10 Days of Ownership - My comments for those who care, or are just bored.

[cameba5]

It has now been ten days since I took delivery of my Jet Black, on Black E92 M3. I can honestly say, this is the most exicitng car I have ever owned.

Exterior: I absolutly love the look of this car. Having just come from a 335i Coupe, I have enjoyed peering down over that powerdome. The increased feeling of size and added blockiness imporves the looks of an already beautiful car.

Interior: The first thing i noticed when i sat in my M was the amazing quality of the leather. It reminds me of my old 997 S, just more durable. The texture is so soft and supple. The steering wheel is perfect for someone with large hands. All of the treatments and attention to detail do make an enormous difference. There is ample room as I am 6'4 with very long legs. This has always impressed me with any 3er I have driven (E46 included).

6MT - This is only the first 6MT I have had. Naturally, I have driven many MT cars as my father owns one along with several of my friends. I expected a little difficulty at first. I was wrong. This is the smoothest shifting sports car I have driven. However, watch out for starting out in 1st with MDM (and "POWER") engaged. Woah will that remind you of the 414hp behind your right foot. Anyway, It is a fantastic transmission and I cannot see where some find a lot of rubbery feel? Perhaps I'm just not keen enough to notice such things, but i love it.

Engine- Wow. The soundtrack this V-8 pust out is simply breathtaking. Sometimes I just have to mute my music to listen to the harmony of eight cyclinders whailing past thousands of RPMS. The deep reserves of torque acorss a wide band really make the car feel as if it will just keep going and going - and it will. I agree with others. When MDM is engaged the car becomes another beast. Throttle response is sharp as a tack. Just when you think the car is soft, just press power and downshift.

Anything else? Just ask I'll try to keep up...

[Saturn]

Nice review, gorgeous car. Enjoy it you lucky SOB.

[!Xoible]

i hate black... beats every other color but PITA to maintain... so freaking tempting

[Hans Delbruck]

How does the steering response (ratio) and turn-in feel compared to your 335i coupe?

Tell me it's on rails!

[darkalley]

did you get the full leather? also, did you go for the upgraded stero. i am thinking about deleting both from my car.

[rai]

nice car enjoy it

did you say you owned a 997 S ???????????????

How's that compare to the M3?

do you find anything where your old 335i was better (maybe low-rev power) or anything like that or comfort?

I'm glad people are giving such nice reviews. I want one.

did you get the premium sound? how do you like that over the 335i sound?

[GS997S]

Originally Posted by cameba5

It has now been ten days since I took delivery of my Jet Black, on Black E92 M3. I can honestly say, this is the most exicitng car I have ever owned.

Interior: The first thing i noticed when i sat in my M was the amazing quality of the leather. It reminds me of my old 997 S, just more durable.

6MT - This is only the first 6MT I have had.

Beautiful car. Just curious about your 997S. What year was it, and you had a tiptronic in it?

[Big Windy]

how bout some more pics?

[PortoM3]

Originally Posted by darkalley

did you get the full leather? also, did you go for the upgraded stero. i am thinking about deleting both from my car.

sorry to jump in here.. but, I do have full black leather. You can't see it well in pics but I can see it in real life. I can also feel it which is more important (IMO). I do have the upgraded stereo but I probably can live without it. Specially for $1900. When I placed my order, than was NO prices for options and no way to hear and compare with or without. My wife loves it. I am not saying it's bad.. It's awesome, but I never use it to full use. I enjoy the sound of the the V8 more..

[PortoM3]

as another owner. I have had mine for 7 days now. I agree with you a 100%. I couldn't put it better myself. The car is all I ever wanted and more. The seats are awesome. I do have two minor things to complain about the car. They are so minor that I learned to live with them. The car has a bad blind spot on the left side that worries me. But, after the break in period, no one will ever be close to me to stay in my blind spot. The other thing is that I pushed the idrive a couple of times by accident when I am shifting. My arm, or elbow hit it when I change gears. It was annoying, but now I am careful.

[Jack28]

Good Write up! How does the Steering Feel? How does the EDC Feel compared in all the Settings?
Is the Difference really noticable from Comfort to sport plus when taking corners? Less Body roll? Stiffer Ride????
Is the Stiffest Setting Really Stiff? I want it to be very noticable and very Stiff on Sport plus! Is it??

THANKS!

[E90330iS]

Great stable!

[cameba5]

ok sorry that took so long to come back.

Steering, Personally, I love the steering. Its quick and light but gets hevy. I cant seem to notice the change over to the heavy feel like journalists have noted. It is just totally different from the 335i. I don't know exaclty how to describe it but it just seems as if it shares nothing in common when it comes to feel.

EDC - I almost always leave it in comfort. The comfort setting is softer than the sport suspension on the 335. I really like the softer feel around town because Atlanta has some remarkably shitty roads. In the sportiest setting it is very very taut. At high speeds it instills a lot of confidence for tricky manuvering. I ususally dont play around with it too often but in time I'm sure it will find its use.

In my opinion, the M3 is more like the 997S than is it a 335. I just feel like im behind the wheel of a totally different car.

--the $1900 "Enchanced Premium Sound" , I could have done without. I just cant seem to find the justification in its sound quality other than just being able to produce very, very loud undistorted playback. I like the Logic7 in the 335 better. I'd stick to the stok here. Also, I have changed my mind about the Extended Leather. I recently got into another M without it and now have a direct comparison. As others have mentioned, it is the feel that matters most.

The interior quality of this car goes beyond my old 997 S (MY06). Porsche just doesnt have that nailed yet.

One other thing to mention. I can't help to smile when I see the M3 compared when the likes of Astons, Porsche Turbos, ect... Though it might not keep up with all of them, its cool to see it compared with 200k plus supercars...(except for that fugly GT-R)

[devo]

Originally Posted by cameba5

ok sorry that took so long to come back.

Steering, Personally, I love the steering. Its quick and light but gets hevy. I cant seem to notice the change over to the heavy feel like journalists have noted. It is just totally different from the 335i. I don't know exaclty how to describe it but it just seems as if it shares nothing in common when it comes to feel.

EDC - I almost always leave it in comfort. The comfort setting is softer than the sport suspension on the 335. I really like the softer feel around town because Atlanta has some remarkably shitty roads. In the sportiest setting it is very very taut. At high speeds it instills a lot of confidence for tricky manuvering. I ususally dont play around with it too often but in time I'm sure it will find its use.

In my opinion, the M3 is more like the 997S than is it a 335. I just feel like im behind the wheel of a totally different car.

--the $1900 "Enchanced Premium Sound" , I could have done without. I just cant seem to find the justification in its sound quality other than just being able to produce very, very loud undistorted playback. I like the Logic7 in the 335 better. I'd stick to the stok here. Also, I have changed my mind about the Extended Leather. I recently got into another M without it and now have a direct comparison. As others have mentioned, it is the feel that matters most.

The interior quality of this car goes beyond my old 997 S (MY06). Porsche just doesnt have that nailed yet.

One other thing to mention. I can't help to smile when I see the M3 compared when the likes of Astons, Porsche Turbos, ect... Though it might not keep up with all of them, its cool to see it compared with 200k plus supercars...(except for that fugly GT-R)

How do you feel about the power compared with your 997S? I had a few 997(S)s so know how they feel, but have not driven the M.

[Voltigeur]

-

@cameba5 - enjoyed your observations. Gorgeous car, congrats!

Getting me warming up to an e93 -vs- the 997S. If you could shed any light on the driving contrasts of these 2 I'd appreciate it.

Love the black- but yeah, it's higher maintenance. We had some weird 'dirty rain' here in Sth TX y'day and I had to wash my black 5er 2x!

[dawgdog]

I took my third test drive today, this one for a full hour. The steering feel is just fine but there is a little bit of isolation from the road. The car is so damn stable at speed it is unbelievable. Power really starts at abouit 4000 rpm, and like the e46 M3 you are going to have to get this car high in the rev range to get the full experience. Handling is great, but I am not as sold on the EDC as everyone else. I had trouble telling the difference between different settings at times, as did my very experienced sales associate. My 335 has KW V2s and H&R sway bars, and it is dialed in but a little rougher. I'm not sure you wouldn't be fine with just the stock setting without EDC.

I love the car. I had full spousal approval to place an order but hesitated. Overall the M3 is just a fantastic car. I did get that same feeling I had in my e46M3 that this car is going to go exactly where you point it, period. I only wish it had more torque. My Vishnu tuned 335 just has a ton of torque which pushed you back in your seat bigtime. I also wish at highway speed in 6th gear the gas mileage indicator would read higher than 20mpg. In my 335 is up in the high 20s, and on a long road trip with sedate driving I averaged 31. This was prior to Vishnu tuning.

I suspect I will order one, but I think I changed my mind and will order with DCT. I think I'll need it to really harness this engine's power.

[wahoo]

dawgdog - interesting comparo. I'm interested to hear more as you get closer to purchase time.

[wahoo]

Cameba5, was that pic outside of Cherokee Town Club?

[cameba5]

In comparison to the 997S, it just feels more high sprung. something I tought could not exist. Wow, it's just carzy past 6k rpm. Dont get me wrong, the 997S has more low end power and feels faster at times. But the M3 (particularly its clutch) is just simply more fun to drive. I can't wipe the smile from my face - its that fun.

[cameba5]

why, yes Wahoo, it was - i didnt expect that haha

[Los Angeles]

Originally Posted by mantis

i hate black... beats every other color but PITA to maintain... so freaking tempting

meh, quit your bitchin. black ftw.

[soons50]

Wow I love Jet black. Very nice car.