My E30’s First Track Day Went Way Better Than I Expected
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Earlier this year I bought a 1991 BMW 318i to use as my autocross and track day beater for the summer. After performing some maintenance and fixing a few problems, I finally made it to my first track day last week. And it went way better than I thought it would.
I figured a good way to suss out this E30's limits would be to take it to a Track Night in America. TNiA is a series of track day events held throughout the year across the country by the SCCA, offering beginners and veterans alike a relatively affordable way to get themselves and their cars onto a road course. Unlike a normal track day, Track Nights in America start later in the day, and only contain three 20-minute sessions (versus five or six sessions for normal track days). Not only do I not have to wake up super early, but I also put less strain on my car—perfect for its first time out.
I signed up for the event at New Jersey Motorsports Park in mid-July. Not only would this be a test of whether my 318i could hold up on track, but it would also be the farthest distance I’ve driven with the car so far (around 150 miles and 2.5 hours one way). Somehow, nothing went wrong.
The drive down to southern Jersey went off without a hitch, as did the track day itself. Despite the obscenely high temperatures, constant trips to redline, and high g-loads, the little E30 that could didn’t exhibit any issues. Even better, the car felt absolutely fantastic to drive, thanks mainly to those ultra-sticky Continental ExtremeContact Force tires. I don’t think I broke traction once—there was just so much grip and so little power to work with. Even in the intermediate group I was getting passed left and right by Camaros and Mustangs... only to catch up to them once we got to tighter sections of the track. It’s truly a slow-car-fast scenario with this 318, and I love it.
A few days later I took a trip to Pocono Raceway for the NASCAR race—another pretty long drive—where the E30 once again did well... mostly. While the drive there and back didn’t present any issues, the car will now show a check engine light at idle, but it’ll go away anytime I touch the throttle. It also, at times, fails to idle correctly, with the rpms falling to around 400 before the car tries to stall itself. I’m thinking this could be a new vacuum leak. I’ll have to poke around the engine bay at some point to find the culprit.
Also on my list of things to fix are the rear shocks. I mentioned them earlier but wasn’t able to tackle the job before the track day because I didn’t have the top hats. But now I do, so those will be the first thing to go in. Additionally, I want to see if I can get the air conditioning working. It’s been hot as hell here in New York lately, and I know the system holds pressure. But the compressor makes a horrible noise when I turn it on. My plan is to drench it in some sort of lubricant and hope that solves the problem. If not, I’ll have to figure something else out.
Stay tuned.
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