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    Drove the new M3 today

    I saw a new M3 parked outside the BMW dealer today and thought I'd pop in and see if I could get a test drive.

    At first I must say the looks of the car aren't breathtaking at all, it is rather bland. The bump on the bonnet and side mirrors are the worst IMO. Look as if it was just stuck on to reminisce the E46 and I don't know where to begin to start describing the look of the side mirror

    Anyways, I thought the drive would make up for the looks, how wrong I was. The engine note is good, but it could be better. The engine is very smooth and power delivery is very linear, but I couldn't feel the difference between this and the 335i powerwise I know we're at much higher altitude, but given that the M3 has almost 100hp more it should be significant.

    The steering is also very sensitive and could prove irritating at higher speed cruising. The servotronic should be numbed far more at high speeds.

    The interior is also rather bland, they could have brightened it up with some CF or aluminium inserts, but they didn't or perhaps just the demo was poorly specced.

    I must say that I'm utterly disappointed in the new M3 and was expecting far more from BMW. I hope the CSL version will be a huge difference from this one, as there is a lot of room for improvement

    I can't imagine what the 135i will do to this car with a minor ECU remap

    Sorry if I offended any new M3 owners, just my opinion...

    Re: Drove the new M3 today

    Thanks for the review Mike, I kind of knew the new M3 is not what it used to be, sad.

    On the positive note, I had a dream that my R8 was in My Dad came by and picked me up and took me to the dealer and my R8 was in the show room very exciting dream until my youngest son peed on my side of the bed and woke me up .

    Re: Drove the new M3 today

    Quote:
    Ron (Houston) said:until my youngest son peed on my side of the bed and woke me up .



    Now that is a terrible way to wake up. getting peed on.

    Re: Drove the new M3 today

    I totally agree with Mike, the interior is similar to a 318i. For Pounds58k over here you would expect something more exquisite than what is currently offered.

    Re: Drove the new M3 today

    Quote:
    Ron (Houston) said:
    Thanks for the review Mike, I kind of knew the new M3 is not what it used to be, sad.

    On the positive note, I had a dream that my R8 was in My Dad came by and picked me up and took me to the dealer and my R8 was in the show room very exciting dream until my youngest son peed on my side of the bed and woke me up .



    Ron,

    I must comment here since my own findings are pretty different them Mike's.

    First, Mike there are three different settings on Servotronic, throttle response, ESP and chassis. Second, M3 is much, much faster then 335i, at least it is here in Croatia... Third, to me new M3 felt as fast as R8...

    IMHO M3 is excellent car and amazing value for money.

    Re: Drove the new M3 today

    Hi Kreso,
    I ran through all the modes briefly, but even with everything at the max the power was not as much as what I thought. They even had a test of the new M3 vs 335i in one of the local car mags, and most of the 0-100kmh times were similar and the 1/4 mile are identical in times, apart for a few split seconds. Around the local track the M3 was only 1 second quicker than the 335 around the track.

    Re: Drove the new M3 today

    High Altitude in SA... 335i as biturbo do not suffer...

    And according to Sport Auto new M3 is more then 3s faster around Hockenheim then 335i or 1.5s faster then RS4...

    I tested new M3 against friend in R8 till 160km/h-no difference at all...

    Re: Drove the new M3 today

    i think the last hot M3 was the FIRST M3...

    Re: Drove the new M3 today

    Quote:
    KresoF1 said:
    High Altitude in SA... 335i as biturbo do not suffer...

    And according to Sport Auto new M3 is more then 3s faster around Hockenheim then 335i or 1.5s faster then RS4...

    I tested new M3 against friend in R8 till 160km/h-no difference at all...



    I have one major and a minor problem with the new M3...

    The major problem: the interaction of gear box/engine/throttle response sucks... In comfort mode I virtually could not change gears without making the car bump, the reason being a very indirect throttle response. When changing gears engine power seems to drop. Very strange. Better in sport mode but still the feel is not OK. Also, the gearbox/tranny feels a bit soft, not high quality. In summary: very bad compared to any Porsche...

    The minor problem: the car feels rather heavy compared to any Porsche. In particular, the car exhibits quite noticeable understeer upon turning into bends. Also, the car is not as neutral in corners as a top-performing sportscar might be.

    Having said that, the rest of the car is fine and, in particular, the car offers tremendous value for the money

    Re: Drove the new M3 today

    Markus,

    New M3 is either a sports coupe or sport limousine, not a proper sportscar. But, it is very fast and it is amazing value for the money.

    Regarding throttle response I agree with you. Sport mode as everyday mode is the way to drive... And engine is very eager to rev and it needs to be turn to at least 5500rpm so yu can feel it...

    Just keep in mind that full optioned M3 is still much cheaper then fully optioned Cayman S.

    The biggest problem for me is the fact that M3 is as fast as R8 in 0-200km/h and maybe even faster in 0-250km/h. According to what I know M3 is 0.3s faster in 0-250km/h then R8. Not very nice thing since fully specd R8 cost Euro 40K more then M3.

    Not to mention next issue of Sport Auto. Many future R8 owners wont be happy with M3 Supertest results...

    Re: Drove the new M3 today

    Any impressions re: those legendary BMW brakes? I'm sure those CSL brakes will be much better....

    How supposedly safe are these 3-series, esp if one wants to argue the silly "value"/daily-driver argument? Hasn't BMW struggled to even make its 5-Series barely pass artificial, but marketing-relevant ?NCAP/NHTSA crash testing?

    Would bet M3 will remain as car of choice among BestBuy/Starbucks employees in CA....and R8 will do well among dentists/mortgage brokers in various coastal US regions.....

    May make sense for VW/P to buy BMW.....consolidate all brands w/Luddite gearboxes.....and BMW/L/Audi's weak engineers seem to struggle to develop competent brakes.....perhaps, as a consolidated entity, they could share PCCB tech and jointly struggle to develop a modern gearbox in context of a motor w/high tq w/o turbo lag....

    Re: Drove the new M3 today

    Yes, altitude will STRONGLY favor the 335i. I know in Denver, the 335i makes about the same power but significantly more torque than the M3. I assume it's similar in SA. Are you in Johanesburg? That's 6k feet, right?

    Re: Drove the new M3 today

    Quote:
    KresoF1 said:

    Not to mention next issue of Sport Auto. Many future R8 owners wont be happy with M3 Supertest results...



    Very interesting... Looking forward to reading the test Based on my driving experience I could well understand a test result which is, let's say, not too good

    Regarding acceleration: I did not use a stop-watch or GPS device. However, gut feeling told me that the M3 accelerates similar to my Audi up to 270kph speedo. If there is any difference the difference is in the 1-2s range

    Re: Drove the new M3 today

    Quote:
    WBH said:
    Any impressions re: those legendary BMW brakes? I'm sure those CSL brakes will be much better....




    The brake feel is excellent. However, I must admit that I was not in a position to test their fading resistance. Just did some street testing - no track involved

    Re: Drove the new M3 today

    Quote:
    WBH said:
    Any impressions re: those legendary BMW brakes? I'm sure those CSL brakes will be much better....

    How supposedly safe are these 3-series, esp if one wants to argue the silly "value"/daily-driver argument? Hasn't BMW struggled to even make its 5-Series barely pass artificial, but marketing-relevant ?NCAP/NHTSA crash testing?

    Would bet M3 will remain as car of choice among BestBuy/Starbucks employees in CA....and R8 will do well among dentists/mortgage brokers in various coastal US regions.....

    May make sense for VW/P to buy BMW.....consolidate all brands w/Luddite gearboxes.....and BMW/L/Audi's weak engineers seem to struggle to develop competent brakes.....perhaps, as a consolidated entity, they could share PCCB tech and jointly struggle to develop a modern gearbox in context of a motor w/high tq w/o turbo lag....



    WBH(aka VKSF),

    What is latest tech in gearbox development?

    AMG7-G Tronic?! Are you kidding? I drove CL63 and apart from very good straight line speed this car is pure sofa IMO. Neither brakes that you praise so highly are that good in my opinion. You can feel that front weight on CL63 under heavy braking...

    Do you want really amazing automatic gearbox? Then try either Jaguar XKR or Aston Martin DB9, yes both of these cars are offering truly excellent auto boxes-far better in drivers involvment and feel then any AMG autobox. Just add optinal Alcon(400mm!) brakes to XKR and you will get very good car, at least for me...

    Your other remark about M3 drivers-spoiled kids and R8 drivers-dentists(??!!) and other loosers(your opinion-NOT mine) is well lack of manners in epic proportions...

    Do you really feel that dentists or mortgage brokers are loosers

    Audi lack of brakes development... You really do not know what are you talking about here-do you

    Audi R8 standard brakes are together with 997 Turbo standard brakes are the best iron brakes on the market!
    Audi developed biggest Ceremic brakes for new RS6... Same story about Lamborghini...

    Oh you hate manual gearboxes Maybe you just do not know how to shift properly

    What is your dream car-CL65 maybe
    Turbo lagless Exxon tanker... Pure joy of 2200kg of driving...

    It seems to me that your vision what is sportscar is very, very different form general idea(of what sportscar is) here on rennteam(at least I hope that there are not many members that agrees with you-I am honest as possible here)...

    Re: Drove the new M3 today

    With all due respect to everyone here, I think WBH's idea of what is or is not a good car (e.g. 599, CL63 AMG) is shaped by his own lifestyle preference i.e. the car should fit into his own driving needs and situation.

    I personally would not make any objective statements about which cars are or are not good based upon a much narrower test of what is or is not good for me and my circumstances.

    I think KresoF1 has approached this issue in a more objective way i.e. comparing technical specifications and then seeing how well those technical specifications translate into the real world driving experience. It's a more objective approach which doesn't depend on KresoF1's own circumstances.

    Respect to all here

    Re: Drove the new M3 today

    Kreso, I have to VERY STRONGLY disagree with you !
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    The CL63 isn't 2200 kg, but 2400 kg!

    Re: Drove the new M3 today

    Quote:
    KresoF1 said:
    High Altitude in SA... 335i as biturbo do not suffer...

    And according to Sport Auto new M3 is more then 3s faster around Hockenheim then 335i or 1.5s faster then RS4...

    I tested new M3 against friend in R8 till 160km/h-no difference at all...



    Gotta agree with Mike... Drove the M3 too and was dissapointed with it...I'm in Cape Town so altitude will not be a factor.

    BTW i saw a R8 just this weekend and gotta say it looks like a big TT... It looks very low and VERY wide, esp from the back but its design was dissapointing (was black)...Wasnt too impressed with the sound too

    Re: Drove the new M3 today

    Quote:
    BC911 said:
    Quote:
    KresoF1 said:
    High Altitude in SA... 335i as biturbo do not suffer...

    And according to Sport Auto new M3 is more then 3s faster around Hockenheim then 335i or 1.5s faster then RS4...

    I tested new M3 against friend in R8 till 160km/h-no difference at all...



    Gotta agree with Mike... Drove the M3 too and was dissapointed with it...I'm in Cape Town so altitude will not be a factor.

    BTW i saw a R8 just this weekend and gotta say it looks like a big TT... It looks very low and VERY wide, esp from the back but its design was dissapointing (was black)...Wasnt too impressed with the sound too



    I must agree. I was at an Audi centre in Zaventem (Brussels) in July and the three R8s there did absolutely nothing for me. The A5, on the other hand ...

    Re: Drove the new M3 today

    Guys,

    Just be very carefull with PORSCHEIN addiction... It can create some very powerfull illusions... Just not as powerfull as MERCEDESEIN addiction...

    Re: Drove the new M3 today

    Actually, I'm very open minded bout cars...Even tho I'm a Porsche fan I'd take another car over one easily if it's more fun IMO.

    RE the above cars, I'm a BMW fan aswell, so I was sad that they didnt do better with the new M3, its not that I'm biased.
    Thing is, the R8 just had all this hype about its looks and all that, that I was expecting to be blown away with my first confrontation... Maybe I was just expecting to much

    Re: Drove the new M3 today

    The R8 is one of these cars who have to be seen in the flesh to truly judge the impact of its design, not on paper or under the motorshows's artificial lightning, like the 997 and unlike the M3 for e.g..

    Re: Drove the new M3 today

    I know what you mean bout havin to see some cars like that, but the R8 was on the road. I saw it parked and drove next to it for a good 15min...

    Re: Drove the new M3 today

    Quote:
    BC911 said:
    I know what you mean bout havin to see some cars like that, but the R8 was on the road. I saw it parked and drove next to it for a good 15min...



    I wasn't discussing your opinion, which of course is fully valid and besides look is subjective, I was just saying that the R8 needs to be seen in real world conditions beforehand.

    Re: Drove the new M3 today

    ...as with all cars...

    Re: Drove the new M3 today

    Quote:
    Crash said:


    I must agree. I was at an Audi centre in Zaventem (Brussels) in July and the three R8s there did absolutely nothing for me. The A5, on the other hand ...



    Tested the A5 3.0 tdi 2 times already and must say i was veeeeeery impressed, it's very fast, goodlooking and sporty..I like it more than the bmw 330 CD, it's far better built then the beamer

    Re: Drove the new M3 today

    Quote:
    beltar said:
    Quote:
    Crash said:


    I must agree. I was at an Audi centre in Zaventem (Brussels) in July and the three R8s there did absolutely nothing for me. The A5, on the other hand ...



    Tested the A5 3.0 tdi 2 times already and must say i was veeeeeery impressed, it's very fast, goodlooking and sporty..I like it more than the bmw 330 CD, it's far better built then the beamer



    I was VERY impressed with the car. Build quality is excellent and the performance is quite good for 240 bhp (26 seconds to 200 km/h and a top speed of 260 km/h).

    Re: Drove the new M3 today

    Quote:
    Crash said:
    Quote:
    BC911 said:
    Quote:
    KresoF1 said:
    High Altitude in SA... 335i as biturbo do not suffer...

    And according to Sport Auto new M3 is more then 3s faster around Hockenheim then 335i or 1.5s faster then RS4...

    I tested new M3 against friend in R8 till 160km/h-no difference at all...



    Gotta agree with Mike... Drove the M3 too and was dissapointed with it...I'm in Cape Town so altitude will not be a factor.

    BTW i saw a R8 just this weekend and gotta say it looks like a big TT... It looks very low and VERY wide, esp from the back but its design was dissapointing (was black)...Wasnt too impressed with the sound too



    I must agree. I was at an Audi centre in Zaventem (Brussels) in July and the three R8s there did absolutely nothing for me. The A5, on the other hand ...



    I feel that we have a new A5 driver here

    Re: Drove the new M3 today

    Quote:
    MKSGR said:
    Quote:
    Crash said:
    Quote:
    BC911 said:
    Quote:
    KresoF1 said:
    High Altitude in SA... 335i as biturbo do not suffer...

    And according to Sport Auto new M3 is more then 3s faster around Hockenheim then 335i or 1.5s faster then RS4...

    I tested new M3 against friend in R8 till 160km/h-no difference at all...



    Gotta agree with Mike... Drove the M3 too and was dissapointed with it...I'm in Cape Town so altitude will not be a factor.

    BTW i saw a R8 just this weekend and gotta say it looks like a big TT... It looks very low and VERY wide, esp from the back but its design was dissapointing (was black)...Wasnt too impressed with the sound too



    I must agree. I was at an Audi centre in Zaventem (Brussels) in July and the three R8s there did absolutely nothing for me. The A5, on the other hand ...



    I feel that we have a new A5 driver here



    You will in a month .

    Re: Drove the new M3 today

    Quote:
    Crash said:
    Quote:
    MKSGR said:
    Quote:
    Crash said:
    Quote:
    BC911 said:
    Quote:
    KresoF1 said:
    High Altitude in SA... 335i as biturbo do not suffer...

    And according to Sport Auto new M3 is more then 3s faster around Hockenheim then 335i or 1.5s faster then RS4...

    I tested new M3 against friend in R8 till 160km/h-no difference at all...



    Gotta agree with Mike... Drove the M3 too and was dissapointed with it...I'm in Cape Town so altitude will not be a factor.

    BTW i saw a R8 just this weekend and gotta say it looks like a big TT... It looks very low and VERY wide, esp from the back but its design was dissapointing (was black)...Wasnt too impressed with the sound too



    I must agree. I was at an Audi centre in Zaventem (Brussels) in July and the three R8s there did absolutely nothing for me. The A5, on the other hand ...



    I feel that we have a new A5 driver here



    You will in a month .



    Many Congrats

     
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