How hard is too hard to drive?

[Youngandalive]

Hi guys,

I bought a 2003 3.0 z4 about a week ago, 80k. I know these cars cannot be babied too much, they have to be "driven". Where is the line drawn however?

What's the definition of driving hard? I personally try to rarely go over 5k rmp. I even hate the way Sport mode will seem to keep you revved over 3k longer than necessary. The downshifts seem a little harsh as well in sport mode. What is your definition of drving hard? How often do you drive hard?

[MIKYZZ4]

Don't put to much into the driving hard myth.
I think there is a lot of myth out there about what cars actually need to maintain them.

It is good for any vehicle to be driven for an extended period of time. If the engine and components are not given a chance to warm up thoroughly, you'll find that carbon build-up and moisture will be left behind where you really don't want it to occur (in the oil and crank case most notably). Does this mean you need to once in a while drive the performance vehicle like a raped banshee to "clean the carbon out"? Not at all. If the car is ran up to operating temperature on a regular basis (a minimum of once a month) and driven for a good set of miles (30+), you should have no issue with the car other than normal maintenance and should expect the vehicle to perform when you want it to perform.

[MauiM3Mania]

Skip the 'Sport Mode'. It seems to function better when the car is being driven at 9/10s. There's no performance gain and at worst make the driving experience less pleasant.

[cmoody]

I've found that "Italian Tune-ups," track days, and autoxs make my cars drive better.

[Classico]

Old sports cars were meant to be driven hard, mainly because they didnt have any helping features such as ABS, brake servo, sequential gearchange, estabilisers, low profile tyres.....

So the older the vehicle the harder is to drive it.

But then you could drive a modern sporstcar hard but I assure you it wont be as hard as it is on a 50s or 60s sportscar

[gerry1000]

not hard on the car if driven smoothly and well.

Clean shifts ,smooth braking inputs and driving a good line. No worries about RPMs with a maintained motor

[ross1]

I once had a potential buyer for a car I was selling forcing shifts and revving the engine well beyond the point where it was making power. I told him to knock it off or buy the car. He stated "these cars were meant to be driven hard".
This guy's clumsy attempts at fast shifting and not recognized when to do it were abuse, period, not "driving hard".
Nothing wrong with wringing it out once in a while but the notion that hard driving is better for the car is nonsense. Revs kill and engines that are run hard and fast don't last as long.
There will now be all sorts of anecdotal replies stating how someone thrashes his car regularly, it has xxx,xxx miles and is still going strong. Congratulations, it will last even longer if less stressed, period.
A BMW is no different than any other machine, it will last longer when treated well.
mikyzz4 makes a good point about short trips