Autocar Review...

[Mattac]

I've had a deposit down for the new M3 since December 05 and am due to go in to my dealer on Tuesday to pick specification for delivery this year but I have to say, this & the review in Car magazine are making me think twice about switching from my Cayman S...

http://www.autocarmagazine.co.uk/Car...4.0-V8/226432/

[888]

And the steering never scores more than six out of 10 no matter where or how you drive the car. Nor do the brakes, which suffered from fade on the road and went away badly on the track. Or the fuel consumption, which was regularly down in the mid-teens on roads on which the old car would have hit well over 20mpg.

Should I buy one?
You are not likely to be disappointed by the new M3 because in many ways it is a deeply impressive car, with a huge range of abilities and very few flaws. But if you were expecting a faster, yet more exciting version of the old car, you might want to wait until the CSL version appears which, on this evidence, will need to happen sooner rather than later to truly keep the legend alive. Even so, as an everyday super-coupe the M3 is some motorcar. So long as you can afford the fuel bills.

:mad:

[pelos]

I hear ya. the reviews so far haven't been that great. I guess we will have to wait and see for ourselves.

[JEllis]

All I want is for the E92 to surpass the performance of the previous generation. I think its going to be able to do that despite being more civilized or having more luxury (isnt that what we say about all new M3's). I want to see some performance tests and track comparisons before I go jumping to conclusions. Especially from someone that basically got one lap around a small track...

Jason

[RussianM3_dude]

Man BMW already has an everyday super coupe... the 335!!! Why then should I choose the M3 over say the C63AMG?

The CSL will be great, however it would be VERY expensive and it would be better to just get a 997 GT3.

[The CSL]

It's a sad, sad day for the M3 and M in general. They've bowed to BMW pressure and taken the true focus away from the car. It isn't all about power and speed ffs, some of us want to be thrilled by a car, not merely conveyed.


I'd be surprised if Autocar got no more than one lap around a track, being the World's oldest car magazine and all. It's got serious gravitas in the motoring world.

[RussianM3_dude]

Everybody got more then one lap. Just not consecutive.

[13eastie]

I'm taking all of these web reviews with a pinch of salt. They are nothing more than teasers for magazine articles and as such are deliberately devoid of useful info.

I'm guessing this is the reason for the silly comparisons with the E30 M3 (which could never be marketed nowadays) and E92 CSL (which doesn't even exist and will doubtless cost a great deal more).

We are a fickle bunch, but we ought to reserve judgement until we have seen some head to head comparisons and objective measurements.

If Sport Auto records 8:04 at the Nordschleiffe, we will all stop worrying about what Autocar said on its website about the steering

[The CSL]

But for Autocar to be so negative about a BMW, it must be really disappointing, because they are constantly criticised for their BMW bias. And just because it posts 8:04 on the 'Ring doesn't mean it has to feel fun doing it.

[13eastie]

Originally Posted by The CSL

But for Autocar to be so negative about a BMW, it must be really disappointing, because they are constantly criticised for their BMW bias. And just because it posts 8:04 on the 'Ring doesn't mean it has to feel fun doing it.

Point taken, but I can't help feeling that by making a few controversial points I think they have succeeded in making me (and doubtless a few others besides) keen to read the full review.

P.S. I do think I'd probably find it fun lap the ring in c. 8 mins!!!

[moss]

It's a real shame after all the speculation and waiting around on here that they have softened up the car (presumeably for the American Market) - I guess chasing $s always comes before driving pleasure.... the whole M range is really losing it's halo effect for me - M5 to technical, M6 rip of expensive and value drops like a lead balloon. Looks like the 911 is back in favour

[The CSL]

The current M-line up is pretty shonky except for the M5, which has gotten consistent praise from what I've read. The M6 is pricey and not very expensive inside, which left me cold. The M roadster and Coupe are hit and miss, and the new 3 has been softened to chase a few extra sales to the detriment of those who buy Ms for what they use to and should still be.

[mudd786]

i have read all mag reviews just as u have, either all of them have discussed the review before writing it, or it really is not that impressive, i for 1 am disapointed, they should have not carbon fibred it and mad it look slighlty diffrent to the 335i and called it a 340i, and then for the people who want the bragging rights of an M and what should be the outright heartpounding adrenalin charged breathtaking car should have made what is going to be the CSL the M3 forget all this CSL malark!! just make a all fire breathing M3 no halfways, its so embarissing for the M department to bring something new to the table which barely outperforms previous models and the 335i, and barely can match the competition, audi MB porsche will be breathing a sigh of relief that the so much hyped M is a 0, sure the CSL may just wipe the floor with the competition but for how much?? £65k- £70k i dont like mercs but id rather av that C63 than a halfway M3! and i have driven the RS4 that from my experiance compared to the reviews is a better car!! obviously will have to drive the M before making that judgement.

[13eastie]

Originally Posted by mudd786

i have read all mag reviews just as u have, either all of them have discussed the review before writing it, or it really is not that impressive, i for 1 am disapointed, they should have not carbon fibred it and mad it look slighlty diffrent to the 335i and called it a 340i, and then for the people who want the bragging rights of an M and what should be the outright heartpounding adrenalin charged breathtaking car should have made what is going to be the CSL the M3 forget all this CSL malark!! just make a all fire breathing M3 no halfways, its so embarissing for the M department to bring something new to the table which barely outperforms previous models and the 335i, and barely can match the competition, audi MB porsche will be breathing a sigh of relief that the so much hyped M is a 0, sure the CSL may just wipe the floor with the competition but for how much?? £65k- £70k i dont like mercs but id rather av that C63 than a halfway M3! and i have driven the RS4 that from my experiance compared to the reviews is a better car!! obviously will have to drive the M before making that judgement.

Did you read any of SteveD's posts?

[mudd786]

Originally Posted by 13eastie

Did you read any of SteveD's posts?

sorry no

why?

[gtr]

I'm really thinking twice about this car. This is the 2nd magazine which say the car is soft. This new M3 sounds like a Mercedes AMG. What gives? A couple more of these artical and i'm going with the 997 GT3.

[13eastie]

Originally Posted by mudd786

sorry no

why?

http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=70400

[lucid]

Originally Posted by mudd786

i have read all mag reviews just as u have, either all of them have discussed the review before writing it, or it really is not that impressive, i for 1 am disapointed, they should have not carbon fibred it and mad it look slighlty diffrent to the 335i and called it a 340i, and then for the people who want the bragging rights of an M and what should be the outright heartpounding adrenalin charged breathtaking car should have made what is going to be the CSL the M3 forget all this CSL malark!! just make a all fire breathing M3 no halfways, its so embarissing for the M department to bring something new to the table which barely outperforms previous models and the 335i, and barely can match the competition, audi MB porsche will be breathing a sigh of relief that the so much hyped M is a 0, sure the CSL may just wipe the floor with the competition but for how much?? £65k- £70k i dont like mercs but id rather av that C63 than a halfway M3! and i have driven the RS4 that from my experiance compared to the reviews is a better car!! obviously will have to drive the M before making that judgement.

Your last sentence is what makes sense the most...

It is impossible to know what the expectations of the car mags were going into this round. And there are reviewers like Steve who state that performance has not been comprised but enhanced (my interpretation of what he's posted so far). We simply need more detailed reviews where mags set up some head-to-head comparisons and so on. It is impossible to compare the M3 to the RS4 based on some rather light reviews that have come out so far.

[mudd786]

Originally Posted by 13eastie

http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=70400

yeah sorry i have read that but im gonna wait n c, i still have me deposit down newayz, will wait n c what the full reviews are like and till i get my call to testdrive it! but the reviews none th less are not convincing but will as you have said take them with a pinch of salt!

Please dont misunderstand me i am a bmw man all the way but come on all this wait for bmw to say well you really want the CSL mate! that another 15k ta!!

its like a previous post said its all about the $!

[SeanFitz]

autocar: "steering never scores more than 6 out of 10"
top gear: "steering is ultra-precise, the turn-in sharp but not extreme"

who knows. i really doubt i'll be disappointed.

[13eastie]

Originally Posted by SeanFitz

autocar: "steering never scores more than 6 out of 10"
top gear: "steering is ultra-precise, the turn-in sharp but not extreme"

who knows. i really doubt i'll be disappointed.

The problem (if that's what we should call it) is that writers are not engineers (thank God) and use pseudo-scientific language to give their subjective opinions e.g. "precision" means different things to different people.... "6/10" sounds objective, but is completely meaningless since we don't know what the scale is - I don't know whether he gave 5/10 to the F430 or gave 7/10 to his canal barge!

I'm happy to listen to SteveD until someone writes something that makes sense.

[nusevad]

kind of a downer to read. But ill let myself judge it..

they say you get Sat. Navigation standard...is this only for the UK version?