Just back from M3 test drive in Germany

[VictorH]

I'm a newbie here, but have been visiting for some months. I just got back from a trip to Germany and got to drive the new M3. I thought I'd post some of my opinions on the car.

Background: I am interested in buying a "sports car" in the next few months. My requirements are 4 seats, reasonable trunk space, suitable as a daily driver and best possible performance for track use (I do 2-3 DE's per year).
BMWUSA was no help at all in terms of setting up a test drive as I've been to Germany 3 times this year. Basically, they just told me, "You need to set it up yourself." I guess they figure these cars will just sell themselves. Needless to say, so far have not been impressed by their salesmanship. I've never owned a BMW but I like the marque, have toured both the Spartanburg and Regensburg factories and been to the BMW museum on different visits.

I was able to arrange a test drive in Munich through one of the local dealers and they were super.
My thoughts as follows:
DISCLAIMER: I am not a BMW expert, and these are just my opinions. You may or may not agree with them, I'm only posting because I thought they might be helpful for someone in a similar position.

Exterior: This has been discussed. In person, the car is very appealing and somewhat understated. Doesn't really look all that aggressive in my opinion, but the lines overall are very nice. The only feature I don't care about is the "power dome." You see it through the window all the time and I don't think it adds anything, but I understand it's necessary for engine clearance.

Interior: Functional and very much like the 3 series except for a few extra butttons. The rear seat leg room is really quite adequate for medium size adults (my wife was in back and says it was comfortable). I sat in back too (I'm 6'2") and with the front seat in a reasonable position, i.e. not all the way forward it was tolerable. The trunk space is really generous, I thought it would be smaller but very similar to the 3 series (maybe the same size).

The steering wheel is quite fat. I thought it was comfortable but if you have medium or small hands I'm not sure. I don't think my wife would have liked it and it seems to be the thickest production wheel I've ever held.

I thought the seats were really comfortable with good grip. If you're toward tthe wide side though, they might not be comfortable.

Driving: All the driving that I did was in town and on the autobahn so I can't comment about how it is under track conditions.
Suspension: Very nice and compliant. The changes in ride with different EDC settings are not that great. In street conditions I would guess the difference is on the order of 10-15% from softest to firmest settings. Even on firm, the ride is still quite nice, not unlike my friend's 328 with sport suspension. Definately not harsh and is very nice over bumps even in sport setting. Cornering is very flat with minimal lean. The overall response to driver inputs in very direct and immediate. I have always liked BMW's ride and ride compliance and this one is no exception.

The M button: Pet peeve of mine. I realize that that M-drive does more than the engine management but I had the opportunity to toggle this off and on in the city and highway. With M-drive on the throttle is very nice, linear and responsive. With M-drive off, particularly in traffic the throttle response is sluggish and soft. Now, why would BMW's M-division decide that you need a soft, sluggish throttle response ever? It seems stupid to me. It's a sports car so tune, at least the engine, to be as responsive as possible all the time. There is no disadvantage to drivability in M-drive in traffic or any other situation that I could see.

Engine: This is the crown jewel of the vehicle. I've driven the BMW six cyclinders in the 3 and 5 series, as well as the M-couple. This motor is far and away the smoothest I've driven. I realize that the I-6 has intrinically balanced 1st and second order harmonics, but this V-8 is just like a precision instrument. It doesn't care what rpms it's travelling at, it's just a little different tone. 5,000 rpm is just fine. You never get the sense that you should upshift because of revs. I've read the concerns about "lack of torque, " but it's very tractable from any rpm. With 3 people in the car and one child, it drives off from idle with ease. It's responsive and pulls well at low rpm as well. Clearly would be a great daily driver.

Clutch engagement is also very nice and linear. The takeup is in the middle of the throw and takes essentially no "getting used to." Very nice, smooth and linear.

The motor again is exceptional, from low to high rpm. It reminds me more of a motorcycle engine. Very smooth and capable of very high rpms. Also, there is no "coming on cam" it just pulls harder and harder especially from 4,000 or so up to redline. The overall acceleration (again with 3 on board is nice) and very good. Certainly if BMW had gotten another 50-60 hp out of it, then it would have been truly exceptional ( you can never have too much hp, right?), but there really is plenty of power available. Of course this really is not a car for young drivers as there is more than enough power to get you in trouble. Unless BMW comes out with ESC, electronic stupidity control, there will be plenty of young folks cracking up their cars and themselves when the M3 comes public in the USA.

Steering feel: I had heard the critiscisms and was paying attention to this when driving. I would say, first, that my gold standard is the 328 with sport suspension (my friends car). At idle you can feel a pleasant vibration through the wheel. If you were blindfolded and had ear plugs you would still be able to tell the difference between pebbly asphalt, concrete and fresh black top with ease. Expansion joints, rail road tracks and manhole covers would also be easy to distinguish by feel alone. That is my standard. Unfortunately, I did not feel that the M3 met that standard. In fact I really had trouble feeling much in terms of roadway at all and this was also my biggest disappointment. Modern cars are so well isolated that your butt sensors really don't get anything anymore and the steering wheel is the only thing left, and if that's gone then you really don't have much left. This was only one car, but it's a current production and I really felt that BMW could have done a better job.

Overall: A very impressive car, not perfect but really at a high standard. I am seriously considering this car. however, most Germans are adding quite a few options and fully optioned cars are going for 20,000 euro over base. Anyway, just a few humble opinions from a non-owner who may someday have an M3 in the driveway.

[JEllis]

I like your opinions...

As far as your steering concerns, they are understandable.

My E36 M3's steering literally vibrates in my hands as I drive.... but to be honest I am sick of it. Looking forward to a smooth steering wheel feel. This may just be the pilot in me though...

[swamp2]

Originally Posted by JEllis

I like your opinions...

As far as your steering concerns, they are understandable.

My E36 M3's steering literally vibrates in my hands as I drive.... but to be honest I am sick of it. Looking forward to a smooth steering wheel feel. This may just be the pilot in me though...

+1 modded E36 M3 or stock, the steering is fantastic but I too am dying for just a bit more road isolation. Herein lies the challenge. Provide enough isolation from the annoying road features you do not want nor need to feel, yet provide enough feel that you know exactly what the tires are doing. Although speculation on my behalf at this point (since I have not driven it) it sounds like BMW has removed quite a bit of the bad and still maintained the required feel when much closer to the limits. This opinion is based entirely on a synthesis of what I have read and what is seems reasonable for BMW to have targeted to fit with the rest of the car. We'll have to keep questioning those who have driven and wait for our turn as well.

[schnell325]

Nice write-up!

[Alumac]

Originally Posted by JEllis

I like your opinions...

As far as your steering concerns, they are understandable.

My E36 M3's steering literally vibrates in my hands as I drive.... but to be honest I am sick of it. Looking forward to a smooth steering wheel feel. This may just be the pilot in me though...

Mine did until I got a wheel alignment.

[the_stranger]

what color was it? did you take any pics by any chance?

[VictorH]

Sorry no pictures. The car I drove was I think Silverstone, some sort of grey green combination that I did not find particularly appealing. I've seen both the black and red versions in person and they both looking striking (neither are my favorite color either).

Every car I've seen so far has the shadowline option on the trim, something like a 500 euro option which looks really nice. I've not seen any M3s street, dealer or otherwise that just had the standard chrome trim.

[footie]

Originally Posted by swamp2

+1 modded E36 M3 or stock, the steering is fantastic but I too am dying for just a bit more road isolation. Herein lies the challenge. Provide enough isolation from the annoying road features you do not want nor need to feel, yet provide enough feel that you know exactly what the tires are doing. Although speculation on my behalf at this point (since I have not driven it) it sounds like BMW has removed quite a bit of the bad and still maintained the required feel when much closer to the limits. This opinion is based entirely on a synthesis of what I have read and what is seems reasonable for BMW to have targeted to fit with the rest of the car. We'll have to keep questioning those who have driven and wait for our turn as well.

VictorH's opinion mimics my own in so many ways it's uncanny, thought one of the exceptions would be the steering feel, here is where our two opinions differ but only slightly, for me coming from driving mostly Audis I felt the steering feel was well judged thought still feel one resistance level is all that is required and like you yourself feel that previous M3s have at times offered too much feel this has been an improvement for the better.

To say that you don't feel from the bottom no more is another area where I differ from VictorH, with an Audi you don't have any real steering feel at all, only resistance so like someone who loses one of your senses your other ones become heightened and to me it was what I felt through my bottom which told me when the tail was becoming unsettled. The difference is that you guys (current BMW M3 owners) haven't had to rely on this sense as much before because of your greater steering but it is there.

[footie]

Originally Posted by VictorH

Sorry no pictures. The car I drove was I think Silverstone, some sort of grey green combination that I did not find particularly appealing. I've seen both the black and red versions in person and they both looking striking (neither are my favorite color either).

Silverstone is a siver paint with a blue tint to it, I can't think of what colour has a grey green combination, maybe Space Grey.

Originally Posted by VictorH

Every car I've seen so far has the shadowline option on the trim, something like a 500 euro option which looks really nice. I've not seen any M3s street, dealer or otherwise that just had the standard chrome trim.

I was told when I asked my dealer about shadowline that it's a polished version of what comes standard. Is this wrong and the normal spec is indeed chrome. God I hope not as I haven't specced it.

[VictorH]

Please don't go by my description of the trim, I am probably wrong. If you look at the M3 prospectus, it does look like one of the cars (they are all white) has chrome trim. However, it's a funky black and white looking color photo combo so this could be deceiving. Hopefully they all come with black trim as I think this would look better.

[Technic]

Thanks for the review...

The M button: Pet peeve of mine. I realize that that M-drive does more than the engine management but I had the opportunity to toggle this off and on in the city and highway. With M-drive on the throttle is very nice, linear and responsive. With M-drive off, particularly in traffic the throttle response is sluggish and soft. Now, why would BMW's M-division decide that you need a soft, sluggish throttle response ever? It seems stupid to me. It's a sports car so tune, at least the engine, to be as responsive as possible all the time. There is no disadvantage to drivability in M-drive in traffic or any other situation that I could see.

If this M-Drive is anything like the Sport button on the E46 M3 then I could say IMO that there is a good intention on implementing this "split personality" function.

On the E46 M3 the Sport button -throttle response mapping change only- allowed me to just drive on the city without any "jumpiness" of the throttle. Although it took me a while to drive with Sport ON in the city, I really did not like it that much; it got to the point that it was tiresome, plus fuel economy was suffering. However, in the highway the Sport button was a must, as the lightning throttle response was a big plus in passing.

I think that this is the result of the individual throttle on each cylinder configuration, instant response. And the only way to satisfy the conflicting expectations of acceleration and driveability of all kinds of drivers is to create this "Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" feature, IMO.

At least we all can press a button if we don't like the throttle response ...

[mofomat]

Originally Posted by footie

Silverstone is a siver paint with a blue tint to it, I can't think of what colour has a grey green combination, maybe Space Grey.



I was told when I asked my dealer about shadowline that it's a polished version of what comes standard. Is this wrong and the normal spec is indeed chrome. God I hope not as I haven't specced it.

Indeed, VictorH is wrong, which makes me want to take his opinions with a pinch of salt. How do we know he even set up the M drive correctly? Did he know he actually has to at least program it to do something as opposed to just pressing it and expecting something to change.

The M3 does not come with chrome around the windows. The standard is a matt shadowline. The option is "high gloss" shadowline, which is shinier. Not worth the expense.

[mofomat]

Originally Posted by VictorH

The M button: Pet peeve of mine. I realize that that M-drive does more than the engine management but I had the opportunity to toggle this off and on in the city and highway. With M-drive on the throttle is very nice, linear and responsive. With M-drive off, particularly in traffic the throttle response is sluggish and soft. Now, why would BMW's M-division decide that you need a soft, sluggish throttle response ever? It seems stupid to me. It's a sports car so tune, at least the engine, to be as responsive as possible all the time. There is no disadvantage to drivability in M-drive in traffic or any other situation that I could see.

How can you "review" the M button when all it is is a function to change several variable features on the car?

So tell us, how exactly did you set up the "M" Drive button?

[VictorH]

I didn't set up the M-drive the sales person did.

I was just referring to engine managment of the M-drive. Why don't you educate us as to what options there are as to the throttle response in M-drive. Perhaps there are other options that I and others are not aware of. If you'll note I was only talking about the engine, not EDC or other factors.

[Voltigeur]

G'day Victor,

I really enjoyed your review. It seemed fair and balanced, and consistent w/ some comments I have read. I'll have to reserve judgement on the steering for my own trial - but I suspect this will be my disappointing area. I love the steering on my 5er's [e39] and especially the Cayman S.

On the latter the M3 has come to my fore mainly for That Engine!

I'll be in Germany in summer '08 - but I hope to have driven one of these beauties by then in the U.S. (and know the price !!)

[ruff]

Victor,
Nice review. You are welcome addition to the forum.

[mofomat]

Originally Posted by VictorH

I didn't set up the M-drive the sales person did.

Then how can you possibly comment about how you thought the car was when you don't even know in what configuration you were driving?

Originally Posted by VictorH

I was just referring to engine managment of the M-drive. Why don't you educate us as to what options there are as to the throttle response in M-drive.

There are three possible throttle maps. "Normal", "Sport" and "Sport Plus". Pushing the "M" button will get you whichever throttle map has been selected via the M Drive. So if you dealer had selected "normal" in the M Drive then there will be no change whatsoever. Another way of getting a different throttle map is to just push the "Power" button by the gear lever. Pressing this is the equivalent of selecting "Sport" in the iDrive. This is standard on the M3. The only way to get access to the "Sport Plus" throttle map is to specify M Drive when you order the car.

So, do you see that by just talking about pushing the M Drive button, it means nothing unless you also mention which throttle mapping was pre-programmed into it?

[OzStriker]

Thanks for the writeup, I agree with your thoughts regarding the engine, it is a brilliant piece of engineering.

It just loves to rev and is so, so smooth, smooth like an inline 4 sportsbike but far more linear.

[GarryF]

When I had a test drive I had the throttle set to sport plus on m-button, it was really quite noticable, you could have the throttle in slightly accelerating then push the button and without having moved your foot you'd feel the car surge like you'd floored it.

Personally I think having such a sensitive throttle day in day out would be a bad thing, it's great when you want it but nice to be able to turn off for day to day driving.

I also noticed more suspension change than you are describing, with soft suspension the car felt similar to my E60 SE suspension, pressing the button you suddenly could feel the road coming up through the car, the ride was suddenly quite firm and "sporty".

I do wonder if the dealer set it correctly for you in i-drive, the only option my dealer asked to leave alone was DSC