Launch control is a bad idea on cheap tires!

[Edjay]

Originally Posted by ccondo

tibra1 - what in your opinion should I have done when it started to fishtail towards the curb?

counter steer, keep a steady foot on the gas pedal while slowlly easing off. Any sudden movement (pedals and steering wheel) will end badly in a tight spot.

I recommend you find a open spot and practice.

[tibra1]

Originally Posted by Edjay

counter steer, keep a steady foot on the gas pedal while slowlly easing off. Any sudden movement (pedals and steering wheel) will end badly in a tight spot.

I recommend you find a open spot and practice.

^ This

beat me to it

[BIGW0RM]

Ive never got my tires to just light up for 3 seconds when I use LC. They might spin a for a second, but I have never had them free spinning for 2-3 seconds. They spin, hook up and before 2nd gear even hits Im flying forward.

Now just slamming the pedal outside of LC mode will rev my engine to 3k and dump the clutch. Thats when my tires spin like crazy! I can see that making me side out of control if I was just burning rubber and getting fishy with it.

At any rate, it does suck. And I hope for OPs sake that he did not hurt any suspension bits. Those look like some deep scratches. I would have it all checked out and get a new alighnment OP.

PS: you can get a new lip to cover the bumper damage too! Either pay 500+ for a repaint or pay 500+ for a lip to cover it! =)

[X2Board]

We appreciate the OP sharing his experience, he probably saved someone else from making the same mistake in the future, but that doe not mean we are not going to say what we think about how he got into the situation in the first place.

I hope you're already gone and not here to read this, but if not... Auf Wiedersehen.

[S65V8]

Sorry to hear it, that bites. Luckily it wasn't any worse or other people were involved. Imagine if you had friends and others watching - yikes.

[WarrantyTracker]

Bad curb rash! Better put a little ice on that. Glad it didn't cost you suspension parts. I think I'm striking "try launch control" from my list of things to do this fall. I'll leave the launches to the 60-year-old broker-dealer registered reps with the Dinan Stage 4 550xi's at the drag strips.

[Templar]

Good luck with repairs OP. Lesson learned.

Take what some of these guys say with a grain of salt.

[spdy330]

I am sure it was not the tires. Lesson learned... Don't launch near curbs.

[akh23456]

be safe man and glad it was only cosmetic damage.

[weaksauce]

I'll be the first to make the 6mt vs dct comment. 6mt ftw! lol.

[UnaBomber]

my launch control wont even spin 1st with 800+ whp.

LC must be insane in a RWD car

[tibra1]

Originally Posted by ILSMKU

Ive never got my tires to just light up for 3 seconds when I use LC. They might spin a for a second, but I have never had them free spinning for 2-3 seconds.

3 seconds is definitely out of the realm of reality I mean this isn’t a pro-stock dragster..In the OPs mind it probably seemed longer than what it really was given his excitement and trying to navigate the car away from a curb

[///M3AN]

OP... I just want to make sure here. Are you sure you were in LC mode? So, put it in s6, turn off DSC, etc...? Held the gas pedal all the way down and it stopped at 3500k RPM (or whatever it limits it to)? Is it possible you just dumped with the DSC off? That would definitely give you a massive burnout....

[MTROIS]

OP, first of, I am sorry to see the damages you have done to your car but apparently you did not care too much about these wheels.

Also, thank you for sharing your story with us because we can all learn from your mishap.

On the other hand, and I REALLY do not mean to be a dick when saying this, I must admit that I am always surprised that people feel they know how to drive whenever they 'only' attended a few auto crosses and even a handful of HPDEs.

I can just say from experience, having already attended more than 25 HDPE that it takes time and a LOT of seat time to build good driving experience. Especially, I can not say enough how much it is one thing to drive the car when all is going well but a complete other one when you have crossed the limit! I still see many very experienced drivers who get caught in the tire wall or in the ARMCO because they had the wrong reflex in a dire situation.

Skippad training for one seems to be a good training exercise and even more, good coaching and practice.

So again, I am not trying to be difficult with the OP or trying to be the guy who gives a sermon, not at all, but I have seen too many bad stories, even some very tragic ones, on this board and I trully hope that everybody respects this car's capabilities and speed in general as they should.

Have all fun and stay safe!

[rjd598]

alot of sympathy here but did anyone read the title? that alone gave me insight to what happened before i read the thread or looked at the pics. sorry man but if you are going to buy cheap tires don't except a good outcome!

[mdosu]

sorry about the turn of events.

On the other hand, M5 wheels on E9X M3 = cool

[tibra1]

Originally Posted by rjd598

alot of sympathy here but did anyone read the title? that alone gave me insight to what happened before i read the thread or looked at the pics. sorry man but if you are going to buy cheap tires don't except a good outcome!

The thread clearly demonstrated that it was not the tires..I think even the OP is convinced of that by now. The title of this thread is not accurate

[ccondo]

Launch control definitely on. Turned off traction control, put it in s6, took foot off brake, held stick forward, saw checkered flag, held down the gas, RPMs stayed at 5k?, let off the stick and it started to go forward. Didn't let off the gas until it started to fish tail towards the curb.

UPDATE:
Took it into BMW - they are going to do an alignment tomorrow to check the suspension. They said the wheels are bent. I am just hoping it isn't anything worse.

[Splinter4784]

sorry to hear that, It happened to me on bald tires

[ccondo]

tibra1 - if tires had hooked up this wouldn't have happened in my opinion (and I was the only person in this discussion there). I take responsibility for not taking the appropriate action to correct the issue.

rjd598 - read the entire thread - I didn't buy these tires they came on the wheels that I wanted, and despite the fact they had a ton of tread on them I had little confidence in them and ordered a new set of potenza re-11s after driving on them for a week.

I suspect it might have more to do with the age of the tires rather than the brand, although I would never purchase this brand of tire. The guy said the wheels and tires sat in his garage for a few years before he remembered he had them and put them up for sale. It literally was the cheapest tires I found in the size.

[tibra1]

Originally Posted by ccondo

tibra1 - if tires had hooked up this wouldn't have happened in my opinion (and I was the only person in this discussion there). I take responsibility for not taking the appropriate action to correct the issue.

I agree having less than perfect tires contributed..but this could have happend even on new tires..I believe it was your reaction to the situation that contributed most..anyway im not trying to beat you up and you have hung in there even w all the d-bag remarks..you are ahead of the game b/c you are willing to concede that it was partly your mistake and learn from it..

[ccondo]

Now moving on - I think I might just put a new front bumper on instead of getting this one painted. Does anyone have any recommendations?

Before you start in I do know how to search and am going to go do that now.