[SamS]

Originally Posted by bvanderbilt

Actually people were up in arms, a lot of people swore they would never buy the E9X because the "M division has given up on the inline 6".

People make the argument that "every generation thus far has been an improvement over the last one."

Well yeah, but look at the E9X M3. The budget for the car must have been astronomical. One off engine not used anywhere else. Only the doors and the trunk lid (if I remember correctly) are shared with the 3-series. 5K worth of CF roof on top and 20K worth of suspension upgrades underneath. All for a single model run of one low volume (compared to overall sales) car.

I agree that it is (was) nice to have a car that obviously cost so much in R&D and material cost, relative to its MSRP. And the benefits of all that expense were/are definitely realized.

However, there have been lots of advancements in the past 10 years in regards to manufacturing tolerances, weight reduction, improved ECU, mechanical components like differentials, etc.

Just look at the interior of the M6, or it's new diff. Those two things would have been impossible, or cost prohibitive in 2006 when the E9x M3 was in development.

Originally Posted by bvanderbilt

That kind of staggering expense is dead and gone and cost-cutting is in due to the economic downturn; no-one, even BMW M was immune. So efficiency and cross-company sharing are now the name of the game.

Will the F30 M3 be better than the E92 M3? Possibly. But the E92 M3 is the last of its breed in a way that the E46 was not. Not only will the new car be turbocharged (with all the implications thereof) but the car will not be a dedicated M car with 99% of parts separate from mainline production with an esoteric engine. Can M still turn out something spectacular under their new constraints? I'm sure they can! But how much more amazing would the F30 be if it was coming out before the fiscal crisis rather than in 2012? We will never know.

Therefore I think most of the arguments about "Hey, look at the past" are invalid in this case because the past situation was nothing like what is happening now. That's why I'm more than happy to pick up the last of the E92 M3s exactly how I want it on a lease. If the F30 is amazing and resale plummets then I win because I leased. If the F30 sucks then I have the option of keeping the car - or selling what will be probably the most desirable (minimal) configuration. Win.

Just a small nit-pick... the replacement for the M3 is chassis code F80/F82/F83.

Of course the past is not the same as it is now, but in many ways it is better. We already see the F20 M135i running almost the same lap time as the 1M.

The E92 M3 was no more the last of it's breed than the E46 (straight 6, NA). Maybe the E46 can even be considered "more pure" because of all the elecro-wizardry in the E9x M models, that will surely be bettered by the F80 cars.

One thing is for sure, the E9x M3 feels pretty heavy. So much so that it takes some fun out of driving it. BMW M GmbH have already said the new car will be lighter and faster. What's not to love about that?