[vivid]

I just got back from a test drive... I drove a fully loaded Melbourne Red coupe with Bamboo interior...

The exterior of the car: from the front it looks aggressive and menacing but with the wheel arches looks very wide… from the side it looks a bit boring except for the side vents and mirrors... but when you are directly behind it, OMG it looks menacing with the quad exhaust staring at you.

I climbed in to the driver seat, pushed the break and clutch and fired up the engine… From inside the cabin it was very very quiet… The cabin itself was very comfortable… the seats (which I was very worried about) were very supportive and really quite excellent… The M steering wheel was great think and small, it was a perfect fit for my hand… I am also now sold on the extended leather, it looks and feels very nice and plush… Aside from that it was the same cabin was the same E92 cabin, simple, clean and elegant…

So first I played with the Enhanced Stereo, I only listened to FM and not for too long... My initial impression was for a car stereo it was good, $1900 good? Not sure about that but again I did not fully test it out and only listened to FM...

But enough of playing around lets drive this beast.

To be safe I started of with M mode off, power button off and EDC set to normal… I slow started making the car sportier until everything was set to sport/race settings… Below 4000rpm the car is docile and very easy for every day effortless driving but nudge past 4000rpm and the engine comes to life, you start to hear and feel the real power of the V8…

WOW this car is quick… damn quick…

It flies down straight aways, its flat round corners with insane grip… think your doing 50MHP? just look at the speedo reading triple digits! The steering is precise and goes exactly where you tell it to; you always feel in control…




But is the car any fun?

And I must say no… As I said before the car is lightening quick but you never feel like you’re going fast… The steering is precise and I bet I could hit any point in a corner but I would not feel it, I could not feel the anything from it… The suspension was flat round corners and there was tons of grip but even on the hardest setting of the EDC and M mode on, I found it on the soft side and very comfortable… The car just did not feel fast or sporty even though it was…

Is the car a great car??? Hell yes it is… And if I was driving cross country I would take an M3 in a second… But its not the car for me, I felt disconnected from what was going on around me but still in full control and although that sounds strange its the best way I can describe my M3 experience… It lacked general feedback which made drive less fun…

[m3bs]

I drove one this morning. I didn't even think it was that fast, although I didn't really push it hard. Maybe after break-in. Of course, I followed it up with some quality time in a M6, so my perspective may have been skewed.

I think I'm sticking with the 135.

[mbell75]

Originally Posted by Vivid

But is the car any fun?

And I must say no… As I said before the car is lightening quick but you never feel like you’re going fast… The steering is precise and I bet I could hit any point in a corner but I would not feel it, I could not feel the anything from it… The suspension was flat round corners and there was tons of grip but even on the hardest setting of the EDC and M mode on, I found it on the soft side and very comfortable…The car just did not feel fast or sporty even though it waa…I felt disconnected from what was going on around me but still in full control. It lacked general feedback which made drive less fun…

Its the lack of torque combined with too much weight. 295 lb-ft is really low for a V8 engine. Mustangs and Camaros were making that 15 years ago. Hell, the 135/335 makes more. Too many people look at horsepower when in fact the torque is alot of times what wins races and is what pulls the car and gives you the sensation of driving fast. So you need to keep the revs really high (above 6k RPM) to get the most out of the engine. This is the reason I would take a Z06 or even a C6 over an M3. You feel EVERYTHING and even 1st gear feels fast as hell.

[Slow]

That's odd. I thought most people would want to feel like they are driving slow when they are going fast... a sense of control.

If you want out-of-control at low speed, take my old Camry! She'll rattle and shake like nothing else.

[theslik1]

[john970]

People forget that torque only matters at the wheels, after it is geared. You can get some insight into the torque curve (which is what really matters) by comparing the torque curve to the hp numbers, but an engine that produces 10 ft/lbs could rip your head off if geared correctly.

So the 300 ft/lbs of the 135 works out to X g's in first and the 295 ft/lbs of the M3 works out to Y g's in first... Higher HP #'s means its generating that torque at a higher engine speed (rpm) and can therefor stay geared down longer, and you get the head jerking g's at a higher speed.

g's are what really matters but I'm too lazy to google all of the inputs and do the math. Maybe later......

Also keep in mind the M3 only generates 414/295 at sea level. Most of us live above that. The 135 generates 300/300 all day just about anywhere.

[sarafil]

I drove one this afternoon, and it was much faster than my MZ4 and faster than the 335's that I've driven. I'm dying to compare it with the 135i in terms of performance. One thing is for sure... that engine loves to rev, and has an amazing sound. No doubt, if I could afford/justify a $70k car I would get one in a heartbeat. I think the 135i will deliver very close performance for $25k less, but there is definitely a bit extra in the M3.

[E82tt6]

Somone on E90post ran one in his Attache-only 335i today. He pulled a car and half up to 100, and said the M3 was dropping back fast at that point.

He said that his 335i pulls his Z4MC that hard also, and he runs 12.6@113 with it.


http://www.e90post.com/forums/showpo...4&postcount=57

[vivid]

I bet there is not one broken-in M3 yet... So he might have pull on the M3 but if the M was shifting at 5500rpms then not a fair fight.

[Fast Kiwi]

Originally Posted by Vivid

I bet there is not one broken-in M3 yet... So he might have pull on the M3 but if the M was shifting at 5500rpms then not a fair fight.

And.............

as soon as you go round a corner, you can kiss that lead good bye.... the M will pull the 335 hard!!

[E82tt6]

Originally Posted by Vivid

I bet there is not one broken-in M3 yet... So he might have pull on the M3 but if the M was shifting at 5500rpms then not a fair fight.

If it were shifting at 5500 it would not be 113 mph trap fast. The newest test has it at 111.

He said it was identical to his Z4MC, which traps at 113.

Also, I have a buddy that most definitely has a broken in car :biggrin:

[harbour456]

To the OP: How did you like your Mark V VW GTI? I'm actually thinking of buying one due to the feel good factor of low price/fun to drive ratio. I would be "coming down" from my 2006 330i but I find my present car a little sterile to drive and wanted something more tossable. What are your impressions of the GTI after owing it for a while?

Cheers

[dna550]

I have not driven the new M3 yet, but I did sit in the coupe and the sedan and listened to the engine. The sound is amazing, very F1 sounding, even at low RPMs. Just sitting in the M3 it felt very much like an M5, a luxury feel and weighty too!

In fact the seats in the M5 & M6 felt narrower than the M3. Is BMW catering to bigger butts in the M3?

The drive in the 135i was very nice, comparing it to my track experiences with the 335i, the Z4 M Coupe the M5, and the M6, I would say that the 135i did not have have the noticeable weight of the engine in front of the Z4 M Coupe [Cast Iron block], it obviously didn't have the suspension stiffness of the M5 & 6, but the engine punch, in my short drive, isn't too far off of the mighty V-10 in the low end.

Compared to the 335i, the 135i felt much more put together.. Not a scientific comparison and months separate the various driving experiences.

Looking forward to driving the V-8.

[atr_hugo]

Is it a flat crank on the V8 M?

[dna550]

Originally Posted by atr_hugo

Is it a flat crank on the V8 M?

Not so flat:



With the distance between cylinders measuring only 98 millimetres or 3.86, the crankshaft made of forged, high-strength steel is relatively short, making it very stiff in terms of flexural and torsional strength and reducing the weight of the crankshaft to just 20 kg or 44 lb.

Running in five bearings, the crank-shaft has a main bearing measuring 60 millimetres or 2.36 in diameter, with bearing width of 28.2 millimetres or 1.11.

In each case two connecting rods act on one of the four crankpins offset from one another by 90.

http://www.automobilemag.com/auto_sh...se/weight.html

http://www.roadandtrack.com/article....rticle_id=5903

http://www.roadandtrack.com/gallery....slide=on&cnt=9

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_S65

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_S85

[atr_hugo]

I was digging around the inter-tube also and it would appear to be a split plane crank - wonder what the firing order is?

[dna550]

Basics
Type: 90 degree quad-cam four-valve V8.

Size: 4.0 Liters, a nice starting point for the first model year.

Torque: Only 295 ft-pounds of torque (400 N-m) at 3,900 RPM, sadly less than a BMW 540. Torque is at least 251 ft-lbs (340 N-m) from 2,000 to 6,500 RPM. BMW uses this weaker torque to let it use lighter drivetrain components to save weight. This V8's torque is barely 10% more than the old six.

Horsepower: 420 HP at 8,300 RPM.

Redline: 8,300 or 8,400 RPM, depending on where you read it in the press release.
Compression Ratio: 12:1.

I suspect the F1 sounds I heard are being generated by the breathing of the M3:

[atr_hugo]

That's stinking sculpture . . .

[dna550]

A Work of Art