E92 M3 Comp

[Z4M-2006]

Funny isnt it...

I couldnt fall in love with the M3...I test drove many E92 M3's as i was actively seeking one a couple of years ago

They seemed slow,lack of torque,waaaaay to much like a 320d inside.... Badly screwed together,maintenance costs were ridiculous(servicing and brakes) and the S65 spinning rod bearings is getting way to common..

I gave up in the end...

[Jaw]

Funny isnt it...

I couldnt fall in love with the M3...I test drove many E92 M3's as i was actively seeking one a couple of years ago

They seemed slow,lack of torque,waaaaay to much like a 320d inside.... Badly screwed together,maintenance costs were ridiculous(servicing and brakes) and the S65 spinning rod bearings is getting way to common..

I gave up in the end...

I guess it's all relative

I was much the opposite, wasn't looking at all because I had ruled them out for the same reasons. B

But jumping in, build quality seemed no worse than my Z4M which I was happy with, better than the 911 being newer. Lack of torque was relative, compared to the c63? Certainly, compared to something like the RS4 it's actually only marginally down. (17 lbs ft or so)

Couldn't really call it slow even in a straight line, a few post 0-60 times of sub 4.5, down to 3.6 with bolt ons, around a track it would make good progress too and when you wring its neck it certainly picks up pace quickly.

Think the M Performance wheel made that final bit of difference setting it apart from the rest - its much the same with all non stand alone models, I criticised the c63 for looking too c class inside. I do want to get some more aggressive seats to complete it though - not sure what would fit but the recaro euros are a favourite (although they're pretty weighty). something like the M4 or BMW Performance seats would be perfect and match the wheel too

again common is relative, I was reading that the early e46's suffered mostly with bearings? Although coming from a 996 I guess you get used to the hype surrounding these things. Still, I will aim for around 5-10k (kms) oil changes to give it the best care anyway (so far it's had an oil change every 10k so 6.2k miles)

[Z4M-2006]

All the bmw "S" derived engines have problems with bearing spin

Many bmw M owners look at them as a servicable item now.. god knows why, no other manufacturer seems to suffer the problems bmw do..

Like you say, the M3 is a great thing on the track and if that's where you spend most of your time then I can't think of a better car, they have a great chassis ... power and torque wise they are down on all other cars in their class... the 400 bhp claimed is well around the rpm range, totally unusable on the road and makes for a confusing, frustrating experience...

As you can tell I'm not a fan, and I have had previous generations M3's and adored them... to me the E9x was just a letdown..

Like you say, coming from a 996 you will be well used to that bum clench every morning as you twist the key

[Jaw]

All the bmw "S" derived engines have problems with bearing spin

Many bmw M owners look at them as a servicable item now.. god knows why, no other manufacturer seems to suffer the problems bmw do..

Like you say, the M3 is a great thing on the track and if that's where you spend most of your time then I can't think of a better car, they have a great chassis ... power and torque wise they are down on all other cars in their class... the 400 bhp claimed is well around the rpm range, totally unusable on the road and makes for a confusing, frustrating experience...

As you can tell I'm not a fan, and I have had previous generations M3's and adored them... to me the E9x was just a letdown..

Like you say, coming from a 996 you will be well used to that bum clench every morning as you twist the key

Never really crossed my mind that much at all, que sera sera and that, no point stressing about it and I find these things seem to be extremely blown out of proportion.

didn't find it unusable on the road, winding it up on the twisties was part of what sealed the deal for me

They are down power wise but not massively if you compare to say the offerings from Audi (RS5, RS4) which are also heavier with duller steering - but then out and out power isn't what the 3's about either I guess. I did used to write off the M3 for a lack of torque before I spent some time in the Z4M and grew to love it

I guess it's one of those things, at least the rods are doable through the sump, but at around 20k miles I should be a while off at any rate. Depends what sort of roads you drive on, how regular etc etc, it's a bit of a weekend warrior for me and I like having to wind up a car to get the best out of it so suits my driving style / some of the roads I have on my doorstep like these






Looking forwards to getting it on the track too for a real use case

[tomscott]

My dad had one of the first E92s in the UK for 3 years after 4 years of the E46.

Just didnt do it for me at all. On the road they just feel slow and you have to ring its neck all the time and once you get into the ball park where the power is your destroying the speed limit, frustrating when little turbo hatchbacks are barking and passing you. It was also heavy in fuel compared it averaged about 17mpg over the time we had it and when fuels £6 a gallon and its more a family car than a sportscar its not ideal. The E46 performance on the road wasnt a huge deal different. The E46 you could chuck around the E92 being built for the states was much bigger just wasnt the same. The interior was also lack lustre too and felt like a normal 3.

That being said ours was a first gen manual. Had all the bells and whistles but the newer facelift comp packs are a different ball game, Moved onto 911s by that time. Lost a small fortune on it too, think it was about 65k mark and sold it for 27k 3 years later with like 30k on it. Probably the worst purchase and left a sour taste. Actually made money on the E46.

On a positive note the engine is a triumph and it sounds fantastic and in a straight line its a great machine. Just as an all round package it was a bit disappointing. Didnt feel that special. They do have a few issues so keep an eye on them. TBH on the track they will sing but even so there are better weapons than m3s for the track.

Thing about the 911s is they are far more of an event every time you go out in it, they feel driver focused and the way they drive an M3 cant touch. At the end of the day the M3 isnt a sportscar its a fast saloon so I suppose with that in mind they do tick a few boxes.

The Z4M was probably the last proper M car, love the M2 but would be nice to get a few more bells and whistles with them at the end of the day they are saloons too but you cant get the trim of an M3. They feel a bit bargain basement inside, to me a sports car should have a luxury feel but also be focused and be aesthetically pleasing.

[Jaw]

My dad had one of the first E92s in the UK for 3 years after 4 years of the E46.

Just didnt do it for me at all. On the road they just feel slow and you have to ring its neck all the time and once you get into the ball park where the power is your destroying the speed limit, frustrating when little turbo hatchbacks are barking and passing you. It was also heavy in fuel compared it averaged about 17mpg over the time we had it and when fuels £6 a gallon and its more a family car than a sportscar its not ideal. The E46 performance on the road wasnt a huge deal different. The E46 you could chuck around the E92 being built for the states was much bigger just wasnt the same. The interior was also lack lustre too and felt like a normal 3.

That being said ours was a first gen manual. Had all the bells and whistles but the newer facelift comp packs are a different ball game, Moved onto 911s by that time. Lost a small fortune on it too, think it was about 65k mark and sold it for 27k 3 years later with like 30k on it. Probably the worst purchase and left a sour taste. Actually made money on the E46.

On a positive note the engine is a triumph and it sounds fantastic and in a straight line its a great machine. Just as an all round package it was a bit disappointing. Didnt feel that special. They do have a few issues so keep an eye on them. TBH on the track they will sing but even so there are better weapons than m3s for the track.

Thing about the 911s is they are far more of an event every time you go out in it, they feel driver focused and the way they drive an M3 cant touch. At the end of the day the M3 isnt a sportscar its a fast saloon so I suppose with that in mind they do tick a few boxes.

The Z4M was probably the last proper M car, love the M2 but would be nice to get a few more bells and whistles with them at the end of the day they are saloons too but you cant get the trim of an M3. They feel a bit bargain basement inside, to me a sports car should have a luxury feel but also be focused and be aesthetically pleasing.

That depreciation is horrific!!!

Will be interesting to see how it contrasts to the 911 - have kept it which I guess is also part of the reason why I'm not too bothered that it's a bit lardier - If I want a really raw experience then I'll jump in that. Like you say, simply can't compare a rear engine 911 with 300 odd kg less - but then IMO the Z4M can't compare to the right 911 either.

With the modded exhaust and suspension it does feel a lot more of an occasion, think a few choice mods will help add that little bit of edge to it, looking forwards to that

Would be really interesting to compare the early and late comp packs / non comp packs. I had originally ruled out the 92 (and had always ruled out the 46) for similar reasons in honesty - but it didn't feel the same as I remember it, not sure if it was mostly placebo, driving it after the 63 and an RS4 (extremely dull car and yet excellent at the same time, go figure)

I guess another factor is that fuel and depreciation aren't the same here as they are in the UK which sort of changes expectations a bit.

Agree with that re interiors, would have loved some slightly more bare seats , they'll be the first thing to go but I do love the wheel that said, such a small thing but it makes a big difference to me

[tomscott]

I think to add to the problem is that BMW dont make a sportscar anymore all they produce are fast saloons that try their best to be sports cars and really if you want NA then the E92 is the last bastion. The newer M3/4 greatly improves on the problem of low end torque and the placebo effect of speed with the turbo, but it has lost the soul of what an M car is not really sure which is better or worce.

The fact is there are limited options and its very difficult to decide on a more modern car.

The US is certainly a lot different in terms of culture of cars and gas prices. Traveled 3 months across the US in 2015 and the cheapest gas was about $2.60 per gallon in Shenandoah national park, mind was blown. Equivalent of £1.80 here. Like 60% cheaper per gallon its insane in some places you would pay £1.80 per litre in the UK for premium.

[LeeZ4MR]

I went Z4M to E92 M3 and I didn't get on with it either, I managed 10k miles/10 months and then got rid of it. Just too ordinary inside for me and not much happened until 6k rpm and with it being my daily I just couldn't drive it at 8400rpm very often so it didn't make much sense to me.

I thought it was really muted for a V8(exhaust wise), and the brakes didn't cope very well when pushing on. It was the torque to weight ratio that ruined the car for me.

Positives though were a lovely induction noise and a great chassis.

[Jaw]

I think to add to the problem is that BMW dont make a sportscar anymore all they produce are fast saloons that try their best to be sports cars and really if you want NA then the E92 is the last bastion. The newer M3/4 greatly improves on the problem of low end torque and the placebo effect of speed with the turbo, but it has lost the soul of what an M car is not really sure which is better or worce.

The fact is there are limited options and its very difficult to decide on a more modern car.

The US is certainly a lot different in terms of culture of cars and gas prices. Traveled 3 months across the US in 2015 and the cheapest gas was about $2.60 per gallon in Shenandoah national park, mind was blown. Equivalent of £1.80 here. Like 60% cheaper per gallon its insane in some places you would pay £1.80 per litre in the UK for premium.

Deffo agree as far as the newer m's go - nothing in the current lineup turns me on. A friend has an M4 and he took me out for a spin - I can't go as far as saying it isn't a sports car but it certainly didn't excite me all that much. Muted but mostly it just lacked a special something? But again with all the various packs, there might be a way to bring that back.

Like I say I'm not sure if I'd bought an e92 without the suspension/exhaust/trimmings etc the 2011ish one I drove bored me senseless and I remember ruling them out but the 13 as a package it felt like more than the sum of its parts and I enjoyed it from the first throttle blip.

I think its a few things, the general level of play has gone up and a sports car generally means being cocooned in the same way as a family car or 4x4 in the range (with many of the parts interchangable) which makes them feel a bit samesy, but with the F series I feel that the real problem is this brand dilution that Merc AMG and BMW M are having increasingly. You can get boggo 3 series with m badges, C180s with AMG badges everywhere, and each model comes in seemingly every conceivable shape (3 series? coupe? Saloon? x3?). I miss the days of when the M badge was only found on 3 cars in the range tbh. Like the M8 - I read today it is going to come in Coupe, Grancoupe and Saloon ( I Think). It's no longer a pinnacle, it's almost a trim level


The turbos don't help either, but as an avid Supra fan I don't quite understand 100% why but it's like the 918 boxster. I took one out for the weekend (the one in the pic above) a few weeks back. Spectacular car, one of the best, well priced point to point cars I can think of, but it's lost a bit of its bark and that sucks.

'98 is sitting at about 90p/litre here maybe about 70p for 95?