Let me begin my post by saying i am a huge BMW fan.
i have always loved the e46 M3. it is still a dream car for me and i will def have one someday. i always thought it was a perfect balance of performance, luxury, overall driver satisfaction.
So my buddy sells mini's and i stop by the dealership to say hi and ofcourse i say to him "lets drive something"
"how about an m3?"
so we get in. i notice all the basic BMW creature conforts. The little seatbelt thingy that hands you your seatbelt was pretty cool and the backup camera was quite nice. iDrive.......yeah whatever
So we get on the road. The car feels nice and tight. good ride, great brakes, handles good. i didn't take it on a road course or anything, but overall i was impressed with the way the car felt.........until we got on the highway.
So i get on the highway and i'm thinking to myself "ok, this car has over 400hp.....should feel good"
I get on the highway........3rd gear.........stand on it.
Nothing. Felt like no power at all.
My buddy says to me, "This motor has to rev, shift it down and get on it"
I drop it to 2nd......stand on it.............blah.
The car was fast.........ofcourse. But the lack of torque was a killer. Had no punch at all. no sack, no ommph...........
In all honesty, it felt like a glorified VTEC.
Makes no sense though, considering this motor is winning awards left and right.......i guess torque just isn't cool anymore.
I wanted to love this car so much, but the motor (or lack thereof) killed it for me.
The M3 was a serious consideration when i was making my purchase for a new car last month.
Let me begin my post by saying i am a huge BMW fan.
i have always loved the e46 M3. it is still a dream car for me and i will def have one someday. i always thought it was a perfect balance of performance, luxury, overall driver satisfaction.
So my buddy sells mini's and i stop by the dealership to say hi and ofcourse i say to him "lets drive something"
"how about an m3?"
so we get in. i notice all the basic BMW creature conforts. The little seatbelt thingy that hands you your seatbelt was pretty cool and the backup camera was quite nice. iDrive.......yeah whatever
So we get on the road. The car feels nice and tight. good ride, great brakes, handles good. i didn't take it on a road course or anything, but overall i was impressed with the way the car felt.........until we got on the highway.
So i get on the highway and i'm thinking to myself "ok, this car has over 400hp.....should feel good"
I get on the highway........3rd gear.........stand on it.
Nothing. Felt like no power at all.
My buddy says to me, "This motor has to rev, shift it down and get on it"
I drop it to 2nd......stand on it.............blah.
The car was fast.........ofcourse. But the lack of torque was a killer. Had no punch at all. no sack, no ommph...........
In all honesty, it felt like a glorified VTEC.
Makes no sense though, considering this motor is winning awards left and right.......i guess torque just isn't cool anymore.
I wanted to love this car so much, but the motor (or lack thereof) killed it for me.
The M3 was a serious consideration when i was making my purchase for a new car last month.
I'm glad i got my Z06.
-Rez
Now you know why I bought a 335...(it might just have a chip on it too) .
Now you know why I bought a 335...(it might just have a chip on it too) .
Thats what im looking at getting into.
On a side note to the OP, it doesnt help that you drive a z06 all the time. I can get in pretty much anything these days and be disappointed in the feel after driving my z06. it makes 12sec cars less fun.
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Red 2006 Corvette C6 z06
1LZ and Museum Delivery (Thats it and thats all man!)
Mods:
MGW Shifter, LED Interior, Kenwood Nav
Hardwired V1 Valentine 1
2011 Subaru WRX STI
2001 Honda CBR600F4i
Past Cars:
2010 BMW 335i (310rwhp)
2007 Jeep SRT-8 (All Options, Intake, Tune)
2010 Camaro 2SS
2006 Lexus IS350 (All Options)
2005 C6 Corvette Coupe (All Options)
2005 Saab 92x Aero 278awhp, 230awtq
2003 Subaru WRX 285awhp, 240awtq
1986 C4 Corvette Coupe (All Options)
I have a 328xi Sedan. Its a great car. Love that it is all wheel drive. My former BMW was a 1998 323is but I hated having to do the "winter" tire thing. Now I am much happier.
I will be driving the new M3 and Alpina B7 at the end of this month at a BMW event...... as far as raw power goes I will admit that I have been hard pressed to drive another stock/nearly stock car that performs like the Z06 does.
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2002 Electron Blue Z06 Mods: LG Longtubes, Donaldson Blackwing, Speed Inc. Dyno Tuning, 19" CCW 505A Wheels Best ET (Drag radial) 11.661@118.86 1.70 60' Best ET (stock tires): 11.79@117.9 1.81 60' (best trap MPH: 118.82)
Best stock ET: 12.07@114.1 1.80 60' (best trap MPH 116.28)
SOLD 1996 Grandsport Coupe #775:
12.27@115.68(Motor)....10.995@127.44MPH (Nitrous)
Location: City of Angels Socialist Republic of Kah-Li-Fohnia
335i with a sport package is probably the way to go, since it is close to the M3 in everyday street driving, (and the Coupe matches the E46 M3 performance), a lot cheaper, and you already have a fast car.
I've owned an e46 M3 for 3 years now. The engine is not my favorite part. it's a good motor, and you have to rev the pee out of it to put a smile on your face. IT is a different type of driving. (maintaining revs, blipping throttle on down shift, yadda yadda). Torque makes you lazy and you can create a lot of bad habbits because of that.
That said my last outing at Buttonwillow I took on and beat a couple of C6 Z06s with my lowely e46 M3. sure the Vette is a faster better handling car than the e46, but the drivers were completely ignoring the corners instead focuing on hitting the "go" pedal on the straights. Because of my lack of power, I had to focus entirely on exit velocity.... again a different type of driving, it's hard, but rewarding. Still miss my LS1 though ;-)
My summation of the M3 is this. It is one of the best cars in the motoring pantheon. NOT because it's fantastic at any one thing, merely that it is really good at pretty much everything. There are more luxurious, better performing and more practical cars out there, but none that combine all elements in one package in such a balanced fashion.
FWIW though I'm pretty down on the new M3. With the rising euro killing the price, the slavish fascination of HP/Liter over real results, and focus on luxury over performance... the New M3 doesn't stand head and shoulders above anyone on any metric other than maybe price. Cars like the C63 and RS4 have put the M3 into a new perspective for me.
Now, yank out that torqueless wonder and put in a LS9 and the New M3 would be the perfect car for me
Location: City of Angels Socialist Republic of Kah-Li-Fohnia
Well I don't know Adam. R&T test results are in for 4 different venues and 4 different competition drivers. The M3 is very close to the Z06 on the track. Suddenly that $65K price is not looking so crazy.
Well I don't know Adam. R&T test results are in for 4 different venues and 4 different competition drivers. The M3 is very close to the Z06 on the track. Suddenly that $65K price is not looking so crazy.
Again I'm a big BMW fan, I had an e92 on order which I canceled when I got some reviews from some people I trust. (Namely an acquaintance that tracks an e46 who got some seat time with the e92).
Despite that, I'm just not convinced the new M3 is the right sort of car for me. It's more "two door e39 M5" which by no means is an insult, but I find the new 135i to be the real performance bargain of the BMW lineup now. At that price for the M3, I'd be looking at a Porsche 911.
my cuzzin just bought the new M3, and it feels fast to me.... i dont know bout u...
i took it around town, freeway, local canyon and the car is no joke... especially when u get to 80+mph... SMG kicks ass... shifts are fast and just like a stick tires chriped in 2nd gear enuff to break rear sideways with traction control off......
Location: City of Angels Socialist Republic of Kah-Li-Fohnia
Quote:
Originally Posted by Adam Bruce
Again I'm a big BMW fan, I had an e92 on order which I canceled when I got some reviews from some people I trust. (Namely an acquaintance that tracks an e46 who got some seat time with the e92).
Despite that, I'm just not convinced the new M3 is the right sort of car for me. It's more "two door e39 M5" which by no means is an insult, but I find the new 135i to be the real performance bargain of the BMW lineup now. At that price for the M3, I'd be looking at a Porsche 911.
Oh I absolutely agree. I will never buy an M3 as long as the Corvette looks and performs the way it does. From that perspective, the M3 is a waste of money. And that applies in general to non-sports cars. For example we have an E46 right now, but I would not mind getting something a bit newer (nothing wrong with ours and it has low miles, but I get new car-itis every few years). It is hard for me to justify spending $45K and up on a BMW when you have the Pontiac G8 GT selling for $31K fully loaded.
Corvette Store
Drove a new M3 last week
