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�Had a great day!! Started out by taking local roads, which had several twisties, to NC 28, which, Rachel told me later, is called the Little Dragon, and rightly so. The scenery here is magnificent, much different than I am used to seeing in CA. You drive under an arch of trees a good part of the time. These are the Smokey Mts, which is why the twisties exsist. I really excersized the car on LD, and it immediately became apparent that I must put harnesses in the car. I am sliding around too much. I was in 2nd and 3rd thruout the LD, and found that the M mode worked best here. The car accelerates rapidly. I can feel the broader torque band. How I wish I
could have shifter buttons on the wheel. What a difference that would make here....�

I had mentioned several times that I thought the car should have shifter buttons on the wheel, and contacted several tuners, including Korman, Alpina, Mechtech and Dinan but could not locate a source who would do the work. I had put the buttons on my list of ah shit, when fate stepped in. My POS developed a radiator leak, so I took it to a local shop, and while waiting for the repair, saw a sign that read Race Marque Systems next door. I knew they were into superchargers for BMW�s and figuring, �what have I got to lose,� went in and spoke to Osh Minelian, who said he thought he could make it happen. BTW, bmv, whom I have been corresponding with privately about the project, told me that a knowledgeable member of this mb thinks very highly of Osh. That was a big factor in the decision to put my faith in him. He asked me to bring the car in and leave it for a couple of days and he would be in touch. He phoned me and I went down to the shop. The car had two wires coming out of the tranny cover, bare on the ends. We got into the car, started to drive, and Osh proceeded to ground a wire on the cig lighter receptacle. Each time he did it, the car shifted up or down. I was in business. Next, I determined where I wanted the buttons after driving it on the Oct 8 Mal Cyn run, brought it back to Osh who marked it, took off my wheel and gave me a replacement wheel while mine was being worked on. I was without an airbag and horn from Oct l6 to Feb 17, when the new setup was installed. The tranny has to be in the S mode, and pressing a button activates the M mode. The red button is for downshifts, the green for upshifts, and if you hit both together nothing happens. All safeties remain in place. Buttons were my second choice. My first choice was triggers mounted on the back of the wheel, just like F1 cars use, but if I did that I couldn�t show off my upgrade, and for what this cost me I wanted it to be visible. I went to Las Flores Cyn, drove it, and had a great time with my new toy, HUGE, HUGE grin. It�s beyond my expectations, especially the upshifts. What a delight to be able to shift up or down with both hands on the wheel, nail the shift when I want to, and yes, it does make driving the cyns easier and more fun. Can�t wait to get it on the track. IMO it�s only a matter of time before BMW does this in their own fashion. So what�s next for the car? It already has racing brake pads and Schroth harnesses for both seats. TBell gave me good advice when he advised me to keep the car stock for a while and learn all about it. I now have 600 miles of track time under my belt in stock configuration, and after another 4 or 5 more track sessions, the next being March 12 at Willow Springs, I�m going to upgrade the car in the following order: change the shocks and springs to adjustable Koni�s w/coilovers, swap camber plates left and right, and then race tires and wheels, the same setup as TBell, thank you ever so much Tom. I�m looking forward to the day when I can meet and run with you, Karl Seeger, Y2k, depeete, et al at a track. I am keeping a record of my lap times, so I will be able to see what each upgrade is doing for me. I don�t believe in chips, am happy with the exhaust note, so will leave the engine stock. Car has been dyno�d to establish a base line, and I�ll take it to a drag strip one of these days just to see what it will do in the quarter. And oh yeah, 2 more things. First, I recently found out I am now a NASCAR trivia question http://www.lloar.com/trivia.htm just scroll down and you�ll see it, and 2nd, I bought a race car. It�s now being built and I should have photos of it in about a month. It�s really wild. I�ll keep you informed.

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