Wondering if any of you have any experience with this? I’m itching to get on a track and have a leased 340 msport I think could mostly take it (brakes being the weak point). I know it’s rough on a car in general, I’ve heard you pick up a lot of rock chips/windshield chips, anything else cosmetic to worry about. Will it void the warranty, would Bmw know? I’m also not excited about going mostly through a set of $1500 tires and maybe a set of brake pads, am I wrong on this? Not to mention insurance at the track. I guess what I’m asking is do I risk putting an expensive leased Bmw on the track or just buy a used Boxster or Miata and give zero phucks about it?
I can’t speak for Hpde, but I’ve done AutoX in a lease. Granted, I probably didn’t get as much speed as you would in Hpde, but I’d consider that beating the hell out of the car to a similar degree. That said, I’m sure if I had something fail and they could prove that it was from something like this, it would probably void the warranty on the part that failed. If a suspension part, I don’t know that they’d go through the trouble of analyzing the computer to determine how it was driven, however, they may if it was an engine component.
Mine was a 3 year lease, so I expected to go through a set of tires anyways, which I always do, so that wasn’t a concern of mine. I didn’t need any brake pads though, although I can do that myself, so that wasn’t really a concern of mine either.
Thanks for the reply, I’ve never done autoX either but my understanding is it’s 3 to 5 runs of about a minute each with speeds of up to ~50 or so is that right?
That’s pretty accurate. It’s a fun time, but having to wait around to run your next lap can get old. Depends on how many people show up though.
I did it for fun with my brother-in-law, but some people really take it pretty serious. There’s a guy that drives a Miata at the AutoX I attended who shoe-horned a Northstar into it. That thing literally looks and sounds like a rocket when he launches.
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HPDE isn’t bad if you are just starting out. It’s overwhelming for newbies being on track. Now if you are a 10 year track veteran and looking to squeeze every millisecond out of the track, yea you’ll burn through those tires and brakes quick.
Newbie HPDE will be focused more on smooth lines, smooth braking, and just the experience of being on track with other cars (not door-to-door banging by any means). You won’t burn out your equipment that bad.
That being said, your brakes will still take a beating.
I’ve done three of those super car drives at summit point Jefferson circuit, and the Bmw lead follow on the bigger track. Totaling probably 25 to 30 laps. It was just about the most fun I’ve had, hence the question. Would hpde be significantly different? Because i was pretty at ease out there but I imagine those are more controlled than a hpde.
Not really much different, you are still with an instructor and will be pretty restrained as you’d be in the newbie group.
I think a lot of people think it’s like they’ll be out there chasing lap times, but for new guys it’s really more of a spirited Sunday drive, except no speed limits and no oncoming traffic. 
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Depends on the organization, too. I’ve been to quite a few, and even the “novice” group can give you some time pushing the limits by the end of the day. I’ve done a couple of 2-day events with BMWCCA and I have burned through a brand new set of Hawk pads in those 2 days. I did realize, however, that was the fault of the car since I had the traction control set to “sport” and it was using the brakes A LOT. I then turned off the TC completely and the brakes lasted much longer. If you are going to do it, I think you are better off taking off the overpriced stock tires and setting them aside until lease turn-in, while burning through less expensive performance summer rubber. I’ve found Sumitomo to be quite reasonable with decent grip and great longevity.
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So the consensus is buy some reasonably priced non runflat performance tires, change the pads and go to town?
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I dont think there is any way they can prove car broke down because it was tracked. I would more worry about the risk of external damage. You will probably need new set of wheels and brakes but same if you drive a cheap used car too.
Don’t know about consensus, but it is what I’d do.
Wish I had the time and disposable cash to get back to it. My last time out was … good grief… 6 cars ago! Ugh! I do wonder if my Stelvio would be allowed on track.
Suspension damage…probably not. Internal engine damage, they most certainly can see how the car was operating directly before from the computer. They aren’t going to be able to say you were on a track per se, but put 2 and 2 together as you’re not doing what you’re doing on a track on the open highway.
They are not gonna run diagnostics on an otherwise normal looking lease return. In any case, a Bmw automatic isn’t going to exceed redline so there will be no engine damage.
I didn’t say anything about a lease return…I know they don’t run diagnostics during that. And just because the car doesn’t redline doesnt mean there can’t be an issue with an engine component and/or a turbocharger either. I’m not saying you’re guaranteed a problem, and the likelihood is small, but the harder you beat, the more prone you’re going to be to see something.
I’ve done it and come away unscathed. To say there is absolutely no risk though is a bit too optimistic.
Take off the plates on track.
What’s that going to solve?
Wasn’t too serious and I wouldn’t because lazy but I remember a story last year a dealership was refusing to fix a newer car based on photos taken by a track photographer they saw. Wish I could find it. Not sure if it was based on the license plate or not but yeah…
if you’re worried about rock chips just do the 3m clear bra or ceramic coat the front, You are obviously going to run through tires but depending on your skill and aggressiveness you probably wont need brake pads if you take it easy and learn your transitions and how to approach corners, but you do tend to wear out stuff faster regardless, I wouldn’t worry about engine and tranny stuff cause you have no bolt ons and are probably running the stock tune.
I’ve tracked my lease in NASA HPDE1 at Buttonwillow and Sonoma raceway and had a great experience. It’s very well coordinated and feels quite safe, especially when you’re comparing it to spirited drives on public roads.
For HPDE1 and 2, I used up about 1/16 of pirelli p zero tread per track day. I don’t know how much brake pad I used up but I don’t anticipate replacing either after 30k miles. I’m not racing around on public streets so the majority of tire and brake wear comes from the track.
At beginner levels, just use stock everything. You will still have tons of fun.