Just got home after taking a little drive through the twisty roads of Sunset Blvd, Beverly Glenn, and Mulholland Dr. up around the Beverly Hills & Hollywood Hills area. On my way through the Westwood Village part of Sunset I saw some aftermarket headlights & fog lights coming from what looked like a 3 series BMW. He paced me as I went barely 10-15 MPH over the speed limit until we lined up at a red light on Hilgard. The light turned green and I let off the clutch normally at 1500 RPM, and floored it when I noticed he was at wide open throttle trying to pass. We stayed neck and neck until I hit 6000, then put considerable distance on him as he had to shift to second. I went through 2nd gear up to 60 MPH, but by this time he was already several cars back. I slowed down to about 45 and waited for him to try to pass through the upcoming sharp turns but he stayed back. This was a quickie but still fun. My 1st 330ci kill

 

nice

 

werd

 

Nice. A friend of mine wants to race me with his 330. Thanks for the confidence booster.
Eric

 

330Ci's aren't that slow.

 

Probably an auto that you raced.
If it is a stick, it would have a jump on you and you wouldn't be able to pass it until maybe 50mph, especially if you rolled off at 1500 RPM.

 

I own both vehicles ('02 330i, '02 S2000) and the only way your story makes sense is if the 330 really was not at WOT off the line. There is no way you could stay even with a 330, auto or not, off the line by "letting off the clutch normally at 1500 rpm." Come on guys, that is laughable.

Nevertheless, nice kill! (even though the 330 driver must have been sleeping- j/k)

P.S. Why do you call his headlights "aftermarket"?

 

Neither of us dropped the clutch, and it seemed like the 330 went into WOT only as he noticed me stepping on it after I was in gear and my foot was already off the clutch. We both continued to floor it (the only reason I know this is because we were neck & neck until I hit VTEC), and as I hit 6000, he shifted, and I continued onto VTEC and pulled hard. I shifted into second and stepped on it all the way to 9000, then upshifted and decelerated slowly as he was already several carlengths back and didn't seem like he wanted to continue.

I don't know if it was auto or stick, and the headlights seemed to be bluer than I would normally see on a new 3 series. Do these come with HIDs stock?

Also the only reason I knew it was a 330ci was because after the twisty roads stopped and the straight part of Sunset Blvd. opened up, I slowed down to 35 and let him pass so I could check out the emblem on the back. It said "33 i" as if he removed the 0. I don't know of any 330i's, but if they do exist, are they slower than the 330ci?

Also after we continued driving normally, I went into the left turn lane to pull a U turn to head back home and he passed by and flashed his hazards.

If he wanted another shot I would've been happy to give it to him. Those twisty roads on Sunset Blvd. have nice wide open lanes and I made it obvious that I'd give him a run if he wanted one.

 

hmmm...
I have a 330i, it means sedan. The coupe (ci) and sedan are basically identical in performance. So he was a coupe with "33 i," that kind of badgind defies all logic so I would guess he did a bad job rebadging a 318 or 325, and that would explain your easy victory...
Try to find a true 330 to race and it will be much more interesting...

 

Actually the 330C or CI are quite quick. Of the line with my Z33, I raced my friends and we were pretty even almost through 2nd (although I didn't drop the clutch at all, eased into 1st, he had an auto and just jammed on the gas) but after that it's pretty much over. And from a roll, forget about it, same with Highway speeds. Highway speeds, I can keep up and pass 540's. Done it twice (though they seem to get pissed off when I do.)