260 kph on Saturday

Pkiernan

While in Stuttgart at the weekend, a friend let me try out his BMW 335d.

We reached 260 kph before the limiter kicked in. A little too fast for me to be comfortable however. One has to look quite a ways into the distance, and take extreme care when braking.

Driving on the M11 here will never be the same.

SV

fair play.
enjoyable isn't it?

SV

betafrog wrote: »

You hit 260kph in a car with a top speed of 210!! You must have every racing team in the world beating down your door!

I'm pretty sure a 335d has a much higher top speed than 210.

edit: but maybe not?

NinjaTruncs

SV wrote: »

I'm pretty sure a 335d has a much higher top speed than 210.

edit: but maybe not?

it has to have a higher speed than 210, I've a 1.4 fiat which can do 212.

brandon_flowers

Brilliant stuff.

Betafrog, Isnt the limiter not 155mph on all BMW's because of some components not being safe at speeds over it. 155mph would be around 250kmh anyway

Fey!

The 335d is electronically limited to 155mph, which is abour 248kph. If the speedo is reading high, as they often do, it is plausible that the op really did see 260kph on the clock.

SV

betafrog wrote: »

Hmmm.. the internets seems to have varying figures for the top speed, anywhere from 210 to 250kph

Damn internets!!

Yeah that's what I was finding.
Although I'd say it does have to be limited.
It does have a fair bit of power..but then again you never know

Bandit12

260 My hayabusa does that in 4th gear

NinjaTruncs

betafrog wrote: »

I'm thinking the only way to resolve this is for the OP to bring us all to Germany in his friends 335d and shows us it's top speed

wouldn't all the extra weigh slow him down considerably?

SV

Bandit12 wrote: »

260 My hayabusa does that in 4th gear

Yes but he can do that speed in comfort and warmth whilst listening to the radio.

Drummerboy08

According to BMW.ie, the top speed is 250kph.

http://www.bmw.ie/ie/en/newvehicles/3series/sedan/2008/allfacts/engine/technical_data.html

Pkiernan

The speedo showed 260 kph - although it would not surprise me if the actual speed was lower.

The limiter did not kick in until the clock showed 260. The car, if delimited is wind drag restricted at approx 280 kph.

TheBazman

did indicated 250kph on the autobahn in the 535d a few months ago - altho the sat nav had it at around 230 - 235kph. Didnt quite manage to get a stretch to hit the limiter. Maybe next Nurburgring trip:D

Sqaull20

250/260kph isnt anything special on those roads, still some acheivement for a mid size diesel though.I was in a rented mini cooper and drove it to the max ( just over 215kph ) for long periods and things flew by me like I was doing 100kph!! one SLR Mercedes was stuck behind me and an Audi and it nearly took me with it when it accelarated past, he must have went past 300kmh easily.A couple of miles of road and he was out of sight in seconds while I was doing over 200kph, crazy power.

Matt Simis

brandon_flowers wrote: »

Brilliant stuff.

Betafrog, Isnt the limiter not 155mph on all BMW's because of some components not being safe at speeds over it.

Its an agreement in Germany between manufacturers. It has nothing to do with safety of mysterious components. Did you not wonder why some M cars (and Audi RS cars) have the same hard paper limit as something far less exciting?

Anan1

SV wrote: »

fair play.
enjoyable isn't it?

It's fun to do once, but it can get very tiring driving at that kind of speed for long periods. It does depend on the car (and the driver), but if I were doing a long run on unestricted Autobahn i'd probably be keeping in or around 200km/h.

brandon_flowers

Matt Simis wrote: »

Its an agreement in Germany between manufacturers. It has nothing to do with safety of mysterious components. Did you not wonder why some M cars (and Audi RS cars) have the same hard paper limit as something far less exciting?

I knew it was only the Germans who did it.

Yes I always wondered why the beasts had limiters because the day i have an RS6 or M5 the limiter will be coming off straight away.

/Alarm clock goes off.

Pkiernan

Anan1 wrote: »

It's fun to do once, but it can get very tiring driving at that kind of speed for long periods. It does depend on the car (and the driver), but if I were doing a long run on unestricted Autobahn i'd probably be keeping in or around 200km/h.

Thats exactly how I drove when I lived there.

The owner of the car however is a speed freak. On a trip from Frankfurt he had the car on the limiter for 7 minutes, and averaged 202 kph for the entire journey to Stuttgart.

What impressed more than the speed was how controlled the car was at high speed, and how well it took corners on the normal roads. Extremely well built car.

Anan1

brandon_flowers wrote: »

I knew it was only the Germans who did it.

Yes I always wondered why the beasts had limiters because the day i have an RS6 or M5 the limiter will be coming off straight away.

/Alarm clock goes off.

You'll need to change the tyres too, AFAIK tyres rated for very high speeds wear a lot faster too.

Marlow

betafrog wrote: »

You hit 260kph in a car with a top speed of 210!! You must have every racing team in the world beating down your door!

The 335d engine is the same engine as the 535d. It's the 530 with a twin turbo. It will certaily go way way over 250 km/h, however all BMW's are limited to 250 km/h.

The speedo would show 260 km/h because it can be up to 10 km/h off. This is to avoid lawsuits etc. If you enable the diagnostics mode in for example the M5 you can get a precise digital reading. I asume this applies to most modern BMWs.

German Autobahn is indeed a nice place to get the **** kicked out of your car. You just have to find the right stretches and think ahead.

/M

brandon_flowers

Anan1 wrote: »

You'll need to change the tyres too, AFAIK tyres rated for very high speeds wear a lot faster too.

Does a Y rated tyre not come as standard?

Marlow

A lot of people don't fit the same tyres, as their BMW was delivered with.

Also, in Ireland you usually get tyres, that are more durable for our street conditions than on the continent. So if you get your tyres fit on the continent mainland, you can expect, that they wear down faster over here.

I'd always fit my car with tyres to above the maximum speed it can go, no matter if I ever drive that or not.

Another one on the top speed of that 335d. My old 525tds with manual tranni from 1997 did 225 km/h (140 mph) and yes, I've tried that out on the German Autobahn .. GPS verified. So I expect a newer 335d to outperform that easily.

/M

Anan1

brandon_flowers wrote: »

Does a Y rated tyre not come as standard?

I've no idea, TBH.

TheBazman

what amazed me on the autobahn is that anytime we got held up in traffic the cars that seemed to be right up our behinds and looking to undertake were often 7 seaters and family wagons

brandon_flowers

Marlow wrote: »

A lot of people don't fit the same tyres, as their BMW was delivered with.


/M

Thats understandable, but on one of the serious machines I'd expect (pray) the owner to know how important the tyres are and put the correct rated tyres on them.

Anan1 wrote: »

I've no idea, TBH.

I don't either but Y rated came as standard on my Audi A4 so I'd hazard they would for an RS or M. Where is MarkN, doesn't he have an M3?

Marlow

TheBazman wrote: »

what amazed me on the autobahn is that anytime we got held up in traffic the cars that seemed to be right up our behinds and looking to undertake were often 7 seaters and family wagons

Every country is a different driving. Germany can be a pain in the b**.

I love Belgium, if you come in the outer lane people will move out of your way long before you reach them.

Also sliproads in Belgium are both on and off ramps at once and in the middle the cars just swap lanes, with very little space between them, but it just works out smooth.

/M

Marlow

brandon_flowers wrote: »

Thats understandable, but on one of the serious machines I'd expect (pray) the owner to know how important the tyres are and put the correct rated tyres on them.

Oh. Certainly. And if you go to a decent tyre garage, they'll ensure to give you the right tyres for your car.

It's only when people to cheap skates, that it ends up in madness. It can cost you your car.

/M

TheBazman

In general yes they get out of the way but we had one or two scary moments when some plonkers pulled out in front of us. I had read before I did the trip that in general people understand a flash of your lights as "get out of my way" but there were a couple of times that some decided they wanted to stray right in our way to slow us down - I was glad I just had new brake pads and discs fitted;)

Marlow

Some people are ignorant.

In general, if you are going fast in Germany in the inner lane, stick your left blinker on and flash'em, if necessary.

Have your low beams on, so they spot you earlier. People do check their rear-mirror compared to other countries.

There will always be some idiot, but you just have to account for that.

It's pretty safe on the german Autobahn, even though there is no speed limit. People anticipate others with high speed.

/M

Padraig Mor

TheBazman wrote: »

I had read before I did the trip that in general people understand a flash of your lights as "get out of my way" )

Read somewhere that flashing your lights at other drivers was outlawed recently in Germany.

unkel

Marlow wrote: »

The speedo would show 260 km/h because it can be up to 10 km/h off. This is to avoid lawsuits etc.

It's true that most speedos indicate more than the actual speed. This is by European directive. The indicated speed must be at least the actual speed and at most the actual speed plus 10% plus 4km/h. If you did a search, you'd find it - we've covered it here before plenty of times.

So in the case of the actual speed of 250km/h this should show on the speedo as anywhere between 250km/h and 279km/h.

And then there's the complicating factor that not all BMWs are as limited to 250km/h as others. Officially they are, but unofficially?

Marlow

unkel wrote: »

And then there's the complicating factor that not all BMWs are as limited to 250km/h as others. Officially they are, but unofficially?

Well. One thing is limiting them at 250 km/h. Another thing is people unlimiting them again.

And the third factor is, how they are limited. Some cars are limited by rpm limiter + gears calculation, some cars are limited by actual speed measurement, some by some entirely different mechanism.

You'll get the odd one, that goes a bit above. But in general, all Audi, BMW, VW and Merc are limited to 250 km/h, unless it's some special tuned model. Stick tyres with a different geometry on there and your speedo is anyhow off.

/M

copacetic

Drummerboy08 wrote: »

According to BMW.ie, the top speed is 250kph.

http://www.bmw.ie/ie/en/newvehicles/3series/sedan/2008/allfacts/engine/technical_data.html

thats the limited speed though, the 3.0 325i can hit that also with no turbos so I'd fancy the turbo version to keep going a fair bit longer if not limited. As noted, it's too stressful imo to be moving at that speed on a public road. Maybe you would get used to it, but I'd agree above that 200 is a more reasonable 'fast' cruising speed.

craichoe

Anan1 wrote: »

You'll need to change the tyres too, AFAIK tyres rated for very high speeds wear a lot faster too.

And if you get a rental round about now they'll be on Winter Tyres ... only rated to 180km/h usually ....

I feckin hate winters

180km/h is comfortable enough for me .. 220 in any car is grand for a short burst .. but 80 km at 220 or over is VERY tiring ... hardly any germans I know do it because:

A. Its expensive
B. It gets old when you drive the same Autobahn every day
C. Hitting a bird at over 200km/h is not cool

craichoe

Padraig Mor wrote: »

Read somewhere that flashing your lights at other drivers was outlawed recently in Germany.

Don't know where you heard that ... if so they'll have to ban every single truck driver off the road. ..

Courtesy on their part .. i.e. its safe for you to pull in now.

daveharnett

betafrog wrote: »

You hit 260kph in a car with a top speed of 210!! You must have every racing team in the world beating down your door!

With a remap and the limiter removed, that engine will push a 5 to 270kph (linky). Now subtract a 80kg and a little drag when talking about a 3.

Matt Simis

daveharnett wrote: »

With a remap and the limiter removed, that engine will push a 5 to 270kph (linky). Now subtract a 80kg and a little drag when talking about a 3.

The e60 5 is a faster platform than the e92 3 due to aerodynamics. A little more weight is a benefit at that speed too.

T-Square

Matt Simis wrote: »

Its an agreement in Germany between manufacturers. It has nothing to do with safety of mysterious components. Did you not wonder why some M cars (and Audi RS cars) have the same hard paper limit as something far less exciting?

Japs too

copacetic

Matt Simis wrote: »

The e60 5 is a faster platform than the e92 3 due to aerodynamics. A little more weight is a benefit at that speed too.

don't think thats correct, bmws figures make all the e92s with equivalent engine quicker.

eg for something that doesn't hit the limit:

e92 320d, 232km/h top speed 7.9s to 100.
e60 520d, 223km/h top speed 8.6s to 100.

and the 535d itself, takes 6.4s to 100, the 335d 6.1s.

The aerodyamics are better on the E92 also, (only .01 though, so pretty close)

bladebrew

T-Square wrote: »

Japs too

japanese agreement is a bit stranger though,didnt they agree 180bhp maximum??

or was it 180km/h top speed?? i cant remember now?!

unkel

copacetic wrote: »

I'd agree above that 200 is a more reasonable 'fast' cruising speed.

It depends on the car too in my experience. I'd cruise at no more than 150-160 in a good supermini or small hatch, 170ish in a decent saloon but find it far less demanding than the above to drive at around the 200 mark in say a BMW 7-series (no surprises there really).

unkel

bladebrew wrote: »

japanese agreement is a bit stranger though,didnt they agree 180bhp maximum??

or was it 180km/h top speed?? i cant remember now?!

Wasn't it 280BHP and 180km/h?

Imagine driving your JDM Impreza WRX turbo STI and being overtaken by a Micra

studiorat

had the auld fiat punto up to 230 on the way back from Dundalk(hey) today, then realised I was looking at the clock

Felt like 230kph though.

Turner

The Nutty M

the japs have a gentlemans agreement of 300km/h for bike's,dunno about cars.

SteelyDanJalapeno

If the wheels are anything apart from stock standard size it will affect the speedo's reading, by a percentage, the more of a gap between the new size against the stock size and the percentage gets bigger,

for instance some young lad driving at honda civic at 100 kph, on the speedo,
with big 17" alloys against his stock 15 inch or 16

well his actual speed would be 106 kph.

heres a calculator for you http://www.paspeedo.com/calculator.htm

baldyback

betafrog wrote: »

Hmmm.. the internets seems to have varying figures for the top speed, anywhere from 210 to 250kph

Damn internets!!

I have never seen the top speed of a 335d quoted at 210kph and I doubt you have either - this car is almost as poweruful as the previous generation M3. 210kph is only 130mph - this car is capeable of much more!

Marlow

I'd say he got the figure from looking at a 325d, even though I'd say that one would be quicker, too.

I know the 525tds was stated 210 km/h or thereabouts with automatic.

the 35d engine definatly is hell of a lot quicker than that.

/M

faceman

I must be getting old. I started to consider the miles per gallon when i read this thread and how much it would cost.

Marlow

Horgan wrote: »

for instance some young lad driving at honda civic at 100 kph, on the speedo,
with big 17" alloys against his stock 15 inch or 16

Obviously only, if he maintains same percentage tyres. If he goes for lower profile tyres, he compensates for it .. but that's apart from the OP's initial post.

/M

Marlow

faceman wrote: »

I must be getting old. I started to consider the miles per gallon when i read this thread and how much it would cost.

Actually .. on a BMW diesel engine ? .. not that bad.

My 525tds was 40 mpg on average. On my last trip to Denmark (2000 km) my i was doing 225 km/h on long stretches in Germany and my average was 33 mpg across the trip. Also .. it's Diesel. It's comparable cheap.

/M