My Cars

Welcome to my car page!

Here is a list of all the cars that I own or have owned.

Note: The speeds are speedometer readings and the accelerations were clocked by myself.

Specifications

	1991 Honda CRX VTEC 1.6i	1997 BMW 328i E36	2004 BMW M3 E46	1998 Volvo V40 2.0T	1997 BMW 540i Touring	2001 BMW 740i
Colour	Celestial blue metallic	Avus blue metallic	Imola red	Two-tone: burgundy metallic & rust	Arctic silver	Orient blue
Engine	B16A: I-4, 4 valves per cylinder, variable valve timing and lift (VTEC)	M52 B28: I-6, 4 valves per cylinder, variable valve timing (single VANOS)	S54 B32: I-6, 4 valves per cylinder, variable valve timing (double VANOS)	B4204 T: I-4, 4 valves per cylinder, turbocharged	M62B44: V-8, 4 valves per cylinder	M62TUB44: V-8, 4 valves per cylinder, variable valve timing (single VANOS)
Location	Front, transversal	Front, longitudinal	Front, longitudinal	Front, transversal	Front, longitudinal	Front, longitudinal
Displacement	1595 cm³	2793 cm³	3246 cm³	1948 cm³	4398 cm³	4398 cm³
Max power	150 hp @ 7600 rpm (138 Nm)	193 hp @ 5300 rpm (256 Nm)	343 hp @ 7900 rpm (305 Nm)	160 hp @ some time in the past	286 hp @ 5700 rpm	286 hp @ 5400 rpm
Max torque	144 Nm @ 7100 rpm >120 Nm @ 2500 - 8000 rpm	280 Nm @ 3950 rpm	365 Nm @ 4900 rpm >300 Nm @ 2000 - 8000 rpm	A lot (it's a turbo!)	420 Nm @ 3900 rpm	440 Nm @ 3600 rpm
Transmission	5-speed manual, front wheel drive	5-speed manual, rear wheel drive	6-speed manual, rear wheel drive	Automatic with sport mode	5-speed automatic with sport mode and gear selection	5-speed automatic with sport mode and gear selection
Suspension	Front: Double wishbones, anti-roll bar Rear: Double wishbones, anti-roll bar	Front: McPherson struts, lower wishbones, anti-roll bar (AC Schnitzer) Rear: Multi-link, coil springs, anti-roll bar (AC Schnitzer)	Front: McPherson struts, lower wishbones, anti-roll bar (AC Schnitzer) Rear: Multi-link, coil springs, anti-roll bar (AC Schnitzer)	Yes (with anti-roll bars made of spaghetti)	Front: McPherson struts, lower wishbones, Rear: Self-levelling air springs, broken dampers	Front: McPherson struts, lower wishbones, Bilstein B12 springs and dampers Rear: Multi-link, Bilstein B12 springs and dampers
Brakes	Ventilated discs front, discs rear	Ventilated discs front and rear, anti-lock	Ventilated, cross-drilled discs front and rear, anti-lock	Yes	Double discs front, discs rear	Double discs front, discs rear
Tyres	195/60-15 Pirelli P4000	225/45-17 Pirelli P7000	225/40-19 (front) 255/35-19 (rear)	Yes	215/55-16	235/50-18 (front) 255/45-18 (rear)
Weight	1090 kg	1395 kg	1600 kg	1400? kg	1960? kg	1960? kg
Acceleration 0-100 km/h	7.5 s (slightly downhill)	7.1 s	~5.2 s	Yes	6.7 s (claimed, not yet tested)	7.0 s (claimed, not yet tested)
Top speed	217 km/h (slightly uphill)	247 km/h (in reality around 240)	262 km/h on the GPS (then the limiter cut in)	160 km/h (the fastest I've dared to go)	250 km/h (clamied, not yet tested)	250 km/h (clamied, not yet tested)

Honda CRX VTEC
This was my third and best CRX.

BMW 328i

In -99 I traded the CRX for a BMW 328 Sports Edition. This is how it looked before and after the "face-lift" (new wheels and a lower, stiffer suspension).

The "Sports Edition" had the nice M3 look and the so called "M sports suspension". That suspension was completely useless, as it combined the disadvantages of comfortable and sporty suspensions - a bumpy ride on poor roads and a lot of roll in corners. And on straights, for that matter, if it was a bit windy!

Instead, I got the AC Schnitzer sports suspension which really deserved the name. It's about 2 cm lower than the E36 M3 and it makes even the E46 M3 seem soft =)

My uncle used to have a Ford Mondeo ST200. The ST200 has 20 more horsepower than the 328i but it had noticeably lower accerelation. The reason is torque: the Ford's max. torque is 240 Nm compared to the BMW's 280 Nm.

In December 2004 I upgraded to my dream car, an M3! (Well, it's one of my dream cars...) The car is pictured above with winter tyres and as yet completely unmodified.

Update (summer 2005): It turned out (once again) that BMW's so called "sports suspension" isn't actually sporty, it just seems sporty. The dampers are hard so that the car is uncomfortable on bumpy roads, but the springs are too soft when you really push the car. Because of the firm ride at low speeds, it's easy to believe that the suspension is sporty, but it is nothing but firm at high speed (200 km/h or more).

So I had the Schnitzer sports suspension installed, with anti-roll bars and all. This also lowered the car by about 20 mm. Not that much perhaps, but I'm not really a fan of "low riders". The Schnitzer suspension actually made the car more comfortable at low speeds. Now I've got a suspension that is a) more comfortable at low speed, b) more stable at high speed and c) 20 mm lower. Bloody good deal actually, but it makes me wonder what the suspension guys at BMW were thinking...

Update (summer 2008): I finally decided on a set of wheels: CSL replicas in "hyper black". I also installed dark front and side indicators to replace those ugly milky white ones:

Future plans
The limiter has to go - I want to see the real top speed! Black kidneys and "gills" CSL-style boot lid