Seriously, why are people going all gaga over the new E92 M3, photoshoping it, posting the same damn images time and time again?
1) Its VERY OBVIOUS that the body is going to take an E92 coupe body, flare the fenders, and stick on an M6'ish front end, and add the typical M3 styling cues.
2) I was ready to pull the trigger on ordering an E46 M3 6 months ago, but instead got laid off
... the E46 M3 looks MUCH nicer and is certainly more rich-ly appointed. So much so, that i'm looking for a young used E46 M3 rather then a new E92... why? heres why:
*EXTERIOR ISSUES*
a) the side lines are a bit too harsh... I realize that is the current trend, but I lost my lunch when the Toyota Celica did it years ago... harsh lines that are horrible...
b) the hood / kidney grill layout... WTF?? that is supposed to be BMWs trademark, and they mangled the kidneys... on the sedan, the broke it in 2 parts (the top chrome line is split) and the parts don't even line up... the chrome part on the hood is straight, so its now more of a flattened kidney... the coupe changed it a LITTLE by cutting out around the kidneys rather then splitting them... I'm not sure which one is uglier... the sedan "split" is definitely ugly while the coupe cutout is maybe a little bit odd... the E46 roll over style was PERFECT...
*INTERIOR ISSUES*
the interior of my 2002 $30,000 E46 325i looks better then the $100,000 2007M6... heres why:
a) quality of the leather seems to have gone down
b) quality of the dash leather seems to have gone down
c) removal of the center console bump out now makes the dash look BARE where as the E46 seemed a lot busier... ok, some people want bare... like the people who buy hondas... I'm looking to pay $50k+ for an M3... I want busy, I want buttons and lights... like the E46...
d) center console in the back now makes it impossible to squeeze a 3rd person in the back
e) STACKED GUAGES!!!! YUCK... my E46 325i has 4 guages with 1 stacked... they now went to 2 guages with both stacked, and removal of one guage... they also made the guages retarded looking by aligning all the needles... yeah, my E46 has one stacked guage, but the needles aren't sweeping the same chord as they do in the E92... Yuck, and yuck again... going from 4 guages to 2 stacked ones, again cheapens the interior... remember, this is a $50,000 car, I want bells and whistles, not a toyota like interior...
f) the center console on the E46, the stuff that went in there (CD, airconditioning, nav, etc) actually FIT... in the E92s, its like a rackmount setup where the stuff is too small for the cut out and they use filler plastic around it... RETARDED...
** ONE LAST COMPLAINT **
everybody I have EVER shown E92 pics to (from BMWs site, etc), the FIRST thing they all say = "why does the back wheel look tiny compared to the front wheel? don't know what I'm talking about?
http://www.bmwusa.com/vehicles/3/335icoupe
I DARE you to tell me the back wheel doesn't look weirdly small in both pics.
And this is all from a guy who thought the E46 style was (and still is) the most beautiful design ever to hit the road of any make, model or brand (save for a few exotics that cost more then my house).
Thats enough venting for now
