A salutation to the M3

[ruff]

The M3 is an incredible car: A visual and auditory delight. It is quick, fast, well balanced, and agile on it's feet. It even has room for a party of four to enjoy the whole magic carpet ride together. A heritage only matched by the Corvette and 911. It offers two excellent tranmission choices and the best trick LSD in a production car. The M boys did us good. I love M3s like no other car.

Through no fault of their own, the M boys couldn't have been unluckier in the timing of the release of their latest beast. Economics and fuel prices are in the process of killing the sales of this car. This is good for the current M owner and the enthusiast who can look past the present and into the future and see the much bigger picture. The high revving flat torqued S65 is an "exotic" sounding and performing piece of engineering genius that could of pushed the M3 into 80+k territory. Instead, one with a fair amount of means, can purchase a base car at bargain basement price of less than 60k and they even throw in a free car and maintenance to boot. Who would of thunk?

What are BMW and the M division to do in economic times that resemble the 70s. May I make some humble suggestions. FI needs to be the future of BMW but not the M Division. I hope BMW sticks with the basic configuration of the S65. They had better be working on implementing cutting edge DFI technology and the much ballyhooed KERS technology into a new S65. Imagine in few short years the M3 gaining a second life with a NA powerplant that now generates in the neighborhood of 450 hp with a high red line, flat as a table top torque curve and weighs the same or if we are real lucky, a bit less than the current car. And here is the kicker 23+ mpg highway and NO gas guzzler tax. DFI is the critical component to making this car happen. The same treatment can be done to the amazing S85 V10. Again, as I have argued until I am blue in the face, DFI is the critical component here. The R&D needs to be spent there, rather than the current focus of hocus pocus and overly complicated electronics that dilute the driving experience, drive up cost, and create reliability issues galore.

Then BMW can finally bring to market a true halo M car, the worthy successor to the vaunted M1. A V8/V10 configured mid engine car weighing significantly less than the M3 and at a slightly lower price point than a heavier all wheel drive R8...I like dreaming, especially about playing cat and mouse with an F430.

Finally, BMW must decide to CPO their current and future M cars. To not, is simply conceding to the wise consumer what BMW must already understand that owning an M for more than a few years will be a reliability and money pit nightmare. BMW stop washing your hands of your M cars once the dotted line has been signed. Simplify your cars and make them more reliable and support your own product with a CPO stamp of approval.

[Krueger///M3]

[RandyB]

Bravo!

I agree with all of that, especialy this part:

Again, as I have argued until I am blue in the face, DFI is the critical component here. The R&D needs to be spent there, rather than the current focus of hocus pocus and overly complicated electronics that dilute the driving experience, drive up cost, and create reliability issues galore.

[Davinhci]

[M3 LUST]

+ Infinity

[Ronin13]

Very well stated.

[ruff]

Randy,

The Pilot Antoine de Saint Exupery eloquently stated it this way: "Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away, when a body has been stripped down to its nakedness."

[Hans Delbruck]

Weeelllll... look who's a fanboy now!

Originally Posted by ruff

Finally, BMW must decide to CPO their current and future M cars. To not, is simply conceding to the wise consumer what BMW must already understand that owning an M for more than a few years will be a reliability and money pit nightmare. BMW stop washing your hands of your M cars once the dotted line has been signed. Simplify your cars and make them more reliable and support your own product with a CPO stamp of approval.

YES. BMW ARE YOU LISTENING? Not CPO'ing says EVERYTHING.

And on the DFI... latest Roundel says next M5 rumored to get N/A 5.5 V10 with DI. Don't give up hope; these things take time. Bad news is Roundel also reports BMW is cutting the number of workers on its assembly line while increasing production. Not to mention the impact of newly proposed CAFE standards... get ready for some reealllly laaarge BMWs if those dumbo rules go through.....

Nicely put, BMW fanboy.

[RandyB]

Originally Posted by ruff

Randy,

The Pilot Antoine de Saint Exupery eloquently stated it this way: "Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away, when a body has been stripped down to its nakedness."

I like that. Less is more. I'm definitely a purist when it comes to cars. BMW seems to be really enamored by electronic complexity. It certainly has its place but it makes me nervous when they want to infuse every aspect of the car with it. I feel a sense of urgency to buy that one last car that I can keep before they become something that is no longer appealing to me. I hope I'm wrong, however.

[RandyB]

Originally Posted by Hans Delbruck

And on the DFI... latest Roundel says next M5 rumored to get N/A 5.5 V10 with DI.

I hope this means that the next M3 will be getting N/A 4.4 V8 with DI.

[stickypaws]

BMW is a for-profit company. It will do what it does based on future profitability. If the M we all want doesn't quite fit into that plan, then that's the way it goes. The auto industry is in a major paradigm shift right now. Raw materials, export costs, monetary exchange, credit availability, and tenuous global political/economic trends will be the real decision maker.

[WhiteFlashE90]

Yup ... BMW is a for profit company. So, nothing stops them from creating a M CPO program that is potentially more costly for the consumer, but completes their product basket. Pricing is about understanding costs ... I'm sure there is enough M history by now + they can model in inflationary costs. BMW can surely create a M CPO that covers cost and satisfies customer demand.

[MTROIS]

Originally Posted by ruff

Randy,

The Pilot Antoine de Saint Exupery eloquently stated it this way: "Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away, when a body has been stripped down to its nakedness."

OMG... a reference to my favorite writer!! Reading this kind of quotes here makes me so proud to be a M3Post member, especially since it describes so well my way of thinking too!!!

Thanks ruff!!!!!

[JEllis]

Hi Ruff,

Feels like you have been gone a while!

Jason

[swamp2]

Originally Posted by JEllis

Hi Ruff,

Feels like you have been gone a while!

Jason

+1. Howdy Ruff. The M3 still has some bees in your bonnet eh? +1 on the post as well. Some minor disagreement here and there, but mostly agree. Decide on a new car yet?

On topic: Based on the number of M3s I see on the roads and comparing that to the launch year of the E46 M3 I would have to conclude that sales are presently way lower than at that time. Luckily for BMW the economy is cyclical and will likely recover during the run of the E9X M3.

[e36jakeo]

Very nice, Ruff. Totally agree with the DI need, especially when the 911s are coming out with more power and torque and better fuel economy by using it. Interestingly, even without DI the S65 achieves a better HP/liter than either of the 911's flat 6s. Of course the 3.6L in the GT3 is another story (and another price point) . . .

[kbk_75]

Well written Ruff! A 4.4L DI'd V8 sounds great! I think the price of fuel will determine a lot in the years ahead though...

[e46e92love]

Well said and well written. PERIOD.

[arr0gant]

Ruff for president!!

[!Xoible]

OP thanks for the right up. great write up.

best part is when you went "Who would of thunk?"

[ruff]

Originally Posted by Hans Delbruck

Weeelllll... look who's a fanboy now!

Hans Delbruck,

Your Magistrate and esteemed Master of the the Art of War, you don't say. I imagined trolling through the choir pews, seeking, if only for a fleeting moment, bold face flattery and the Contra Wagner. Shall I, in submissive admiration, pay homage to the piper laying waste, en route C63 through the Benz of German Existentialism?

[Xelloss]

Well written Ruff. Imagine the performance and economic gains we can get if BMW M added DI to their engines. Just look at what Audi is getting from DI and yet they can only follow BMW who has yet to implement it.