No options.

[IFX]

Originally Posted by bsiciliano

My car has no options either. It was on the lot "one at this price". Maybe that's how the original owner got his. Kind of prefer it. Spent the money on mods. Plus all you really need is a V-8 the rest of the crap will probably break any way.

exactly... too many winers on here complaining about i-drive this etc...

[spyderco10]

I ordered mine without options, except for leather seats, 19" wheels, and alarm. Didn't want anything else. Have never regretted this either.

[PhillyNate]

My order was simple. ZCP, moonroof, Ipod and manual transmission. It's all I need.

[Ateam]

Sorry people but almost nobody buys a "stripper" to save weight or if they do they have no clue what they are doing as a bare bones car is barely a weight savings. Perhaps 5 to 10 pounds at the most, hardly enough to justify not having the options.

It is simply people who cannot afford it or people who buying used who also can barely afford it so they end up getting the cheapest one they can find which is usually a low optioned car. From one poor buyer to another who barely afford the car. That is who buys a stripper 99 percent of the time.

[wooderson]

Originally Posted by Ateam

Sorry people but almost nobody buys a "stripper" to save weight or if they do they have no clue what they are doing as a bare bones car is barely a weight savings. Perhaps 5 to 10 pounds at the most, hardly enough to justify not having the options.

It is simply people who cannot afford it or people who buying used who also can barely afford it so they end up getting the cheapest one they can find which is usually a low optioned car. From one poor buyer to another who barely afford the car. That is who buys a stripper 99 percent of the time.

This may be true in the new car market but I found when searching for a good used M3, the price difference between highly optioned cars vs modestly optioned cars was negligible.

[bigjae1976]

Originally Posted by Ateam

Sorry people but almost nobody buys a "stripper" to save weight or if they do they have no clue what they are doing as a bare bones car is barely a weight savings. Perhaps 5 to 10 pounds at the most, hardly enough to justify not having the options.

It is simply people who cannot afford it or people who buying used who also can barely afford it so they end up getting the cheapest one they can find which is usually a low optioned car. From one poor buyer to another who barely afford the car. That is who buys a stripper 99 percent of the time.

I think with M cars, a higher percentage of those who buy a stripper are not people who can barely afford the car.

I got speed cloth because that is what I wanted. It just happens that it is the standard interior.

I don't like the carbon leather, aluminum, or wood trim. The anthracite is just right.

Not a fan of iDrive...just rather use the buttons. Why spend $2k for nav when I can use my $200 garmin for years to come. The tech pkg on earlier models might have made more sense since it had M Drive which had MDM which is useful for HPDEs. But it comes standard on 2011s...easy decision.

Did not get EDC because I couldn't really feel the difference. Plus, why buy EDC when I will likely replace the suspension with coilovers later on?

BMW assist? Why?

The one thing I do kind of miss is power seats. The 2011 cloth seats are manuals. The memory settings would be useful since my wife also drives the car.

Long story short, I disagree.

[J-9]

Sounds like a great car, enjoy it.

[IFX]

Originally Posted by Ateam

Sorry people but almost nobody buys a "stripper" to save weight or if they do they have no clue what they are doing as a bare bones car is barely a weight savings. Perhaps 5 to 10 pounds at the most, hardly enough to justify not having the options.

It is simply people who cannot afford it or people who buying used who also can barely afford it so they end up getting the cheapest one they can find which is usually a low optioned car. From one poor buyer to another who barely afford the car. That is who buys a stripper 99 percent of the time.

true, but if you want to avoid potential annoying problems you go barebones as well..

[Rshane]

To the OP, congrats on your car, you will definitely enjoy it no matter what options you have or don't have.

As for myself, I suck because I don't track my car, I wasted my money because I have all the options when I could have bought a Garmin, and apparently look forward to spending lots of time in the shop when all my gadgets break. My car is also always out of control with gears flying all over the place because I have the DCT...I can barely stay on the road. My leather seats will slowly go insane because they were made from a cow that died from mad cow disease. People think I suck because I have a BMW M3 and they think the EDC button means Erectile Dysfunction Control...

So many worthless opinions, but who cares, I enjoy what I have.

[JulieDriving]

Originally Posted by bigjae1976

I think with M cars, a higher percentage of those who buy a stripper are not people who can barely afford the car.

I got speed cloth because that is what I wanted. It just happens that it is the standard interior.

I don't like the carbon leather, aluminum, or wood trim. The anthracite is just right.

Not a fan of iDrive...just rather use the buttons. Why spend $2k for nav when I can use my $200 garmin for years to come. The tech pkg on earlier models might have made more sense since it had M Drive which had MDM which is useful for HPDEs. But it comes standard on 2011s...easy decision.

Did not get EDC because I couldn't really feel the difference. Plus, why buy EDC when I will likely replace the suspension with coilovers later on?

BMW assist? Why?

The one thing I do kind of miss is power seats. The 2011 cloth seats are manuals. The memory settings would be useful since my wife also drives the car.

Long story short, I disagree.

Totally agree.

I knew someone was going to chime in with the "you can't afford an M3 if you buy a [minimally optioned] one".

I think captain audio said it best. People who drive the most expensive car they can afford think that others drive the most expensive car they can afford.

[Ateam]

You guys can say what you want but bottom line is people taking the absolute strippers are by and large people who can barely afford to get into the segment and are spending more than they should. The other 1 percent has a legit reason for the stripper but it is the minority

[Rekrul]

Originally Posted by Ateam

You guys can say what you want but bottom line is people taking the absolute strippers are by and large people who can barely afford to get into the segment and are spending more than they should. The other 1 percent has a legit reason for the stripper but it is the minority

Ateam strikes again. You're like the grinch man, you're such a hateful person. It cracks me up hahahaha

[brava09]

Originally Posted by Ateam

You guys can say what you want but bottom line is people taking the absolute strippers are by and large people who can barely afford to get into the segment and are spending more than they should. The other 1 percent has a legit reason for the stripper but it is the minority

You're so funny....I can afford a Ferrari, but not willing to spend that much money on a car...how about this you smart hat?

[saeyedoc]

I'm about to buy a low-optioned E90 myself. Only has DCT, 19"'s,Sat, assist and leather. There are so few sedans left, even fewer within easy driving distance. I don't really care about options much as long as I have mdrive and bluetooth/ipod hookup. Less things to break if I decide to hold onto it after warranty. Nav systems also start looking really dated after a few years.
For me, I could afford a loaded car, but you get killed on resale, options add so little to the value of a 3 or 4 year car. With leasing, you might as well add options since you only pay around 40% for them, you'll never get 60% of the value of your options if you buy and trade.

[duk]

after 2nd thoughts... i only need comfort access, heated seats and pdc

[flipm3]

Originally Posted by Ateam

You guys can say what you want but bottom line is people taking the absolute strippers are by and large people who can barely afford to get into the segment and are spending more than they should. The other 1 percent has a legit reason for the stripper but it is the minority

Yeah, I can definitely disagree with this generalized statement. I understand where you are coming from, but I don't believe it's safe to say that's the reasoning behind ordering a near base M3.

I can assure you that our household income can afford way more than a stripped E90 M3. My E90 M3 is 100% base except for the DCT. Like others have mentioned, I don't care for Navigation, fancy sound systems, 19" wheels. I definitely did not want EDC since it's one less thing electronic that can break and I plan on getting coilovers in the future.

I prefer the Speed Cloth since it adds a nice contrast to the interior. Many people who have ridden in my E90 have actually complemented the interior. I will also say that I highly regret ordering Nappa Leather on my E46 M3 as well. In hindsight, I wish I stuck with cloth.

When I ordered our E90 M3 at the dealer, our salesman even told us that many of the guys that order their cars the way we did simply like to keep things simple. Many of them he said are regular customers and enthusiasts owning several generations of M cars.

[kmarei]

I was going to custom order my 08 with premium ( i want leather, and need Bluetooth) cold weather ( I want heated seats) and iPod
Found the same spec car in NY with Sat radio
Flew up to buy it, and took out the SAT radio
I could afford more, but after all the electronic issues I'd heard about with idrive, and edc
I decided I just wanted the engine and the handling
I had many more options in my Audi A5, but I hated driving it, so options don't make a car enjoyable to drive.

I'd test driven cars with edc and cars without, and with idrive
I decided edc wasn't really worth it. The stock suspension is fantastic
And idrive would mean I'd be messing with it all the time, and not concentrating on the driving

[donovan]

I ordered the ipod/dct/edc for music/track... if I want nav I would buy a dam tom tom for 200 dollars..

[h4nh]

I picked as many options as I could since I never had a fully loaded car. With the exception of the added sunroof of course when it comes down to it pick what you like its your car.

[PhillyNate]

This is getting stupid because even a NO option M3 isn't cheap. If they were everybody would have one and they'd be called Camry.

[rossii]

Personally I think there is too much to go wrong these days with cars. The less tech the better.....all this tech just makes for dumb drivers. Plus speed cloth actually grips better in the corners.

[JulieDriving]

Originally Posted by flipm3

Yeah, I can definitely disagree with this generalized statement. I understand where you are coming from, but I don't believe it's safe to say that's the reasoning behind ordering a near base M3.

I can assure you that our household income can afford way more than a stripped E90 M3. My E90 M3 is 100% base except for the DCT. Like others have mentioned, I don't care for Navigation, fancy sound systems, 19" wheels. I definitely did not want EDC since it's one less thing electronic that can break and I plan on getting coilovers in the future.

I prefer the Speed Cloth since it adds a nice contrast to the interior. Many people who have ridden in my E90 have actually complemented the interior. I will also say that I highly regret ordering Nappa Leather on my E46 M3 as well. In hindsight, I wish I stuck with cloth.

When I ordered our E90 M3 at the dealer, our salesman even told us that many of the guys that order their cars the way we did simply like to keep things simple. Many of them he said are regular customers and enthusiasts owning several generations of M cars.

Sorry, off topic but wow, beautiful E46 M3! I love it when owners buy a great car and keep it a loooooong time! If I keep an M3 that long, I wouldn't want a 10 year old nav system...