Keep "money shifting" and you'll be going to the bank and shifting money out of your account to pay for a new car.

 

I've had my E46 for 4 years now and this is the first time I've ever done this, so thanks for your feedback.

 

A proper money shift is when you are accelerating and at the top of a gear and go to shift to the next one, but accidentally downshift instead of upshifting. Piston shrapnel propelled rods get sent to the moon. I did what you did once before, accidentally downshifted to 1st instead of 3rd but I was only going about 35 mph so revs went to about 6800, but nothing was really hurt, just jostled a bit. It’s really not advised to do that, but doing it once shouldn’t cause catastrophic damage.

 

Oh, okay gotcha thanks!
Did it sustain any form of strain or damage from that jostling though?

 

Likely not. BMW engineers design these engines to take a lot of abuse without any problem.

 

Okay thank you, that's super reassuring to hear!
I did actually also stumble on some threads about people tuning their rev limiter to like 6800 on an M54B25, is that even ethical?..

 

If there's no check engine light, runs smoothly, and same power, you're good.

A money shift is anytime you select a lower gear that when you let up on the clutch the engine is moved into a RPM beyond the rev limiter.

Most engines can handle 1-200 overages occasionally.
Despite having a rev limiter, be careful. It CAN'T stop the driveshaft from your mistake.

Example: Driving down the highway, in 5th and want 3rd. You find 1st and let the clutch engage.
The engine will spin 18,000 RPM momentarily until the engine seizes and your drivetrain locks up and you spin out of control because everything's locked up.

There's a saying at the track: When in a spin, both feet in.

 

Ohh okay makes perfect sense and that's actually really good to know, thanks!

Also, since I was bouncing off the limiter when I downshifted does that mean that I was still in the "safe" range since the limiter was still actively not allowing me to rev any higher, like to 7k rpm?

 

Downshifting to 1st is actually not as bad as 2nd or 3rd, because in 1st gear your wheels will lock. I've done it once, revving 6500 rpm in 2nd and shifted to 1st instead of 3rd. Revs didn't go over 6500 rpm. Just like with a dead starter and you want to push your car to start it, 2nd will do the job, but 1st will just lock the wheels when disengaging the clutch. My English is not good enough to fully explain the theory behind this, but I'm sure you'll get what I mean.

 

Yeahh I completely understand what you're saying, I never thought about it that way actually.
So did you actually spin out??

 

You were close but no, you did not money shift. If you did you would have bent some valves and had an engine running on 5 cylinders or less.

I money shifted back in 2011, 3 weeks after getting the car and at 115k miles. Went from 6th gear to 2nd at 80mph. Cost £1200 back then. Car now on 240k miles.

 

Damn I'm sorry to hear that, what rpm's did you hit when everything went sideways?

 

Also, since I was bouncing off the limiter when I downshifted does that mean that I was still in the "safe" range since the limiter was still actively not allowing me to rev any higher, like to 7k rpm?

It’s fine to do that, could go to 7k if you want. I had my limiter at 7k for a while on my 330, but recently turned it Down to 6100 for experimental reasons.

 

M54’s start bending valves around 7500rpm. Depends on your cam setup too. If you’re on stock 325 cams then you should be well within the limit. Just don’t do it on the regular, the valve train has some major weak points that’ll show themselves in short order if you do.


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the engine is moved into a RPM WELL beyond the rev limiter.

Having ridden right seat a a few times, to bend valves the engine needs to be seriously zinged.
The 12v engines used to break rockers at something like 750 over redline,
but the 24v engines can take a LOT more before
the valves hit the pistons. I don't know about the M54- the earlier M52s were good to well over
7500, and anecdotally people got away with worse.

The best was in an S2000- kid came out of T10 at Pacific, touched the limiter in 4th,
grabbed 3rd, and let it wind fully before he realized what he'd done.
Then proceeded to find 5th instead, and off
we went down the track. Meanwhile, I was coaching him as if his engine was detonated,
but the damned thing was fine, and the guy had no idea that what he'd done was
a problem. Apparently, he did that 'occasionally'.
I found someone else to ride with, as I had no more 'helpful advice' for him...

t

 

Having ridden right seat a a few times, to bend valves the engine needs to be seriously zinged.
The 12v engines used to break rockers at something like 750 over redline,
but the 24v engines can take a LOT more before
the valves hit the pistons. I don't know about the M54- the earlier M52s were good to well over
7500, and anecdotally people got away with worse.

The best was in an S2000- kid came out of T10 at Pacific, touched the limiter in 4th,
grabbed 3rd, and let it wind fully before he realized what he'd done.
Then proceeded to find 5th instead, and off
we went down the track. Meanwhile, I was coaching him as if his engine was detonated,
but the damned thing was fine, and the guy had no idea that what he'd done was
a problem. Apparently, he did that 'occasionally'.
I found someone else to ride with, as I had no more 'helpful advice' for him...

t

My jaw was glued to the floor reading that entire post.

Well I definitely feel A LOT better now thank you! 😅

 

4th to 1st instead off 4th to 3rd at 100 mph going into turn one a Road Atlanta in my 911. I did not even get the clutch all the way out before the damage was done and I pushed the clutch back in.

 

Ouch, that’s the advantage of driving a clapped out tranny. Only possible to shift if you double clutch rev match. Pffff stop granny shifting


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Assuming:

• 3.15 differential
• 225/45R17 tire size (diameter of 25”)
• Getreg manual tranny 3rd gear ratio of 1.66

To reach 7000rpm you’d have been going 100mph and 7500rpm is 106mph


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Assuming:

• 3.15 differential
• 225/45R17 tire size (diameter of 25”)
• Getreg manual tranny 3rd gear ratio of 1.66

To reach 7000rpm you’d have been going 100mph and 7500rpm is 106mph


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You win.
I was wondering who would do the math.

 

When I downshifted my rpms jumped into the red zone ( approx 6800 rpm's ) and I heard my engine bouncing off the limiter, however I "technically" was above my limiter since I'm still on stock tune so rev limiter is set at 6500 rpm.

Accidentally over-rev shifting has nothing to do with Rev Limiter, regardless how high or low it was set. The wheels spin the crank and not the engine.

 

im more concerned about your decision to shift down from 4th to 3rd when there are two more gears to shift up to 🤔

 

Well, if you’re interesting in not hurting your avg mpg during your track session, then go for it

 

I know the OLD track.😉

 

Turn 1 at Road Atlanta. More important than most realize. Getting it right ("Exit Speed is KING": Boris Said, my first instructor at Skip Barbour) dictates the way the whole rest of the uphill (half the track really) goes.

 

If you can’t feel or hear anything different, I wouldn’t worry. I’ve money shifted a couple of times. Once was mid-corner and was significant enough to cause me to go off-track because of the sudden, unexpected engine braking, but the engine ran fine for a few more seasons (though probably with less power). The more interesting time was exiting T2 at Summit Point in a race when I grabbed 2nd instead of 4th. I lost a bunch of positions, but was able to collect myself and continue. The car ran well and I recovered some positions, but a few laps later the race was black flagged. As soon I slowed down and pulled into the pits, the car started to badly misfire. Apparently bent valves can still seal well when they move at high speed, but once the revs dropped it was game over. I did try to drive it again and get the engine up to higher speeds, but it didn’t work.

 

Oh okay gotcha, thanks!
And I'm sorry to hear about your money shift track incident.

How much did it cost to get her back on the road?