I have had the M3 for 6 days and ~600 miles, I did a 300 mile round trip to Pennsylvania yesterday.

I am going to go over a few points what I think of the car etc. I am posting this on a couple of forums so it may be repeated information to some.

I had thought of maybe getting a GTR but they are so hard to get, likely it would have been 6-10 months and I don’t know what the mark-ups would be. The GTR is a hellacious performer and much quicker than the M3 but as I will point out later the power/speed of the M3 is good enough for me.

It’s a wonder the GTR is such a massive car ~ 300 heavier than the M3 and 2-3 inches longer wider but much smaller rear seat, the chop roof is the culprit.

I got the M3 coupe (not sedan) for looks/style especially the CF roof looks cool. The coupe is a PITA to get in the back but once in it’s fairly roomy. I’m 6-2 and got in back to see if I could sit behind myself. (yes and no). I could fit but was pressed in from all sides, kids have lost of room though. It’s inconvenient to get people in out as you need to get out of the car and the rear seat is cockpit style, also it’s hard for older folk to climb out.

As a side note, the other options 911 or GTR are much less roomy in back. The M3 is better for me in that regard. (C&D data, the GTR has 10 cu feet more than the 911 and the M3 has 11 cu feet more than the GTR).

I am still new to the car and have to take it easy for the first 1200 miles so it’s hard to evaluate the DCT and peak-power is off limits but even still it’s getting me in trouble and sure to be more power than I need.

I got the DCT (dual clutch transmission). This was hard for me to decide on since I ordered without a test drive. I test drove the 6MT twice so I knew what that was like. My car was the first DCT sold by my dealership. The DCT has 7-speeds but they are very close ratio. I think 7th is less than 10% taller than 6th in the 6MT car. Meaning it’s not a gas saving gear like you would find in a Corvette. 80 mph in 7th is turning ~3000 rpms, that’s near TQ peak, but the fuel economy leaves a lot to be desired. I’m looking at 16 – 18 MPG in mixed driving which is right about the middle of the 14/20 epa rating.

I am a novice at driving the DCT so it’s hard to say with a certainly. But here are a few thoughts. The DCT (in the US) defaults to S3 (sequential) and there is no way to change the setting to let it default to D (automatic). This is very silly as if you leave the car at a valet or anyone who doesn’t understand the car needs to be shifted or else you will rev the hell out of it. It would be far better to default to D mode or better yet have it be a setting that you can choose what you want the default to be. Someone at BMW should have a good excuse for this it’s very dumb IMO. I hear in Europe it does default to D3.

DCT won’t up-shift (in S mode) but it will downshift for you. Sometimes, this feature could be a bit off. For example, if you are slowing down, you want to get to 1st but unless you make a full stop you will stay in 2nd, then you want to go and you may not be moving off as well as you wish. You can select 1st when you think about it so not going to be deal but the first time is a surprise.

The transmission has to predict if you are going to stop or roll-on and in D-mode has to predict if it should shift-up or stay in gear or shift down and sometimes it’s not correct. Fortunately you can easily pick the gear you want even if you are in D-mode the up/down paddles or gear shift will override and you can even select 1st while still moving if you know you are going to roll-on. One time I noticed it downshifted to 1st when I was not stopping and it and was a little herky-jerky

If you’re in D or S doesn’t matter, the car takes a quarter-beat to get off from a stop. this makes sense, if you are driving a MT car you take off after you rev the engine and release the clutch. This happens with the DCT as well, but it takes a fraction of a second to rev up and the clutch-out. If you give it more gas the pause is much less but I have not been too aggressive during break-in so I can’t say yet.

As for smoothness and speed of shifts the DCT is amazing. It’s unreal. I took my wife with me on my second test drive (of the MT car) and she got sea-sick. But with the DCT there is no head-jerk and most people can not even tell when a shift happens. The super quick and short gearing make the car very quick.

I have not pushed it yet, but one time I got a chirp 1-2 and 2-3 shift and that was still shifting short but full throttle. I believe when I’m not worried about short-shifting the car will come alive. Also, the car revs very quick (as I said the gears are so close together) and it’s not hard to blow past 6000+.

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My car has i-drive, navi, active shocks, premium sound, comfort access etc.. the worst feature is the i-drive/navi. You have to dig into the i-drive all the time. There are some short-cuts, but things like AM/FM/CD/AUX I’d prefer having a hard button any day. Also there are only 6 pre-program buttons, I would like dozen more.

I love the comfort access (keyless-go) and think it’s one of the best features. But the only way to get it is to order the technology package. Also, the premium sound, you can’t get it unless you first get navi/i-drive.

This car had many nice touches like the auto-wipers and there is a feature you can set a timer to pre-circulate the air (not sure how that works yet) and many other features I am still trying to figure out.

Bottom line.. I do not regret my choice. No car is perfect and there are a few things I wish were different. And I wish the options were not so expensive and I wish it got better fuel economy.

Do I wish it was quicker or had more power? No. I could have a Viper or Z06 for similar money. But the M3 is scary enough for me. I’m still in break-in and this thing goes. I can only assume it’s going to haul *** when I can use full throttle and full-RPMs. I find myself shocked to be doing 100 mph and didn’t even know it. This car is so calm and composed at high speeds even on twisty roads, it’s easy to be going too fast. If it was much quicker, I’d be scared to death. One thing’s a let down especially after the S2000 is how calm the M3 is. I mean the engine at 7000 rpm feels the same as at 3000. It does not feel like it’s going to spin itself apart.

 

 

random post warning:

i noticed on an m3 yesterday, that there is a turn signal blinker on the little bar in side vent ... i thought that was really cool

 

man i am jealous....

 

Check out the July issue of Car & Driver... The M3 beat the GT-R in their comparison test. Have fun with your new ride!

 

but the comparisons it won was like about having more cargo room ect.... even the bmw guys laughed at that comparison...

anyways nice car... i saw it in person not too long ago and couldn't help but stare at it for a while

 

congrats!!!

If you have driven the SMG, I would appreciate if you can compare the 2.

 

Yeah those magazines comparisons dont really meant anything.

 

Hey rai, great write-up. Thanks!

 

Congragulations, rai.

Looks just like the coupe I recently reviewed....blue with light gray leather, except that I had a manual one.

I think you probably did the right thing getting the DCT. I wasn't impressed with the manual's shift-lever action and overly-ensitive clutch. I understand, though, DCTs are hard to get.

And I'm sure you've noticed that the V8 engine in this car is like more or less like two VTEC Honda in-line fours hooked together.......super-high RPM peaks for both HP and torque. The 295 ft-lbs torque peak lags well behind the 416 HP peak, especially at lower RPM. So, like Hondas, to get max acceleration, you have to go to almost motorcyle RPMs.

 

thanks,

the leather is actually black, but maybe the picture doesn't show that with the sunlight.

As for the V8, I had a S2000 and this is just about 2x the power and more than 2x the TQ. But it does not feel weak for me. The transmission is very close ratio so each gear does not bite off more than it can chew, and as I said at 80 MPH it's at 3000 RPM which is near the peak TQ. That way this engine is much more twist than the S2000 since it starts sooner and stays around for most of the show.

I have not driven a BMW SMG before but have driven in the F430 and Gallardo. The DCT is way more smooth. I wish for more kick at shift but I think it's mainly because I am being easy in the gas for break-in. One time I did a full throttle acceleration in the higher shift setting and was much more feeling of shifting. But if you are taking it easy the shifts are imperceptible.

 

nice.

may I ask the MSRP?

shame about i-drive -- I just don't get it (at all).

 

just under $70K we'll call it $70K nice even number (not including TTL)

i-drive is required for premium sound, can't get premium sound until you check the i-drive option.

I could live without that, but I was really wanting comfort access which for every other BMW (including the 3-series) is a stand alone option, but the M3 only can get it with the technology package..

Technology also includes M-drive which is a hot key (nothing great) but had the only way to get a second steering wheel setting and a middle stability control setting. It makes no sense, they could have on/middle/off on the same button but they don't. Other countries can get M-drive and comfort access as stand alone options but not the US.

If I recall, the coupe is like $56K

options:
metallic paint $500
technology package $3200
DCT $2700
Premium package (leather, bluetooth, carbon-leather trim) $2000
premium sound $1900
i-pod/USB control $500
sat radio $500
GG tax $1300
delivery $700

 

no doubt it looks better than the GTR.

 

Very nice. I definitely would have gotten the optional 19s though.