Next M3 needs better MPG... simple and plain!

[quality_sound]

Originally Posted by FStop7

Seriously?

Sell your M3 and buy a Prius.


ITT - people who bought sports cars complain about sports cars

Because the only choice if you want even slightly better mileage is a fucking Prius? GTFO. That's a ridiculous leap of logic.

[FStop7]

Originally Posted by elp_jc

+1. And those obsessed with weight don't have to fill up the freaking tank, so what's their damn problem? As I said, the issue is not mileage, but range. Even the new Ferrari 458 Itaila, which is much more of a race car than the M3 has a 25-gallon tank. Owners tracking it can fill up just half if they want to. No excuse for shitty range, plain and simple.

Logic fail. The Ferrari is mid engined, the gas tank is in the middle of the car. If you put a huge gas tank on the M3 you'd have to 1) significantly redesign the chassis to safely accommodate a larger tank at the rear, account for more overall weight (aren't half of the other whining threads on here about the M3 already being too heavy?) and it would also affect weight distribution.

I just don't get it. Half the whining posted on here is about the M3 being too heavy and that the next gen M3 is going to suck because it will have a "low revving" turbo engine. You can't have it both ways.

[duk]

simple thing to do is lengthen 6th gear, it would yield some better mpg numbers

[mkoesel]

Originally Posted by FStop7

hai guyz I bought a pet lion and it bit my hand off, why lions gotta be like that? we need vegetarian lions.

WIN

[mkoesel]

Originally Posted by J08M3

It seems to me numerous people are alluding to that....

Touche. But, I think that no one would honestly be upset if the car got better mileage. People would just rather that any extra $$$ going into the development of a performance car actually go toward performance. That's how I feel anyway.

Think about it like this, if BMW handed you a check for $2000 today to cover your gas expenses, and you had to spend it on mods - would you try to improve mileage or improve performance?

[J08M3]

Originally Posted by mkoesel

Touche. But, I think that no one would honestly be upset if the car got better mileage. People would just rather that any extra $$$ going into the development of a performance car actually go toward performance. That's how I feel anyway.

Think about it like this, if BMW handed you a check for $2000 today to cover your gas expenses, and you had to spend it on mods - would you try to improve mileage or improve performance?

I hear ya..... If I only had $2k it would go to mods, since I would have almost no way to improve gas milage without sacrificing performance on such limited budget.... but if I had BMW's R&D budget and know how available I would look to improve MPG while providing equal or greater performance... I mean for one, BMW could simply start by lightening the car, this thing is freaking heavy for a performance oriented car. They also could've given us a little better gearing in 6th so when cruising on the highway we save, and sixth is never used unless cruising on the highway anyway so you wouldn't sacrifice performance there..... I don't know (otherwise I'd develop performance cars for a living) but I'm sure BMW can handle this.

[quality_sound]

Originally Posted by mkoesel

Touche. But, I think that no one would honestly be upset if the car got better mileage. People would just rather that any extra $$$ going into the development of a performance car actually go toward performance. That's how I feel anyway.

Think about it like this, if BMW handed you a check for $2000 today to cover your gas expenses, and you had to spend it on mods - would you try to improve mileage or improve performance?

Mileage. I know I'll never need all of the performance it's capable of now so there's no real need to add to that. 99% of M3 owners never will either.

[darkmercury]

Originally Posted by FStop7

Seriously?

Sell your M3 and buy a Prius.


ITT - people who bought sports cars complain about sports cars

The forums aren't created for 100% positive threads about our cars. It's a hub for discussion. Plus... my thread title says "...the Next M3..."
Seriously...

[mkoesel]

Originally Posted by quality_sound

Mileage. I know I'll never need all of th eperformance it's capable of now so there's no realt need to add to that. 99% of M3 owners never will either.

Fair enough. But I am curious now - if you don't need all the performance the car is capable of, then why didn't you get a car with less performance and better fuel efficiency. Genuine question.

For my part, I'll freely admit that I don't actually need any of the performance the car offers. My bet is that this also applies to about 99% of us as well.

[darkmercury]

Originally Posted by mkoesel

Fair enough. But I am curious now - if you don't need all the performance the car is capable of, then why didn't you get a car with less performance and better fuel efficiency. Genuine question.

For my part, I'll freely admit that I don't actually need any of the performance the car offers. My bet is that this also applies to about 99% of us as well.

Agreed. good point.
I don't need the total performance but the overall product is what pulled me into buying the car.

[Krozi]

Originally Posted by duk

simple thing to do is lengthen 6th gear, it would yield some better mpg numbers

So the RPM's drop to 1500 on the highway and allow carbon to build up in the engine? No thanks...

[quality_sound]

Originally Posted by mkoesel

Fair enough. But I am curious now - if you don't need all the performance the car is capable of, then why didn't you get a car with less performance and better fuel efficiency. Genuine question.

For my part, I'll freely admit that I don't actually need any of the performance the car offers. My bet is that this also applies to about 99% of us as well.

Feel and comfort and stability at high speed.

My GTI, once I got done with it, was a GREAT high speed cruiser but I wanted more room since my wife's Wrangler isn't exactly conducive to family outings. I seriously considered the CC (didn't want another FWD, especially living in a snowy winter area), the S4, and the C63. The C63 is overdamped for long distance driving IMO, and it's only available in a slushbox. If the S4 was as composed as the M3 I may have gone that way as well, especially considering it almost doubles the mileage and range of the M3. But it needed a lot of suspension and tire work to match the M3 stock setup with no guarantees that anything I would ever be able to do would match the M3's ride. It was however, more expensive upfront.

In all of my modding on all of my cars the ride of a sporty 3-series was my goal and it was never reached, though my Passat and GTI came close.

A 335 wasn't going to happen for 3 reasons.
1) HPFP
2) Didn't feel as solid as my GTI
3) Those god-awful hood lines they added

So it came back to the M3. in hindsight, the S4 might have been a better choice but if I'd gone that way I could be on Vortex right now thinking I should have gone with the M3.

For now I'm happy with my choice and I love driving my M, even if it does mean stopping for fuel every 250 miles.

[bmwboi]

Originally Posted by quality_sound

Feel and comfort and stability at high speed.

My GTI, once I got done with it, was a GREAT high speed cruiser but I wanted more room since my wife's Wrangler isn't exactly conducive to family outings. I seriously considered the CC (didn't want another FWD, especially living in a snowy winter area), the S4, and the C63. The C63 is overdamped for long distance driving IMO, and it's only available in a slushbox. If the S4 was as composed as the M3 I may have gone that way as well, especially considering it almost doubles the mileage and range of the M3. But it needed a lot of suspension and tire work to match the M3 stock setup with no guarantees that anything I would ever be able to do would match the M3's ride. It was however, more expensive upfront.

In all of my modding on all of my cars the ride of a sporty 3-series was my goal and it was never reached, though my Passat and GTI came close.

A 335 wasn't going to happen for 3 reasons.
1) HPFP
2) Didn't feel as solid as my GTI
3) Those god-awful hood lines they added

So it came back to the M3. in hindsight, the S4 might have been a better choice but if I'd gone that way I could be on Vortex right now thinking I should have gone with the M3.

For now I'm happy with my choice and I love driving my M, even if it does mean stopping for fuel every 250 miles.

One of the cars I'm considering is the B8 S4. Why do you say in hindsight you think it may have been a better choice? Is it just the gas mileage and awd?

Also, just curious but tires being equal, isn't FWD better than RWD for snow?

[quality_sound]

The S4 is a larger car so it's a bit more family friendly and even heavier than the M3. Weight and size are almost prerequisites for 200+ KPH cruising as lighter cars tend to lift and become very unstable at those speeds. The rated 27MPG on the highway doesn't hurt either.

AWD, especially Quattro which is, IMO, the best AWD system available, with winter tires absolutely OWNS in the snow. FWD sucks balls in the snow if you have any kind of driving ability. The front wheels just have too much going on. Not to mention when you're going uphill and the weight transfers to the rear you have even less traction.

Also, and this won't matter to almost anyone else, interfacing with the OEM stereo is a pain in the ass at best in the S4. Kinda silly, but that was a big deal for me.

[RichB]

Coming from a 335i, I was initially frustrated (for lack of a better word) with the ~90 mile reduction in range with the M3. I knew the M3 would be thirsty....I knew the range would be in the mid-200s....I knew I would have to stop more often to refuel. That did not stop me from buying the M3. Now it is just part of life. I fill up every 250-270 miles with the M3. No complaining at all....actually the opposite. It was a very wise choice and I can prove it by the smile on my face every day I get to drive it.

If I really needed a greater range or MPG, I would have kept my 335i. Fantastic car and great MPG with strong the acceleration. I highly recommend the 335i for those who need greater range. 340-400 (suburbs/interstate) miles on tank. Can't beat it considering the performance.

I drive 13K miles a year. That equates to 52 fill-ups a year in the M3 and 38 fill-ups in a 335i. Now assume each fill-up takes 10 min (in reality it is probably closer to 5 min). That is 140 minutes a year longer at the pumps with the M3. I bet people spend more time either complaining about the range of the M3 or reading about someone complaining about the range of the M3.

FStop7 brought up a point I was thinking as I read this thread....it is not as easy to just throw another 3-9 gallon extension on the car. Have you looked underneath your car. Where would it fit?? I prefer to have the extra trunk space than an extra 50 miles of range by taking the trunk space.

[quality_sound]

Rich, go out to your car and pull up the floor and look at the area where the emergency kit is. That area would EASILY hold 5 gallons and it's right above the existing tank.

Piece of cake.

In the US where there are gas stations EVERYWHERE the range isn't a big deal. In Germany, where gas stations can be 60 kilometers apart and it's illegal to stop on the Autobahn you can see why the extra range would be a good thing.

[mkoesel]

Originally Posted by quality_sound

Feel and comfort and stability at high speed.

...

So it came back to the M3. in hindsight, the S4 might have been a better choice but if I'd gone that way I could be on Vortex right now thinking I should have gone with the M3.

Sounds like you thought it through pretty well. Every car has it's share of tradeoffs. With the M3 you definitely do compromise on fuel efficiency, but you are rewarded with one of the best overall cars on the market.

[quality_sound]

I tend to do a lot of analysis for every decision but for cars I get all kinds of stupid.

In a couple of years I might get tired of the mileage and being closer to 40 by the I may opt for something more sedate. For now, I'm loving the M3... and appreciating it all the more since I am in a rental base Impreza this week. lol