Quote:
Originally Posted by aerisolphaln
I guess my biggest disappointment is that the new M3 seems to be JUST barely at or a little below the level of the CURRENT competition. It is neck and neck with the RS4, maybe comparable to a current 997, and possibly almost equal to the AMG C63 due out next year.
I was expecting the e92 M3 to be much better than these auto's and set the benchmark for Audi, Porsche, and MB to aspire to meet with future models. Instead, BMW seems to have MAYBE just "caught-up" to the competitions' current line-up with the M3.
I had expected the M3 to set the standard, this does not seem to be the case. While it may be a great car, the reviews so far do not proclaim it to be the new benchmark. And for all who will say "wait for more reviews" or "what these reviewers really said or really meant was...", I say that if the new M3 was definitely better than the competition, the reviews would have unequivocally said as much.
So to my point - I want the car that is the benchmark, setting the standard for all the other competitors to try to acheive. This USED to be the M3. Based on everything I have seen so far, the new M3 will NOT BE THE KING it once was.
Disappointed.
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Aeris, you make some good points. I share the concern that M may not have raised its game far enough to meet the competition that inevitably will emerge during the fairly long life cycle of the car. If I recall correctly, during the life cycle of the E46 M3:
MB released the C32 with its supercharged V6, and then superceded the C32 with the C55 with its big V8.
Audi released the B6 S4 with a V8, improved it slightly (and hit it with an ugly stick) with the release of the B7 S4, and then at the end of the E46 M3 model life, Audi released the present RS4 with power equal to the still not on sale M3.
I think at least with respect to the RS4 there is no question the car exceeds the E46 M3 in most performance metrics.
Will a similar pattern occur during the lifecycle of the E92 M3, or will the E92 be eclipsed by a competitor even earlier in its life cycle? I don't know, but I have been concerned about this question since the power specs were officially published.
Time will tell.
I am encouraged by some of the more recent performance figures for the E92, such as the 0-200 time which is very good.