Quote:
Originally Posted by pbonsalb
You can lighten an E90M3 also. I think it would feel better with 10% less weight, but that takes some money or some sacrifice in comfort. If I keep my car long term, I may drop a little weight, but more like 5% (exhaust, battery, brakes, seats, wheels).
While I understand the purist perspective, I like comfort with my speed and handling. I have little interest in driving our 2002 or Bavaria, for example, and reach for the keys of the E90M3 more than the keys to the 500+ rwhp/500+ lbs rwtq E36M3 (though the E36M3 is comfortable enough that I still drive it year round). I also like ABS brakes. And I don't object to sophisticated traction control (though the standard E90M3 version is a little intrusive so I may go to the Euro MDM version).
I thought about an E46M3 before buying the E90M3, but I would have had to mod it to make it perform like I wanted. They are decent cars. If I just wanted an upgrade from a stock E36M3, the E46M3 or a 135i would have been my choice. The E90M3 is another step up the ladder from the E46M3 in terms of performance.
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You can lighten an e9X, but you have an significantly heavier starting weight and BMW already did a lot of weight saving-- e.g. CF roof, plastic fenders, etc. BMW really went to town on it, as the underlying e9X chassis is heavy! As in, if you compare same spec e60s and e90s (eg 535xi auto vs 335xi auto, or 328i manual vs 528i manual), the curb weight of the e60 is only 70 lbs more than the e90! With that in mind, it's actually pretty impressive that they got the M3 down to 300 lbs lighter than the e60 M5.
My 46 is the civility retaining (expensive route) lightweight-- hence the sub 3100 lb curb weight target.
My 36 is the all out lightness car, civility be damned, hence the current 2315 lb weight.