Drove the C63 AMG again.....Then went to drive the ///M3 again

[lvwirelessguy]

I was like a lot of you guys hating on the C63 for a long time until I pulled the trigger on one. Wanted a sporty sedan to compliment my E92 M3. Already had the E60 M5, loved it. RS4 would have been good a couple of years back, E90 M3 would have been redundant. Fell in love with the C63 after my first test drive, everything about the car was awesome except it had no LSD and the suspension wasn’t sporty enough for me.

Fast forward to October 3rd when I picked up my loaded C63 with performance package. To me the C63 looks better than the E90 sedan, but not by a ton. Seats are no comparison, getting into the C63 is like putting your hand into a perfectly fitting leather glove. Comand system took me a little while to adjust to, but now I prefer it to i-drive for most functions. MUCH faster than i-drive and much easier on the eyes. Fit and finish of the interior is very nice, I am very glad that even though it feels very German its not a copy of anyone else’s interior.

One of my major issues about buying the C63 before had to do with its automatic transmission. There was no need for this at all. The transmission works great in any of its 3 modes, and in manual mode it completely locks out the torque converter so you have full control over it. Want to bounce off the redline? knock yourself out.

The engine sound, exhaust note are VERY intoxicating. The blipping on the downshifts as well. This car is more fun to drive than the M3 when you really aren't on it. The m3 is just too sedate at low rpms, not that its lacking anything in torque or hp IMHO. When you really do put your foot into the throttle on the C63, make sure you are ready for takeoff. It pushes you back into the seat like few other cars in my experience have. Then I am left with a shit eating grin

I have more seat time now in my C63 than I do in my M3. I went on a 5900 mile road trip that took me almost a month. To say I bonded with the car would be a massive understatement. The car equipped with The PP is very harsh on nasty roads like the ones I encountered in Philly, NYC, Montreal. For the first week I had the car I was wondering if getting the PP was a mistake. It wasn't. It reminds me more of my E46 M3's suspension, since there are no settings. You just have to deal with the brutality of it sometimes ;-) The brakes are awesome and give you a lot of confidence in bringing the beast to a halt. I am not looking forward to shelling out cash for brake servicing though, one very nice reason to have a BMW.

My particular gas guzzling pig actually is more fuel efficient than the M3. There were long stretches on the trip where I would get 21mpg going around 75mph. For the last 1600 miles of my trip I got close to 19mpg. Where fuel economy really suffers is stop and go traffic, absolutely murders it. At 80mph on the highway the engine is barely turning 2k rpm, this is why you can get good gas mileage if you aren’t too heavy on the throttle.

IMHO steering on the C63 is slightly better than on the M3, there is more feel thru the steering wheel. I really won't be able to compare the car fully to the M3 until I spend a couple of days on the track with it.

I am not going to say that you should buy one over the other, since both are so damn good. My suggestion is to buy BOTH as I did. Thru the course of time I will decide if I keep both or one gets kicked to the curb.

Didn't mean to ramble so much, but I just wanted to give my take on what kind of car the newly focused AMG is capable of these days

[Hans Delbruck]

Originally Posted by UltimateBMW

Wow, stereotype much?



No, and I'm definately dumber having read this post.

See what I mean now? The tone of this thread says a lot about the majority of M3 owners, at least the ones posting on this forum. Stereotypes are there for a reason. I don't fit the stereotype of a "Benz" owner, but I don't let it bother me. Why does a stereotype of an M3 owner bother you? However, if someone's going to talk smack about my car, then yes -- I can choose to waste my time here talking to the little M3 fanboys about why I chose the C63. There needs to be some balance. 6.2l is indeed larger than 4.0.... I think we're onto something here. Something limbic.

[Hans Delbruck]

Originally Posted by lvwirelessguy

My particular gas guzzling pig actually is more fuel efficient than the M3.
Didn't mean to ramble so much, but I just wanted to give my take on what kind of car the newly focused AMG is capable of these days

Well put and you brought up a lot of key points. My car also managed 22mpg on a long highway trip.

Are you planning to do an ECU mod?

[lvwirelessguy]

Originally Posted by sparkyg

Wow, so many M3 haters

Does anyone realize gas is not going to be getting cheaper and a 6.3 l engine is foolish.

Why not get a hemi p/u truck.

The M3 is truly a classic car that will maintain value and will always be a classic.

The Merc will get chucked on another used car lot in a couple years and there will be another one with a big engine and people will buy it because the exhaust sounds better.

In this case the bigger slower turning 6.2L V8 gets better gas mileage than the high revving 4.0L V8.

Shocker I know!

[bimmerj]

The two cars are different, both are excellent and from my experience driving the two cars, owning BMWs for the past 12 years and the C63 recently. For 90% of the driving done by about 80 % of the people the C63 blows the M3 out of the water, no comparison.

Since I got my C63, I always have people asking me what type of Mercedes it is or looking at it, examining the brakes or looking inside at the seats. No one even noticed my BMWs.

[lvwirelessguy]

Originally Posted by Hans Delbruck

Well put and you brought up a lot of key points. My car also managed 22mpg on a long highway trip.

Are you planning to do an ECU mod?

Lets just say that sometime in the VERY near future I will be re-claiming all those lost ponies

[M3 Montreal]

Originally Posted by bimmerj

No one even noticed my BMWs.

Wow... Im just the opposite. I get a ton of comments and looks all the time.

[Heat00]

thats funny because in a recent car and driver issue it showed their observed fuel economy of I believe 10 or 11 MPG on the C63. How is that better than an M3? And yes, they were probably driving hard but they were also driving the M hard and I'm sure c63 owners are driving in spirited fashions too?
So to say that it gets better gas mileage than the M is probably incorrect.

[Heat00]

I've had my M3 for 2 weeks and have been stopped many times with lookers and compliments.
and thats not to turn it into this type of thread or bragging but since it was brought up.. lol

that is not why I bought the car, maybe i'm not a stereotype bmw owner. I bought the M because of what I heard as far as the overall car, handling, chasis, etc etc... so what if it's a bit slower than the c63... everything I read and heard from owners has proven true, no way can the c63 give you that "bmw" feel of the road, that I've come to know and love, lol....

I really think the M is a way nicer looking car, by far.

[lvwirelessguy]

Originally Posted by Heat00

thats funny because in a recent car and driver issue it showed their observed fuel economy of I believe 10 or 11 MPG on the C63. How is that better than an M3? And yes, they were probably driving hard but they were also driving the M hard and I'm sure c63 owners are driving in spirited fashions too?
So to say that it gets better gas mileage than the M is probably incorrect.

Well DOH, when you are really on the gas in any car it will kill the fuel economy.

I am sure that when you have the M3 at the track you would be lucky to get double digit fuel economy

I was simply talking about real world experience. You can't compare mpg that you get when flogging a car around to what would happen on a day to day basis

[M3WC]

Originally Posted by Congoman775

IMO the bad thing about the C is its interior. is almost spartan compared to a the M3 or S5.

common merc, you can do better

Except for the C63 front seats. They are by far the best in the class.

[M2381]

I was looking at both the C63 and the M3 a while back when I was looking for a new car. Yes the C63 def puts u back more in your seat but the transmission without a doubt was a deal breaker for me.

And plus I love how the M3 rewards you the harder you drive it. Couldn't say the same for the C63 though.

At the end of the day they are both great cars that a lot of people would kill to have!

ps. I have a thing for high revving V8's

[swamp2]

Originally Posted by Hans Delbruck

Well put and you brought up a lot of key points. My car also managed 22mpg on a long highway trip.

At what average speed. That is impressive.

[Hans Delbruck]

Originally Posted by swamp2

At what average speed. That is impressive.

Hey swamp -- you don't fit my M3 stereotype BTW

My spouse was driving back from Pahrump/Vegas, Nevada. It was a 260 mile trip and speed was between 70-75mph average. When I got back in the car, the computer read 22mpg on that tank so far. I have never seen it that high. When I drove this same trip, I averaged 20.9 mpg -- I drove a little faster (like hmmm.. 80-90) In the few tanks I have calculated, the car computer is accurate as far as mpg. In town however, it's 11-16 mpg depending on how much you want to break the law....




Sometime we should arrange another car swap. For the record I am still very impressed with M-DCT; I just let these guys push my buttons.

[Heat00]

lol

[MikeG_C63_AMG]

Originally Posted by lvwirelessguy

Lets just say that sometime in the VERY near future I will be re-claiming all those lost ponies

Which tuner do you plan on going with for the ECU upgrade on the C63? Does anyone know what type of gains they are likely to receive with a upgraded ECU for the M3? Obviously I am aware this tune favors the C63 but I was just curious to see the gains for the M3.

[UltimateBMW]

Originally Posted by Hans Delbruck

See what I mean now? The tone of this thread says a lot about the majority of M3 owners, at least the ones posting on this forum. Stereotypes are there for a reason. I don't fit the stereotype of a "Benz" owner, but I don't let it bother me. Why does a stereotype of an M3 owner bother you? However, if someone's going to talk smack about my car, then yes -- I can choose to waste my time here talking to the little M3 fanboys about why I chose the C63. There needs to be some balance. 6.2l is indeed larger than 4.0.... I think we're onto something here. Something limbic.

You should re-read how I posed and setup my statement. I wasn't defending any M3 stereotype. I was defending the stereotype for poeple that wear their hat backwards. They certainly wouldn't be caught in a bimmer. Its easy to misinterpret, so I forgive you. But lets try not to bounce from one stereotypical comment to another, it only spotlights character flaws and ignorance.

And besides, if we are going to use a stereotype at least use the proper one. We are assholes, not 'backwards hat wearers'. I have no problem being called an asshole, or a dick even. They are only 2 inches apart and not all that different in social settings. So fire away, I just don't like to be wrongly represented.

[UltimateBMW]

Originally Posted by Hans Delbruck

However, if someone's going to talk smack about my car, then yes -- I can choose to waste my time here talking to the little M3 fanboys about why I chose the C63. There needs to be some balance.

You do choose to spend alot of time on our boards, I never questioned that it was not a deliberate choice, but are you really trying to sell me that its all in the name of 'balance'? Because, I'll have you know that the internetz are serious business.

[alpineweissM3]

Originally Posted by bimmerj

Since I got my C63, I always have people asking me what type of Mercedes it is or looking at it, examining the brakes or looking inside at the seats. No one even noticed my BMWs.

So, you're saying it's a bad thing that the M3 doesn't get as much attention? To me that would be a good thing. Not being an attention whore, perhaps I just don't understand.

[lvwirelessguy]

Originally Posted by MikeG_C63_AMG

Which tuner do you plan on going with for the ECU upgrade on the C63? Does anyone know what type of gains they are likely to receive with a upgraded ECU for the M3? Obviously I am aware this tune favors the C63 but I was just curious to see the gains for the M3.

In this case a tune on the c63 just gets it back to what it should have had from the factory ( it is not asking the engine to do anything special ) . Renntech quotes 511hp with their ECU 2 tune vs. 451hp from the factory

Tuning the M3 on the other hand is not going to get similar results since BMW has not detuned this engine and since its very high strung to begin with you arent going to get much more hp from an ECU tune

[MikeG_C63_AMG]

Originally Posted by lvwirelessguy

In this case a tune on the c63 just gets it back to what it should have had from the factory ( it is not asking the engine to do anything special ) . Renntech quotes 511hp with their ECU 2 tune vs. 451hp from the factory

Tuning the M3 on the other hand is not going to get similar results since BMW has not detuned this engine and since its very high strung to begin with you arent going to get much more hp from an ECU tune

Well its obvious Mercedes tuned down the car for "marketing" reasons rather more then engineering (over heating) issues. I saw the Renntech tune on there website. That specific tune goes for $3495 plus labor. They also offer a 475HP ECU tune for $2495 plus labor. The ECU 2 tune at $3495 is obviously the better buy. Still when you think about your paying for just a bunch of binary "1's" and "0's".

Still I am curious what mods do people think will a M-DCT M3 need to keep up with a 511hp ECU tuned C63? Is it safe to say the cost for the M3 owner will be north of $3495 for those mods?

[Advskier]

Originally Posted by bimmerj

For 90% of the driving done by about 80 % of the people the C63 blows the M3 out of the water, no comparison.

What on earth is this supposed to mean, and where did you dig it up?
If you are trying to say that most drivers don't drive their car to it's potential, you might as well say your C63 is better than an Enzo.

I'm glad you like your C63 SEDAN. It's fast in a straight line, decent in corners, and comfortable. It's no M3 on a road with curves. It doesn't spin up to over 8K RPM. And it's a far less engaging car to drive compared to the M3.

And virtually every comparison test comes out the same.