Quote:
Originally Posted by akkando
I own an e90 m3 ZCP dct with solid subframe bushings and stiffer diff bushings. ESS tune is the only power mod. I've only had this car for just under 2 weeks.
I also own a 2017 m2 dct with a stage 1 tune and intercooler upgrade.
The e90 is all engine noise (stock) and the m2 is mostly exhaust.
The e9X have a reputation for being torqueless but that's an exaggeration. The car gets your attention when you step on it in 1st or 2nd. In 3rd the car doesn't push you back in your seat like a turbo car, but it picks up speed soooooo fast. It builds power all the way to redline and the last 1800 rpm the car seems to rev faster and accelerate very quickly, getting you into illegal speeds very very quickly. The engine wants to be revved and you have to pay attention to not get in trouble.
The m2 has fat torque and power in the low and mid range. It only revs to 7k but it feels like on shitty California gas that it runs out of steam at over 6k or even just under 6k if the stock intercooler is heat soaked. I upgraded to a Wagner Evo 2 comp and in street driving it never heat soaks and feels like it pulls to 6-6.5k consistently now. Great upgrade. Because of the low end torque and size it's more fun at slow speeds in traffic than the e9X. You don't have to rev the m2 all the way out to get the best out of the engine, but you're not rewarded when doing so. The e9X you want to go all the way, but then you're well above 90mph!
I don't have dct GTS tune (soon), but stock DCT to DCT the m2 is noticably better driven manually. I don't find myself annoyed with the speed of the e90 shifts, but every time I drive the m2 I'm like holy shit, this thing is savage. The e90 down shifts sound better, more visceral. 1st gear is more useable in the e9X though, it's long enough you can play around in it. On the m2 it's very short and only serves to get moving. Traction control seems to take over in 1st way too much in the m2. The e9X might be better with a 6 speed, feels like it wants to be more analog.
I prefer the suspension/handling of the m2. It's weakness is choppy pavement around sweepers, but other than that it just feels more planted than the e90. The e90 does communicate really well what the rear is doing, could be the after market solid subframe bushings. I suspect the best thing is a non zcp with ohlins for e9X rather than zcp. The e90 handles the choppy pavement better but doesn't seem on rails as much as the m2. The m2 feels like it rotates around me while the e90 (maybe because sedan) feels like I'm in front of where the car rotates.
The e92 has higher quality leather, but it's older, it's harder to find well taken care of seats, it's technology is older, it probably rattles more, it feels less solid (age?). So yeah it's nicer, but not really in the sense that you can just get in an m2 and everything is fresh and your phone plays nicer with the tech. Using the navigation is so much easier in the m2.
Obviously running costs for the e9X should be higher. It drinks more gas.
Really the m2 is just the easier car to drive. It's so easy to drive well, and just feels like the right size. Everything seems effortless. The e9X has more feel, more soul, but it also takes more effort. The e9X takes longer to warm up, more waiting. The hydraulic steering is nice, the m2 steering is numb, but you don't get distracted by the steering as much in the m2 when you're just cruising because it's not communicating to you the crappy pavement you're driving on. The two cars in a lot of ways are the opposite. People say the m2 isn't special, I think the m2 is more than the sum of it's parts.
Long beach blue is more pretty, interlagos blue is more handsome, but the purple in it makes it also special. Lamans blue is a very pretty standard blue. Lamans is more rare on e9X m3 than interlagos.
|
I could never get used to cheap interior of N55 M2.
You probably felt more wobble in E92 M3 because it does not have solid rear subframe unlike the M2, which shares that with M3/M4.
I like the M2 competition though. I might get one if the next G8x turns out to be shite with the generic ZF8 and run-out-of-steam-fast engine.
