0-60 time

[Nothgiel]

What is the unofficial 0-60 time for a BMW e85 Z4 Roadster 3.0i 6 Speed Manual (2003)?
When I search for it I am getting everything from 5.3 to 5.9 seconds, would like to clarify what the real world acceleration is.

[Marlon]

I'd like to think mid 5 seconds for my 2008 si. I always quote 5.5 if anyone asks me, I'll have to get the missus out with the stop watch

Parkers guide for what its worth:

Screen Shot 2018-10-14 at 10.07.32.png (46.17 KiB) Viewed 1487 times

[mmm-five]

If the official time was set on old runflat tech, and you’ve now put Supersports on, then I think you could take a couple of tenths off.

Plus it depends on road conditions, clutch condition, driver aggressiveness, etc.

[thecookie125]

I clocked my 3.0si at 5.1 using a GPS app on the a15, that figure seems very low however so i'm not sure if I believe it.

[Jembo]

I haven’t (don’t want to) try a full on drag start in the //M, though my old 3.0 was tested on a number of occasions in the company of other ‘road warriors’.

If you miss the boat by a few fractions of a seconds, hit the limiter, miss the sweet spot, find a tiny spot of gravel/water/oil, tyres not properly warmed up, on budgets... I think you get the point... it’ll be different every time.

I expect anyone performing these tests will first ‘lay some heated rubber’ on the tarmac before the proper run... plus have worked out if can remain in 2nd when they hit 60 & the optimum change point.

All in all... so many factors that change each time, almost impossible to replicate manufacturer times

[Smartbear]

I haven’t (don’t want to) try a full on drag start in the //M, though my old 3.0 was tested on a number of occasions in the company of other ‘road warriors’.

If you miss the boat by a few fractions of a seconds, hit the limiter, miss the sweet spot, find a tiny spot of gravel/water/oil, tyres not properly warmed up, on budgets... I think you get the point... it’ll be different every time.

I expect anyone performing these tests will first ‘lay some heated rubber’ on the tarmac before the proper run... plus have worked out if can remain in 2nd when they hit 60 & the optimum change point.

All in all... so many factors that change each time, almost impossible to replicate manufacturer times

^^+1^^ you need a total lack of any mechanical sympathy to get anywhere near the published times, most owners won’t realise how brutal you have to be
Rob

[Nothgiel]

Without wearing out the engine and transmission the real world performance must be about 6.5 seconds then.

[Jembo]

Without wearing out the engine and transmission the real world performance must be about 6.5 seconds then.

Yes, though my old E85 had numerous exuberant launches. I bought around 40k & sold on 85k, so personally would say despite heavy use its transmission & engine was still as robust as the day I bought it. My buyer subsequently sold on here a few years later, where I know he utilised & enjoyed the loud pedal similar to me.

I really don’t think you have too much to worry about, unless you carelessly dump the clutch

[Mike6]

I imagine for those state times, car will be devoid of wing mirrors and every possible drag area like alloy wheels will be taped over and driver will weigh about 5 stone.

[GuidoK]

I clocked my 3.0si at 5.1 using a GPS app on the a15, that figure seems very low however so i'm not sure if I believe it.

As long as you're not running a 10hz gps this is not accurate. Normal gps chips have a 1sec refresh so this time can range between 4.1 and 6.1 sec.

Afaik bmw only releases an 'official' 0-62mph time (0-100kph) and that is 5,9sec for the prefl 3.0i and 5,7sec for the fl 3.0si (both manual gearbox)

[firebobby]

I do like to launch from the lights with the sports button occasionally pressed, especially when you have a chav wagon besides you. Straight up to the speed limit, then off the power. The auto in sports mode does take off well

[Nick9one1]

Torque and an bluetooth OBD2 module is a good way to measure it - I think torque uses the wheel speed directly.

[GuidoK]

Torque and an bluetooth OBD2 module is a good way to measure it

No its not. In the first place the obd2 speed info is not accurate at all (the 1 or 2 mile speed difference are the 1 or 2 miles that take the longest to overcome!) and in the 2nd place the obd2 update speed is slow and not a constant.
In practice the only way to make a reasonable accurate speed measurement is by means of a 10hz gps and a performace app that can handle that (I think like harry's laptimer, and there also used to be a version of racechrono that could measure the gps updatespeed and therefore verify the margin of error).
Of a dedicated device like vbox, which also uses a 10hz gps (I think they now even have faster systems).
OBD2 and cellphone GPS stuff is way to slow with updatespeeds up to 1 sec (so 2sec(!) error margin). Some apps try to minimize that lag by using the accelerometer data for the start but that only solves half the problem and isnt a real solution to the problem

I've tested 10hz gps setups (I have a qstarz 10hz gps, they are very cheap) compared to things that use obd2 or cellphone gps and the differences are quite large and inconsistent (so one run the difference can be 0,3sec, the other run up to 1sec).

I used to have an old symbian telephone with an app where you could force the bluetoothconnection in a fixed serial rate so you could exclude any potential lag in that conversion too.

[montymog]

way to technical i just know the 3.0 is . auto in sport mode is like s☆☆☆ of a shovel

[Nick9one1]

No its not. In the first place the obd2 speed info is not accurate at all (the 1 or 2 mile speed difference are the 1 or 2 miles that take the longest to overcome!) and in the 2nd place the obd2 update speed is slow and not a constant.

If you use a usb otg OBD2 module rather than Bluetooth the response speed is much better, I'd say a lot faster than 10hz.
Also, torque displays the 'real' speed. Not the corrected speed like the clocks.