PART IV – Four Doors of Fury
After a journey that started many months ago I am finally the owner of an 39 M5. From e30 to e34 and now to an e39, I consider myself very privileged to have owned each of these vehicles. I begin the long march south of Denver coming to grips with the car. It is all very intuitive, as it always is in a BMW and you feel the e30 and e34 in this car. I love it that when BMW get something just right, they don’t feel the need to change it for change sake. The e39 glides soothingly and I appreciate the quietness of the Dinan cans, the torque is impressive. I settle in and enjoy the ride.
Traffic is light in the toll ways around Denver, I give the car a few spurts in 3rd and 4th and am surprised that 120mph feels like 80. No fuss, no drama. I’m almost disappointed!
A few minor panics as the Radar bleeps until I start to figure out what each warning means (never owned one before).
The drive south in CO was gorgeous. Wide rolling highway with flowing traffic (once past Colorado Springs) and a speed limit of 75. I cruise at 90 enjoying the scenery in the foothills of the mountains to the West. In time I come across a black Cooper S and gain a caboose. We drive together for perhaps 60 miles flying along at 100mph. These suckers are pretty quick at this altitude but definitely run out of steam above 120 mph. I was relatively impressed by the M5’s acceleration, I definitely wasn’t blow away, but I knew I was on 91 octane gas and at high altitude, I was positive it would improve once back in Texas.
After a few hours on the road I pulled into a town called Trinidad for fuel and pizza. I found a great little pizza joint on the main street and chilled out for 30 minutes. Beautiful historic buildings line Main Street. It is a shame that a highway basically rolls over the top of this gorgeous town.
Back on the road. More brilliant cruising and not a cop to be seen. The only warnings the Radar had given me were encounters with those speed signs – obviously they have a significant radar signature as the detector picked them up from a mile away.
Mile upon mile. More mile upon mile. I’m still in Colorado. Oh sh*t this is going to be a long trip!
Finally the terrain starts to flatten and mountains give way to rolling plains interspersed with classical conical volcanoes as I enter into the north-eastern corner of New Mexico.
I’m quickly enveloped by the scenery and consider the collision of the Pacific plate into North America and the resultant subduction zone complete with a back arc basin and volcanism…. Four years of
Geology at University if you hadn’t guessed already… It is stunning to see classic text book examples in the flesh.
The speed limit drops to 70 in NM but the roads straighten and traffic is non-existent… It took me a nano-second to decide whether this a good opportunity to stretch the legs. Stays in 6th, foot to the floor. Accelerate moderately then quickly as the revs build, 120 mph is gone in a flash, still miles of road remaining. A slight crest in the road, I keep in pegged. 150 mph, still to the floor. Grab the iPhone, quickly get to camera mode and snap this off while driving with one hand:
I held on for a further 15 or 20 seconds after that photo. Dinan says an S2 is good for 191 mph, I say I got to 185+ mph indicated. At altitude, on rubbish gas. This car is QUICK!
I stop in Des Moines for no other reason to quickly snap off a few photos:
I get through NM relatively quickly as I just cut the corner off the state, it is gorgeous though and I’ll definitely be back to check it out sometime.
Somewhere in Texas. Cruising at 90ish and road clears, foot down a little and up to 120 mph when the radar detector starts screaming! Heavy on the brakes down to 80 mph. Eyes twitching and scanning the road. Nothing. Not a thing. What the f*ck? Not even a car in the distance. Well, I decide to keep it down to 80 mph just in case, I wonder what the detector picked up? At least a mile down the road and low and behold a state cruiser rolls past in the opposite direction - but no reaction from the Passport..? Just as we cross the radar screams before almost instantly descending into silence. Tricky HP was using instant on. Thank god the Passport caught that instant-on for somebody a mile up the road! I would have been toast at 120 mph! Pheeeeeeeeeeeew. Radar detector purchase justified in one fowl swoop.
That incident was the only time I encountered instant-on on the entire 1200 mile journey, typically the radars were left on and were easily picked up by the Passport with plenty of warning. Goes to show a radar detector is not insurance against a ticket when cops are using instant on. All in all, the Passport warned me about four HP cars while I was travelling at speed and proved itself as a worthy road trip companion. Obviously I’m yet to evaluate the GPS capability of the Passport, although the red light camera warnings were very accurate, although not that useful to me. I never take chances with traffic lights.
I drove into the night passing through small town after small town, mile after mile. I started to get tired at around 9pm. A leg stretch and some Red Bull at the service station had me alert and awake again. By this stage I was cruising at 5-10 mph above the open road limits. Darkness and my current state were not conducive to any form of rapid or spirited driving. I was amazed at the shear quantity of small agricultural towns in Texastate. I was born in a small town, so I can relate to what it is like to grow up in such an insulated environment. Another fuel stop in another dead beat town. The highlight of this break is a 20min wait for a Big Mac. Fast food...
Eyes falling out of my head I roll into Wichita Falls, Texas and hit the first cheap motel I see off the Highway. It’s a terrible place but I’m too tired to care. I check in and make
small talk with the 2 ton lady at the front desk. Park the car around the back, shower, hit the mattress and try not to wonder if they rent rooms by the hour here. Sleep alludes me for a while as I am over-tired before I finally drift off.
Day one complete. 6am Houston to Denver. 2.30pm Denver to Wichita Falls – Almost 700 miles.
PART V – Homeward Bound
Day two starts at 9.30, still tired but definitely ready to hit the road. After consulting with day lady at the front desk and grabbing an apple from the breakfast bar I decide to head to Houston via HWY 281. A southerly route that will take me through Austin and was apparently much more scenic.
The Hilton, Wichita Falls:
At this stage it also occurred to me to take a photo of my temporary plates. Now, it is the law to place them in the bottom right of the rear windscreen. You can’t argue with the law!
Law abiding citizen:
I have no idea if these tints will be legal in Texas….
I quickly leave the dual and triple carriage ways behind as I get onto 281. Smooth rolling pitchman, mostly single lane with interspersed over taking zones. Green pastures line the road and rolling plains gradually turn into low hills flattened and smoothed to millions of years of erosion. While nothing to rival CO or NM, this road provides a different side of TX and was a welcome departure from the dead straight, functional and efficient highways that would have taken me through Fortworth.
This phase is pretty uneventful. I was pretty surprised by how ‘Wild West’ some of the towns I drove through were. Most were relatively ‘modern’ farming towns while a few really took me back to gunslingers and saloons. Exhibit A – Main Sttreet (unknown town)
Early afternoon I stopped in Marble Falls thinking it would be a quaint place with a scenic walk or two (It’s called Marble Falls after all right?). After talking to a few locals it turns out the falls were dammed a loooong time ago – they don’t exist anymore. Progress…
Slightly disappointed I set about exploring the historic streets in Marble Falls. Co-incidentally it was fair day, held only twice a year. So small stalls lined the street selling trinkets, food, karate training memberships and art. I wandered peacefully here for an hour and ended up buying a lovely painting and a some crafts.
Back seat full of purchases I hit the road again. Heading directly towards Austin I was about down with this road trip and was set on getting home. I stayed in the freeways through Austin not seeing a thing and hit traffic for a while. Eventually a left turn onto I-10 and I was finally on the road that led directly to Houston.
Very uneventful until, inside 60 mile to home when: Cruising at 90 mph, the road clears, take it up to 110+ mph and rather dramatically the rear end steps sideways about a foot! Wtf! The rear starts snaking sideways and is very very loose – I ease onto the brakes and slowly bring it back under control. Back down past 60 mph it’s still all over the place – definitely a flat tire I realize. I pull onto the outside shoulder and sure enough:
Well thank goodness for the spare tire! And jack and socket! Saved ma bacon. Feeling very appreciative of the previous owner at this point as you can imagine…
On closer inspection I nearly sh*t my pants:
Link 1 Link 2 Link 3
I have a flash-back to this:
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c1...20M5/NotMe.jpg
20 minutes later I’m back on the road limping along at 50 mph. I check the bolts and tire pressures 3 miles down the road at a service station. All good. However, I’m pretty concerned by the left rear and the fact that I have a front tire on the rear… After a few miles I get comfortable at 60 mph.
The next hour is tense. Two hands on the wheel waiting for the other tire to go on me. Slowly the miles count down as I approach Houston. A phone call from friends reveals I may just make it in time to see Stephen Lynch with them. Finally! I pull into the apartment complex pretty well wrecked but happy to be home. It’s been 1200 miles across 3 states with a couple of memorable incidents along the way. A trip I won’t forget. What a way to see some of the US!!
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It was a hellava drive
The car is basically an S2 except it has different aftermarket headers. 1st and 2nd gears are useless. It should have a conservative 460 HP. The bolt ons combined with the 3.45 differential and the lwt flywheel make the car pretty fun. I guess it is a sub 12.8 car, possibly sub 12.6 (not with me driving!) which aint bad for a heavy car.
New tires ordered and on tomorrow. Looking at getting some stock rims (maybe LMs one day), selling the aweful chrome. Also looking to de-CF the car a bit and change the front bumper grill. I'll take it to a Dinan dealer here an make sure it is running optimally at sea-level and with the uprated fuel.
Hmmm, ESS just finished a supercharger kit for the e39 M5.... 600+ hp is tempting :P
Car:
2002 e39 M5
Jet Black
51,000 miles
Full leather (dash etc)
PDC
Modifications:
Dinan CAI
Dinan MAF
Dinan Velocity Stacks
Dinan Throttle Bodies
Dinan LTW Flywheel
Dinan Differential
Dinan Stage 2 Suspension
Dinan Strut Braces
Dinan Stage 5 Software
Dinan Mufflers
Bekkers Headers
Dension iPod Adapter
Icky Carbon Fiber EVERYWHERE
Ash