Pics of 2011 M3 so pristine it displaced my Porsche Turbo from the garage. :-)

[tkila]

I'm curious to know what your hi-fi setup consists of? I value audio quality as well and the only car stereo system that actually sounded good was Bentley Naim sound system. Porsche Burmester comes 2nd. B&O and Mark Levinson are overrated.

[Cool Steel]

Originally Posted by ivad32

FYI - regarding the audio settings, I implemented Malek's and have been happy:

EQ Settings: E90 M3, Enhanced Premium Sound:

100 Hz: 0
200 Hz: +1
500 Hz: +3
1k Hz: +6
2k Hz: 0
5k Hz: +3
10k Hz: +7

Bass: +4 (User definable)
Treble: +5 (User Definable)
Fader: -1 (User Definable, based on height and seating position. If you are tall and sit further back, adjust the fader. For reference, I am 6 feet tall, and have the fader set to ZERO)
Balance: 0

Surround Processing: ON (Your choice. I personally like the way the DIRAC processor handles time alignment and imaging, so I left the setting on. Plus, it doesn't have the weird in/out fading issue the Logic7 system had)

S-VOL should be set to 2.

If you are using your IPOD. Make sure the internal EQ is set to FLAT, or OFF, as well as volume limiter being disabled.

Ill second this ^^^

You got a steal deal!!
Looks fantastic!!!!!!!!!!
Competition package and DCT...your set.
Mine was 55k w/9k miles E92 every option too I looked forever! Welcome!!!

[cannga]

Originally Posted by tkila

I'm curious to know what your hi-fi setup consists of? I value audio quality as well and the only car stereo system that actually sounded good was Bentley Naim sound system. Porsche Burmester comes 2nd. B&O and Mark Levinson are overrated.

Hi, the main system is Linn Sondek with Lyra and Koetsu stylus, Conrad Johnson pre and phono stage, and Krell. Speakers are Thiel, Magnaplanar, Quad, Martin Logan. I do have other things scattered around the house and garage :-); have been an audiophile for 20 years. The hometheater processor is Theta Casablanca.

I have not listened to Naim, but I am not surprised of your high opinion of it. I believe they made a tone arm for my Linn Sondek tt; these guys are nutty audiophiles to the core :-).

The best OEM system I've ever listened to is Burmester. Stunning high and mid resolution, very fast sounding both in midrange and in bass. Punchy and well defined bass. Imaging and soundstage unbelieveable for a car system; singer was litterally sitting on the hood .
In the Panamera, I thought the system is a little bright, perhaps reflection of Heil driver from the windshield.
In the 991, it is perfection.

[cannga]

Took my M3 baby to work with me and took some shots at work (I was on 24 hour call - why the planned night shots.)
Camera Canon 1D, lens 85 f/1.2, RAW developed by Capture One.

The more I drive the M3, the more I love it. On 2 critical parameters, steering and suspension, car is fantastic. Still prefer the non Servotronic steering setting though, as it is more natural to me. The Servotroni is quicker, but feels artificially so.

Dual clutch, coming from a manual transmission die-hard: love it, much more than I had expected. Very smooth and lightning quick.

[Ghetto2315]

Def a looker. Any mods planned? Perhaps start with some black kidney grilles, getting rid of the orange reflectors and black side gills to match??

[i001947]

Personally, that Turbo really deserves that garage, period.

[baba louey]

Originally Posted by cannga

Hi yes, guards red - the only color for a proper Porsche. Just kidding.

Re. photography, I actually use both Canon and Nikon. I pick Canon's 85 1.2L, one of Canon's greatest lenses ever, for my money car shots, but I am sure with the right prime lens Nikon will be as good. I shoot in RAW and love the Capture One program (very cheap nowadays).

Re. audio, I am more into home audio and hometheater than car stero. I am still using a turntable as main source, Linn Sondek & Koetsu Rosewood, with Conrad Johnson tube pre and Krell power amp, and Thiel CS5i. I would even admit to spending hours comparing cables in my distant past ;-). For hometheater it's the Theta Casablanca. But anyway, despite of being a nutty purist audiophile for many years now, I have a fairly open-mind and liberally use the (gasp!) tone controls in my car systems.

BTW I found more info about the M3's Enhanced Premium Sound, it is indeed Dirac Live http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=566917 ; very interesting as Dirac is an up and comer in the hometheater world, and in fact is going to be implemented in the Theta Casablanca sound processor.

Dirac is a reputable company with knowledgeable engineers, but the implementation in the M3 is off IMHO, pending further fiddling around. The sound lacks punch in a serious way. I will try the EQ setting above (thanks ivad), but essentially if you have to alter the EQ that much, there is a problem somewhere.
But... besides the sound - a mild complaint really, exaggerated perhaps by what they charge ($1900?), but, I didn't pay for it and everything else with this pretty M3 has been pure love :-).

I'm a life long Nikon user. Started with a Nikon on Kodachrome and when I switched to digital I wanted to still use my lens so the decision was easy. I swap lens a lot and keep forgetting to clean my sensor. What a lot of editing because of that!

I've yet to hear a car stereo do a realistic sound stage. With speakers all over the place in a car, the music would have to be recorded taking that into account. I know of no recording that have done that. As for my stereo at house, it's dated but still performs fine. Adcom amp/preamp, Arcam cd player, and Totem speakers. I'm a digital guy.For me, it's all in the proper D/A convertor.

Oh, yes I do like my M3 too. Biggest problem is that we lost our track a couple of years ago. Boo Hoo!

[E90ab335i]

My God, your 997 turbo left me speechless. That red!!!! Your E90 is gorgeous as well. What a beautiful stable you have, definitely jealous.

[cannga]

Originally Posted by Ghetto2315

Def a looker. Any mods planned? Perhaps start with some black kidney grilles, getting rid of the orange reflectors and black side gills to match??

LOL - these are the exact same things we do in the Porsche. Car will remain stock with exhaust (not that it's not tempting), but I will admit the chrome in the grille bothers me.

Sorry I don't know BMW accessories well and haven't followed this forum until now. Any advice as to the "best" replacement grill please? Best = most OEM like-just no chrome, sturdy, easy replacement, reasonably priced.

Thanks again everyone for the nice comments. The Porsche Turbo + BMW M3 pair is for me the best that I could come up with given my budget; 2 cars with tremendous pedigree and given the history, you simply can't go wrong with. BTW here is another low mileage White 2011, but a coupe, loaded and low miles from Carmax: http://www.carmax.com/enus/view-car/...1&ssid=1024175

[W///]

Originally Posted by cannga

LOL - these are the exact same things we do in the Porsche. Car will remain stock with exhaust (not that it's not tempting), but I will admit the chrome in the grille bothers me.

Sorry I don't know BMW accessories well and haven't followed this forum until now. Any advice as to the "best" replacement grill please? Best = most OEM like-just no chrome, sturdy, easy replacement, reasonably priced.

Thanks again everyone for the nice comments. The Porsche Turbo + BMW M3 pair is for me the best that I could come up with given my budge; 2 cars with tremendous pedigree and given the history, you simply can't go wrong with. BTW here is another low mileage White 2011, but a coupe, loaded and low miles from Carmax: http://www.carmax.com/enus/view-car/...1&ssid=1024175

Wow, my dream combo is an E9x M3 + 997 TT (but in Speed Yellow )

Really great to hear from a Porsche owner how well regarded the M3 is. I've definitely seen your car before Googling for 997 pictures to drool over. Such a beautiful car.

As for grilles, you can never go wrong with iND, but there are plenty of other vendors that sell it. You just to pick gloss black, matte black, or the OEM ones which would be chrome shadow (black, but silver-ish in bright sunlight).

In terms of light modding, when I had my ZCP wheels, I really liked what spacers did to the look of the car. Inexpensive, but it really brought out that bulldog stance.

Congrats!

[Tfk]

For the audiophiles here - not that I mean to thread jack (apologies OP) - have any of you tried/heard of Bavarian Sound Werkes upgrade kit?

I'd appreciate any insight on the matter.
Personally, I don't have the enhanced audio option in my m3 and I'm inclined to opt for this, considering it's practically plug and play..

Thanks!

p.s. Congrats on a spotless m3 OP and your porsche reminded me of our '87 guards red turbo.

Did you know that porsche stands for: Proof-Of-Rich-Spoilt-Children-Having-Everything?

[davesaddiction]

Originally Posted by cannga

LOL - these are the exact same things we do in the Porsche. Car will remain stock with exhaust (not that it's not tempting), but I will admit the chrome in the grille bothers me.

Sorry I don't know BMW accessories well and haven't followed this forum until now. Any advice as to the "best" replacement grill please? Best = most OEM like-just no chrome, sturdy, easy replacement, reasonably priced.

Got mine from IND - http://ind-distribution.com/ind/cate...ont-grille-set

[PaulBailey@ltbmw]

Gorgeous car!
I swear I think I was at CarMax when the lady was selling this car to them last month!
I looked at it like damn! That is a beautiful car.

[cannga]

Originally Posted by davesaddiction

Got mine from IND - http://ind-distribution.com/ind/cate...ont-grille-set

Must...resist...matte...black...grille.

You guys are such "bad" influence. Have told myself a hundred times up to now "no mod, it's the wife car," etc.

[cannga]

Originally Posted by PaulBailey@ltbmw

Gorgeous car!
I swear I think I was at CarMax when the lady was selling this car to them last month!
I looked at it like damn! That is a beautiful car.

Really? If it was Irvine Carmax, then yes it's the one.

Now I know why the car smells so good inside . I am not kidding - the steering wheel leather leaves a nice aroma and I've been wondering why BMW leather smells like a perfume :-). If the wife sees this post, this car is as good as gone.

['Cane]

Originally Posted by cannga

LOL - these are the exact same things we do in the Porsche. Car will remain stock with exhaust (not that it's not tempting), but I will admit the chrome in the grille bothers me.

Sorry I don't know BMW accessories well and haven't followed this forum until now. Any advice as to the "best" replacement grill please? Best = most OEM like-just no chrome, sturdy, easy replacement, reasonably priced.

Thanks again everyone for the nice comments. The Porsche Turbo + BMW M3 pair is for me the best that I could come up with given my budget; 2 cars with tremendous pedigree and given the history, you simply can't go wrong with. BTW here is another low mileage White 2011, but a coupe, loaded and low miles from Carmax: http://www.carmax.com/enus/view-car/...1&ssid=1024175

The car you are linking is not available...


because I bought it. I'll be picking it up Tuesday.

[cannga]

[cannga]

Originally Posted by 'Cane

The car you are linking is not available...
because I bought it. I'll be picking it up Tuesday.

Congrats! Makes a great story for me. Yes that car seems pristine and loaded with options as well.

I would very highly recommend the Carmax 6 year warranty (starts at purchase and in effect an additional 4 year to our 2011 car). It is relatively dirt cheap at 2k or so and Carmax allows you to have car repaired at BMW, making it a no brainer!

['Cane]

Originally Posted by cannga

Congrats! Makes a great story for me. Yes that car seems pristine and loaded with options as well.

I would very highly recommend the Carmax 6 year warranty (starts at purchase and in effect an additional 4 year to our 2011 car). It is relatively dirt cheap at 2k or so and Carmax allows you to have car repaired at BMW, making it a no brainer!

Thanks!
The car is perfect, and I knew as soon as I saw it that I was taking her home. I'm still on the fence about the warranty though. This car still has almost two years of the factory 4/50, and I don't know about paying for something that I won't use for two years. I'll decide when I pick her up in a couple days.

[nmehta211]

Originally Posted by cannga

Took my M3 baby to work with me and took some shots at work (I was on 24 hour call - why the planned night shots.)
Camera Canon 1D, lens 85 f/1.2, RAW developed by Capture One.

The more I drive the M3, the more I love it. On 2 critical parameters, steering and suspension, car is fantastic. Still prefer the non Servotronic steering setting though, as it is more natural to me. The Servotroni is quicker, but feels artificially so.

Dual clutch, coming from a manual transmission die-hard: love it, much more than I had expected. Very smooth and lightning quick.

Nice stable--24 hour call. I assume medicine? What type?

Gas mileage on the M3 worse than the Porsche?

[cannga]

Originally Posted by 'Cane

Thanks!
The car is perfect, and I knew as soon as I saw it that I was taking her home. I'm still on the fence about the warranty though. This car still has almost two years of the factory 4/50, and I don't know about paying for something that I won't use for two years. I'll decide when I pick her up in a couple days.

Great; we now have the Carmax 2011 M3 white DCT twins.

Regarding warranty, sure take your time and decide what's right. But, don't worry, you are not paying for something you are not using. Insurance company is (of course) no dummy; the very cheap cost of the 6 year warranty takes into account the fact that we have 2 years remaining no doubt. It's figured into the program they use - they know year of our car, BMW 4 year warranty, etc.

Even so, for the remaining 4 years, 2k is very cheap. Extended warranty is always a calculated gamble but IMHO, for expensive European cars like BMW M's and Porsche, I think it's worth it, especially at this price. In fact I think Carmax warranty is definitely a bonus of buying German cars there.

[cannga]

mmehta211,

MPG is 15 for Porsche, 17.5 for BMW. But I drive the 2 cars differently. The Porsche has Bilstein with stiffer springs, custom tune, and Cargraphic exhaust. It is the bad boy of the 2.