M3 as a Daily Driver?

[captainaudio]

Originally Posted by -=Hot|Ice=-

I'll have to hop on the "other BMW forum" sometime. Did you sell your 335i vert for a Cayman yet?

I still have the E93 but I am an active member of the Cayman Club.






Since this is the M3 forum I will (sort of) stay on topic.
Here's a shot of the LRP M3 Pace Car.

CA

[PoorMan]

Originally Posted by Leozap

e90 M3 is my daily and I think it's the best daily car with the mix of performance, comfort and luxury. Only negative side is that the gas mileage is a little high if you drive aggressive most of the time. I get 12s per gallon average

For aggressive driving? That's pretty darn good mpg!

Seems the average for 'normal' driving is around 17-19 mpg. Pretty good imo...

So I don't really relate with those who dislike the mpg on this car.. To me bad mpg would be under 10 mpg. As Ive never owned a Honda or corolla etc.. Mainly sports cars and muscle cars (442 olds etc.. younger days )..

Tho I do dislike the tank size.

[Robo Squirrel]

i drive mine everyday and i just ordered some blizzaks for the winter. i like driving my car, thats why i bought it. btw, i usually get 16mpg city and 22 highway

[alms21]

All good info to hear. I'm looking to get out of my 997S next Summer and into something more DD friendly and the DCT E92 seems to be the best fit for a replacement.

If I can get 16 mpg that will be just fine and a significant improvement over the 10 mpg I was getting when I had my M5.

[smokinjoe64]

Originally Posted by Technic

My E90 M3 is my current daily driver, and before that an E46 M3, an E46 330i, an E36 323iC, a Z3 1.9L and an E36 318i. All with manual transmissions.

The common denominator other than being BMWs: you adapt quickly to whatever power band you have available.

I used to drive 128mph for most of a 90 minute Autobahn ride to graduate school was I was stationed in Germany in the 318i without any issues. A couple of weeks ago I hit 142mph in the straights in a local racing track in the E90 M3. The difference was how quick I got to those speeds, but in that particular point in time it does not matter as you adapted to whatever power band you got. And it always feels real good...

Daily driving is the same, because once you own several BMW you get used to this particular ride quality that you can't quite find in any other brand. Now, if you are used to the 328i ride and that is your first BMW then you must take several test drives in the M3 before you jump into it. When I made the change from the E46 330i to the E46 M3 I found the OEM ride simply unacceptable, however a set of Eibach springs on the OEM shocks magically solved that. The E9x M3 ride, even stock and without EDC, is as comfortable as the E46 330i was with the Sport Package but with a higher limit of roll, pitch and dive.

Everything else is exactly the same as the 328i, the interior, the controls, the visibility.

Again, test drive as much as you can especially if you can find an used M3 in a dealer. That will give you a better view of what you should expect out of it in the long run -and you will be able to really push the engine without any break in concerns or limitations. Drive it mostly in the city, stop and go, low speed conditions for at least 30 minutes. Try to test the EDC, and the M-DCT so you can make a better decision about what you really want. The seamless shifting of the M-DCT is better for this engine than the 6-speed around town and in the track, IMO. The only reason my car does not have M-DCT is just because it was not available in any car configured as I wanted when I was ready to buy.

But there are no regrets because regardless of the transmission this engine is something else. The civilized brutality of the acceleration is deceiving.

+1

[-=Hot|Ice=-]

I'm getting tempted more and more! I can't wait till my lease ends! in about 12 months!

[-=Hot|Ice=-]

For those of you that drive your cars in a cold climate, I'm in MD(Maryland) so I'll need a set of winter tires, will that suffice for the colder weather months? Sorry for asking so many questions.

[smokinjoe64]

Originally Posted by -=Hot|Ice=-

For those of you that drive your cars in a cold climate, I'm in MD(Maryland) so I'll need a set of winter tires, will that suffice for the colder weather months? Sorry for asking so many questions.

I live in the 'Minnesnowta' (Twin Cities) and I've been successful using A/S tires in for the last 5 years with no problem. Both M3 & 540-6 M Sport.

• Bridgestone Pole Position (current)
• Goodyear F1's (last year)
• Pirelli P-Zero Nero M/S (2 previous sets)

[-=Hot|Ice=-]

Originally Posted by smokinjoe64

I live in the 'Minnesnowta' (Twin Cities) and I've been successful using A/S tires in for the last 5 years with no problem. Both M3 & 540-6 M Sport.

• Bridgestone Pole Position (current)
• Goodyear F1's (last year)
• Pirelli P-Zero Nero M/S (2 previous sets)

Out of those, which one would you recommend?

[GregW / Oregon]

Originally Posted by -=Hot|Ice=-

Out of those, which one would you recommend?

Check out this article I posted, as well: http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=317068

[mdrobc13]

Originally Posted by chungdae

It is a great daily driver. I always look forward to my 47M one way to work and 47M back home. If you love to drive, the M3 is.. nothing less of phenomenal.

Have 14k on mine as my DD and love every minute I am in it. Traffic, rush hour, free on the highway...its a blast! Its docile in the city and in traffic but when I need to let her roam free of 65 mph its always just a few inches of my right foot away. You really have to watch out with the car because you can easily find yourself way north of the speed limit rather quickly if you don't watch it and the car is stable as hell even up past 110 and into 120 and 130mph. Then there's the mods...a few upgrades to the exhaust (Eisennman Sport in my case, wheels 19" aftermarkets, and ECU Dinan in my case and a performance spring set Dinan as well) and you've got yourself a poor man's supercar in my opinion that will equal or maybe beat the others out there that cost $10-$20-or even $30k+ more MSRP from other automakers.

Don't believe me checkout our posts under the MidAtlantic section of the forum; we just got back from a meet/drive on Skyline drive and there were almost 20-30 M3's out there and we had a blast driving the M3 on roads the way it was intended for the most part! Anyway you can't go wrong with the car! Much better than a 335i IMHO although if $$ was an object or gas mileage then a 335d would be my bet/choice. My buddy is getting one in a few weeks and that is the ONLY thing I envy...his 30+ mpg since I can get 18.5 avg MPG daily driving and maybe 20-21mpg if I baby the car and use cruise control on HWY only driving!

Good luck!

[mdrobc13]

Originally Posted by -=Hot|Ice=-

For those of you that drive your cars in a cold climate, I'm in MD(Maryland) so I'll need a set of winter tires, will that suffice for the colder weather months? Sorry for asking so many questions.

I am in Maryland too and just got Dunlops M3 winter's as finding a set of Blizzak LM-25's was next to impossible even with Tire Rack. Good luck.

[M3_WC]

The M3 is built to be a daily driver.

[-=Hot|Ice=-]

Is there any time that you guys wish that the car had fog lights or are the xenon's enough?

[GregW / Oregon]

Originally Posted by -=Hot|Ice=-

Is there any time that you guys wish that the car had fog lights or are the xenon's enough?

Factory fogs are typically minimally effective, anyhow. I find the lighting fine. The curve-steering headlights are a nice feature.

[foosh]

Originally Posted by GregW / Oregon

Check out this article I posted, as well: http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=317068

Greg's article is very good. You really don't need winter tires in Maryland (except perhaps far Western MD in the mountains).

You're going to give up some serious braking performance and handling with winter tires on dry and even wet, non-frozen pavement, which is probably 95% of the winter. You can count the number of days with frozen precip. on two hands (usually less). Actual pavement temp is rarely below freezing in these parts.

The new UHP all-seasons are not a terrible alternative for this climate. However, in my case I keep the regular UHP tires on the car, and I use my 98 Jeep Wrangler on the 10 (or less) frozen precip days a year. Obviously, you can't hit warm weather UHP skid-pad numbers on cold pavement, but you can't do those numbers on the winters or all-seasons under any conditions--summer or winter.

Having lived in Minnesota for 10 years, I have a lot of snow experience. Most people mistakenly assume winter tires are better for winter, but the ONLY time they are better is on actual snow and ice. On everything else, they are significantly worse than all-seasons.

[Race_Doc11]

be prepared to buy tires every 8000-9000 miles

Originally Posted by -=Hot|Ice=-

I have a little over a year left on my 328xi lease and I was looking into an M3 Coupe. I was wondering how the car is as a daily driver? Do you have to push the car hard to get anything out of it? My 328 has a nice flat torque curve and my sis's new 650i is awesome. It has power on demand. What can I expect from the M3? Will I need to push it around town?

[Leozap]

Originally Posted by PoorMan

For aggressive driving? That's pretty darn good mpg!

Seems the average for 'normal' driving is around 17-19 mpg. Pretty good imo...

So I don't really relate with those who dislike the mpg on this car.. To me bad mpg would be under 10 mpg. As Ive never owned a Honda or corolla etc.. Mainly sports cars and muscle cars (442 olds etc.. younger days )..

Tho I do dislike the tank size.

heheheh, I agree with you but I envy the modded 335i on the gas mileage that's all. I think that's what I had in mind when I posted my respond. It's all good. I am happy with my M