M3 testdrive experience + melbourne red and silverstone close ups

[oneginee]

I noticed my dealer had the new M3 so I dropped by today for a test drive. I know the salesman from a few years ago and as usual he was friendly, unobstrusive and helpful .

They had two M3. a melbourne red coupe with beige novillo extended leather with technology and premium package for $70,145 and a sedan silverstone with fox red extended novillo leather with premium package for $67,345. Both had the 19' forged wheels. I got a few snapshots with my cellphone. both includes bmw m3 mats ($199) and bmw wheel locks ($199) and moonroof (no carbon roof on the coupe) but no alarm maybe because this is not L.A.

I took the silverstone sedan for a testdrive since the coupe was in the show room, on reflexion now I should have asked for the coupe since that is what I want.

here is a little review:

First impression upon seeing the car was it is well proportionned very attractive and the 19 inch wheels are great. seeing it for real was quite different than on pictures mostly because you see it next to other "normal" cars I did not get the feeling that it is a compact car especially seating inside the car it did not feel cramped like a 330i I had the occasion to drive. Is the M3 wider ? Also I am 6'2'' and there was more than enough headroom. I had a bit of a headroom clearance problem inside an audi RS4. I think the moonroof is a great option I had one in a maxima and always enjoyed it for the sky light and brise. The leather is excellent not to soft not too hard and nice neutral feel. The new car smell by itself is addictive and just right. The seat ergonomics are fantastic. There is a bit of a lack of style in the integration of the huge rectangular navigation screen. That said the dials with aluminium rims are absolutely superb and the steering wheel is great. I don't think it is too thick. I liked that everything felt closed at hand like seating in some kind of spaceship. The fox red extended novillo leather was not to my taste and I much prefer the beige interior I also saw. The coupe door does not have a top metal rim which gives it a convertible desirable look compared to the sedan. The bulge is a bigger part of the M3 look than I had anticipated especially viewed from the cabin and it is . I did pop open the trunck and verified that extra space for fitting in the V8 was needed. It is ! . I found out that only the left air intake on the hood is functional the other one is just a dummy to keep the symmetry.

The car was parked right next to a 3 serie and there was no mistaking the two. It looks like the M3 body circonference around the wheels was designed for 19'' inch wheels and not 18'' inch stock wheels. The 18'' inch wheels give the car a low feel maybe desirable by some but IMO it breaks the overall proportions of the car and reminds me a bit of some cheap modified japanese car.

Then I drove it.
Engine sounds is very quiet in idle below 3000 rpm. In comparison the RS4 has a deeper lower idle note even my SL55 AMG is a bit louder.
Then driving it was like being a boy with a new toy again. I did not have expensive toys when I was a child and this is why this is the more rewarding for me. Huge torque but you must not be shy of reving the engine ! if you don't the monster does not make its appearance only thing that gives it away is you are not going to get a perfectly smooth gear change and that's ok. The gear box is great. I would need another drive to get a better feel for it. The default steering feels somewhat nondescript. It does not put you on the edge of your seat but you do feel perfect car behavior. If you have ever been on a train that changes track while cruising that is how grounded it feels. In acceleration it delivers a very well controlled pull instead of an explosion of brute force or insisting pull that you did not ask for which I believe is why it is so much fun to drive and the engine note is superb. At some point I was on a five lanes hilly highway with no traffic. That stretch of the highway was recently builts and the surface was smooth. At this moment I felt connected with the car and there was a remarkable quality and exhilarating feel in driving accross the lanes akin to formula one (seriously) . Later on a small twisty road handling was superb and felt remarkably easy. Brakes had a pretty sharp attack that i think is needed for the car. Overall I felt it is a car like no other. I have not driven it in sport mode yet and therefore I can not comment on its sport performance but i must say I expected something more ruthless by default but suprisingly I was not disapointed by this on the contrary. The torque was not as explosive as on the SL55 AMG or even the RS4, again that in default power mode. But to me that is actually a good thing, i like a civilized car that can turn into a beast at the press of a button. The M3 has a hulk personality. The overall feeling was that I wanted to keep driving it and learning it and that it would keep me enjoying it.

Some final comments, the color for the silverstone had a beautiful blue hint that did not come out on these pics taken from my cellphone (not a big surprise).

The melbourne red with beige interior was absolutely awesome as you can see from the pictures. I would highly recommend it to people who are unsure about that colour and the beige interior is a perfect match with the red.

Overall i am an M3 convert now. Next I need to testdrive the coupe before I commit

[RandyB]

Nice report. Thanks for posting that. I drove the MR coupe at my dealer but I need to go back and drive it again once it has reached the break in miles. The engine and chassis blew me away. I really liked the steering also, even in normal mode. It just seems like a car with very deep talent reserves, one that will be rewarding to get to know over a long ownership.

[JEllis]

thanks for the write up!

[Yonkers]

Very nice review. Thanks a lot.

[ybbiz34]

Thanks for the review. Some nice praise for the power of the car coming from an SL55 AMG owner.