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      08-25-2007, 02:57 PM   #63
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Drives: M3 CSL, AMG ML63, B7 RS4 Avant
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: England

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Another point worth sharing. I was dwelling on the question of whether the M3 was better than the 335i in the kind of normal daily drive, rather than the kind of roads that play to its increased performance.

I drove along in 5th gear at 2000 rpm and then put my foot down to see what happened. The exhaust note hardened, and it took around the count of 1-2-3 before we were at 3000 rpm. So I see two bonuses there, firstly it sounds a heck of a lot meaner than a 335i, and secondly it pulled hard from low down in 5th. So it has plenty of big-engined grunt low down in the revs, and yet it pulled from 6000 rpm to 8500 rpm faster than any other car in the test (M5 and M6 included). In fact over that last surge of rpm, I would say it felt like one of the fastest cars BMW have ever produced.

So compared to the 335i it loses nothing in terms of low-down grunt, but would destroy it over the last few thousand rpm. I cannot imagine anyone feeling short changed if they moved from 335i to M3.
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