I've now had the pleasure of owning my M Coupe for 4 weeks now in which time I've covered 1,000 very happy miles.
As a long-time previous Zed owner I thought I'd post some thoughts on the new car (compared to the old) and my likes and dislikes of the Coupe so far.
Likes
1. Engine - well the engine has to be the first on the list. It dominates the M experience doesn't it? Tremendous noise and power and also good refinement for those times when you don't want to push on. It's also very strong in the gears despite the (relatively) low 269lb ft or torque. I very rarely rev the car beyond 5k revs but there is enough pace and aural pleasure at those revs to make it satisfying enough. The way the car just continues to build speed well into three figures is just awesome and is the major difference between the M and my old 3.0i. I remember a 0-100-0 test of my old car in Autocar when they figured the 231BHP 3.0i version at 5.7 to 60 but 15.8 to 100 and I was bit disappointed with that. It did seem to run out of steam a bit after 80mph. Not in the M though - it's still pulling like a train at 130mph and is 7 seconds quicker to 130 than the 3.0i (260 odd BHP) coupe. Autocar got it spot on when reviewing the M "this engine serves urge whatever the revs, though its at the upper end of its juicy 8000 rpm rev range that the most thrilling work occurs. That's where the soundtrack crescendos and the engine, sometimes whiny in the mid-range, comes over all hard edged and ferocious. And it's at this moment you know what you've paid for."
2. Grip - the grip is incredible. God knows how much welly you have to give this thing to get it to let go and they way it lowers when you plant the throttle on the exit of a corner I just love ! You can really feel the extra stiffness over the roadster which sometimes left me with a "will it or won't it" feeling as I went into a high-speed corner.
3. Steering - the hydraulic system is a big improvement over the electronic system in my old car and the car is much easier to point where you want it to go. It isn't quite as good as it could be though as anyone who has driven a Cayman S will testify. I am mystified though at why the "thick" steering wheel comes in for so much criticism in the motoring press. I love it !
4. Ride - surprisingly i find it much better than my old Zed (which had non RFT Dunlop SP9000's on it). It isn't perfect and on bumpy roads at speed can get a bit too "bouncy" but day-to-day its a more comfortable ride than my old car which I wasn't expecting. Maybe it is the slightly taller side walls (45 vs 40 on the front and 40 vs 35 on the rear).
5. Looks - it's a real head turner and I love my colour combo too. I wasn't searching for midnight blue and champagne particularly, I had an open mind but glad I chose it now. I've been surprised at how many people have noticed it and you can tell they are thinking/saying "oh that's one of those Z4M coupes.....you don't see many of them". It looks like a mini supercar IMO.
6. Economy - again pleased with the 22.0 MPG I've averaged so far which is based on majority urban.
7. Sport button - hilarious ! the sport button on my old car didn't seem to do much other than improve the steering weight at high speed. I certainly never really noticed the so called sharper throttle response. But on this car.....my god its almost comical in town !
Dislikes (which although quite large in number are only minor niggles !!!)
1. Stereo - I've got the Logic 7 but in the relatively little time I've had to play about with it the sound still sounds tinny and poor. Maybe I just need to play around with the various settings a bit more.
2. Voice control - seems pointless and is pretty user un-friendly IMO.
3. Bluetooth - connected my Nokia 3720 classic up straightaway but only about 8 address book names. I'm getting an HTC soon and apparently they work quite well with the BMW bluetooth so hopefully that will improve things.
4. Rear parcel shelf - because its just a fairly flimsy cover I find that when you have anything in the boot you can hear it moving about/clonking whilst you're driving which I find annoying. Surely they could have insulated the driver from this a bit more effectively.
5. Build Quality - Interesting that on the new E89 Z4 (which I've driven twice in 35i guise) that the interior and overall build quality is light years head of mine (as is the new 5-series or 5-series GT). For a car which cost its original owner nearly £50k it is nowhere near good enough. Like most BMW's it has some orange peel paint (the 09 325d M sport coupe the dealership lent me whilst I was waiting for my car also suffered from it). The interior plastics are cheap in places and the switchgear also not of the required quality. There are also odd squeaks and rattles but thankfully nothing really annoying. I find it strange that the facelift interior was no better than my pre-facelift Z4 Roadster's.
All in all though I absolutely adore the car. I cannot wait in the mornings to start the engine, listen to that burble on idle on a cold morning and get in and drive it. It puts a smile on my face everyday which in the year after a divorce is quite an important characteristic ! Hopefully by christmas I will have purchased a smaller 'eco box' type car to do my daily drudgery miles so that the M can be properly pampered as a weekend toy.
It's my first M, something I've been aspiring towards for many years and hopefully it will be the first of many.
If you've got this far thank you for reading my rambling thoughts and hope to see a lot of you in July in the Lake District !
Cheers
Steve
As a long-time previous Zed owner I thought I'd post some thoughts on the new car (compared to the old) and my likes and dislikes of the Coupe so far.
Likes
1. Engine - well the engine has to be the first on the list. It dominates the M experience doesn't it? Tremendous noise and power and also good refinement for those times when you don't want to push on. It's also very strong in the gears despite the (relatively) low 269lb ft or torque. I very rarely rev the car beyond 5k revs but there is enough pace and aural pleasure at those revs to make it satisfying enough. The way the car just continues to build speed well into three figures is just awesome and is the major difference between the M and my old 3.0i. I remember a 0-100-0 test of my old car in Autocar when they figured the 231BHP 3.0i version at 5.7 to 60 but 15.8 to 100 and I was bit disappointed with that. It did seem to run out of steam a bit after 80mph. Not in the M though - it's still pulling like a train at 130mph and is 7 seconds quicker to 130 than the 3.0i (260 odd BHP) coupe. Autocar got it spot on when reviewing the M "this engine serves urge whatever the revs, though its at the upper end of its juicy 8000 rpm rev range that the most thrilling work occurs. That's where the soundtrack crescendos and the engine, sometimes whiny in the mid-range, comes over all hard edged and ferocious. And it's at this moment you know what you've paid for."
2. Grip - the grip is incredible. God knows how much welly you have to give this thing to get it to let go and they way it lowers when you plant the throttle on the exit of a corner I just love ! You can really feel the extra stiffness over the roadster which sometimes left me with a "will it or won't it" feeling as I went into a high-speed corner.
3. Steering - the hydraulic system is a big improvement over the electronic system in my old car and the car is much easier to point where you want it to go. It isn't quite as good as it could be though as anyone who has driven a Cayman S will testify. I am mystified though at why the "thick" steering wheel comes in for so much criticism in the motoring press. I love it !
4. Ride - surprisingly i find it much better than my old Zed (which had non RFT Dunlop SP9000's on it). It isn't perfect and on bumpy roads at speed can get a bit too "bouncy" but day-to-day its a more comfortable ride than my old car which I wasn't expecting. Maybe it is the slightly taller side walls (45 vs 40 on the front and 40 vs 35 on the rear).
5. Looks - it's a real head turner and I love my colour combo too. I wasn't searching for midnight blue and champagne particularly, I had an open mind but glad I chose it now. I've been surprised at how many people have noticed it and you can tell they are thinking/saying "oh that's one of those Z4M coupes.....you don't see many of them". It looks like a mini supercar IMO.
6. Economy - again pleased with the 22.0 MPG I've averaged so far which is based on majority urban.
7. Sport button - hilarious ! the sport button on my old car didn't seem to do much other than improve the steering weight at high speed. I certainly never really noticed the so called sharper throttle response. But on this car.....my god its almost comical in town !
Dislikes (which although quite large in number are only minor niggles !!!)
1. Stereo - I've got the Logic 7 but in the relatively little time I've had to play about with it the sound still sounds tinny and poor. Maybe I just need to play around with the various settings a bit more.
2. Voice control - seems pointless and is pretty user un-friendly IMO.
3. Bluetooth - connected my Nokia 3720 classic up straightaway but only about 8 address book names. I'm getting an HTC soon and apparently they work quite well with the BMW bluetooth so hopefully that will improve things.
4. Rear parcel shelf - because its just a fairly flimsy cover I find that when you have anything in the boot you can hear it moving about/clonking whilst you're driving which I find annoying. Surely they could have insulated the driver from this a bit more effectively.
5. Build Quality - Interesting that on the new E89 Z4 (which I've driven twice in 35i guise) that the interior and overall build quality is light years head of mine (as is the new 5-series or 5-series GT). For a car which cost its original owner nearly £50k it is nowhere near good enough. Like most BMW's it has some orange peel paint (the 09 325d M sport coupe the dealership lent me whilst I was waiting for my car also suffered from it). The interior plastics are cheap in places and the switchgear also not of the required quality. There are also odd squeaks and rattles but thankfully nothing really annoying. I find it strange that the facelift interior was no better than my pre-facelift Z4 Roadster's.
All in all though I absolutely adore the car. I cannot wait in the mornings to start the engine, listen to that burble on idle on a cold morning and get in and drive it. It puts a smile on my face everyday which in the year after a divorce is quite an important characteristic ! Hopefully by christmas I will have purchased a smaller 'eco box' type car to do my daily drudgery miles so that the M can be properly pampered as a weekend toy.
It's my first M, something I've been aspiring towards for many years and hopefully it will be the first of many.
If you've got this far thank you for reading my rambling thoughts and hope to see a lot of you in July in the Lake District !
Cheers
Steve
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