that AWD cars get better launches off the line because the AWD puts the power to the ground more effectively. Maybe thats why my buddy's manual 330xi smoked a manual 330i by a good 3-4 cars. You tell me

 

[MrElussive]

"4WD actually hampers accelaration, rear wheel drive cars accelarate faster because you need a little wheelspin to keep engine revs up"


I'm pretty sure that AWD cars get better launches off the line because the AWD puts the power to the ground more effectively. Maybe thats why my buddy's manual 330xi smoked a manual 330i by a good 3-4 cars. You tell me

Shit son !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[NY330xi]

That one felt good. Hows that G35 treating you? What cars have you raced and won/lost too?

 

[MrElussive]

NY330xi, the car is treating me pretty well. I honestly don't really race people that often. Last time I raced was with this guy in a FX45 on thie highway, and I won. I wish a 330 owner would race me, but nobody really bothers to race in NJ.