Back in time

[neilum]

Life happens and the F80 had to go. #dadlife plus other monies needed for investments meant it was time.

So the F80 is going to a good home, and after seriously looking around at sedans currently on the market in the $30-35K range, it became obvious that I really don't like anything currently made from BMW that doesn't have an M badge on it, and most cars I considered have become so damn lifeless.

Plus the F80 has spoiled me so a lot of normal cars in this price range are just a hard hell no.

I'm also approaching the #getoffmylawn phase of my life where I am beginning to prefer old school cars, or cars that still feel mechanical and without semi-autonomous BS.

Lucky me (us) that BMW made a magical machine like the E9x, and clean well kept examples are still available and reasonable to find. I stumbled upon an E90 Interlagos Blue 2011 ZCP that was garage kept and 100% unmodified so here she is....

I am also fortunate that I work from home and won't be piling on miles, nor relying on the car as a true daily driver so repairs that pop up here and there are fine and the higher upkeep $$ of an older car is all good.

Anyway, loving the ITB's, hydro steering and N/A V8. This car is special but definitely not for the feint of heart if 2-3K repair bills aren't in your budget.

[94jedi]

Congrats on the car; a very desirable spec!!!

[donut_boi]

Congrats and welcome back. You definitely found a gem that you can consider keeping for a long long time

[Jerry.E90M3]

Nice and congrats!

[tony093]

great looking sedan!
love the color!

[IB M]

Score! Love the IB and ZCP wheels.

[EricSMG]

Excellent! The all black interior is the bomb on these cars. And the sedans are sooooo pitbull-ish in the flesh. Awesome looking cars that don't always photograph well (yours looks great, tho).

I LOVE the bone stock look, with no tint and orange reflectors - car looks so fresh like that.

[EnVe46]

Congrats! Love the color combo, my cars twin so I'm a bit biased

[roastbeef]

That's a very long winded way of saying you missed the v8.

I love saying this over and over and over; welcome back from turbo purgatory.

[BayE30]

Regardless of the reason, you made the right choice.

[Helmsman]

M3 E90 ZCP to save money? Seen plenty more boring ways to achieve that.

Welcome back to Naturally Aspirated V8 bro!

[GRUESOM3]

We should make it a rule for members that are coming back to come back with a video of reving the hell of the s65.

[neilum]

Originally Posted by EricSMG

Excellent! The all black interior is the bomb on these cars. And the sedans are sooooo pitbull-ish in the flesh. Awesome looking cars that don't always photograph well (yours looks great, tho).

I LOVE the bone stock look, with no tint and orange reflectors - car looks so fresh like that.

Thanks man! I am going to try so hard and keep it mostly stock exterior wise and mostly all around, but I probably have to mod the exhaust or else I can't respect myself.

Happy to be part of the E90 community, seems like a cool group sans the E93 folks. <sarcasm>


^^^ and I just might take you up on that! But first I will uncork this beast, just haven't decided what route to go yet. My local shop in Fairlawn NJ autocouture swears by the ACM mod. We'll soon see!

[Montaver]

Originally Posted by neilum

Thanks man! I am going to try so hard and keep it mostly stock exterior wise and mostly all around, but I probably have to mod the exhaust or else I can't respect myself.

Happy to be part of the E90 community, seems like a cool group sans the E93 folks. <sarcasm>


^^^ and I just might take you up on that! But first I will uncork this beast, just haven't decided what route to go yet. My local shop in Fairlawn NJ autocouture swears by the ACM mod. We'll soon see!

Nice car! Are you coming from an F80 M3? How does it feel comparatively?

ACM is a great mod, but MPE is the best IMO

[neilum]

Originally Posted by Montaver

Nice car! Are you coming from an F80 M3? How does it feel comparatively?

ACM is a great mod, but MPE is the best IMO

Had an MPE on the F80, so I am biased too

The F80 feels a lot faster, and more responsive to steering inputs and immediate turn-in. The car feels more responsive in every way compared to the E90. Everything it does, is RIGHT NOW!! It is also much more modern looking and IMO has more road presence (it has huge hips). I got caught in the wrong gear today in the E90 while in auto mode going up a hill and was like holy crap this is slow

The E90 feels/drives smaller even though its heavier (lower beltline & lower hood). The E90 is easier to drive fast, both in the corners and off the line. E90 is more balanced by far. F80 is a handful and way past my limits. I think if you're good, like really good the F80 is the better track car, but for most of us the E90 is more explorable.


The E90 feels like a special car, it has tons of valvetrain lash, the trans feels more notchy, you can hear the diff a little. E90 is a more complete package that feels like it was born special from the beginning and it all comes together better as a cohesive unit. E90 feels like a race car actually under the covers compared to the F80.

The F80's party trick is just being brutally fast, more refined and completely in your face in every way. I do think in some ways BMW did a great job with the F80 because it started out as a much worse car compared to the base E90 car. I really don't like the F30 cars, they are lifeless.

E90 has more character. F80 is prettier and is faster.

Both great just completely different. Like two brothers who look and act nothing alike.

[BPe90M3]

Looks like alot of us are making this move back to an e9x from an f8x. Good move.

[Montaver]

Originally Posted by neilum

Had an MPE on the F80, so I am biased too

The F80 feels a lot faster, and more responsive to steering inputs and immediate turn-in. The car feels more responsive in every way compared to the E90. Everything it does, is RIGHT NOW!! It is also much more modern looking and IMO has more road presence (it has huge hips). I got caught in the wrong gear today in the E90 while in auto mode going up a hill and was like holy crap this is slow

The E90 feels/drives smaller even though its heavier (lower beltline & lower hood). The E90 is easier to drive fast, both in the corners and off the line. E90 is more balanced by far. F80 is a handful and way past my limits. I think if you're good, like really good the F80 is the better track car, but for most of us the E90 is more explorable.


The E90 feels like a special car, it has tons of valvetrain lash, the trans feels more notchy, you can hear the diff a little. E90 is a more complete package that feels like it was born special from the beginning and it all comes together better as a cohesive unit. E90 feels like a race car actually under the covers compared to the F80.

The F80's party trick is just being brutally fast, more refined and completely in your face in every way. I do think in some ways BMW did a great job with the F80 because it started out as a much worse car compared to the base E90 car. I really don't like the F30 cars, they are lifeless.

E90 has more character. F80 is prettier and is faster.

Both great just completely different. Like two brothers who look and act nothing alike.

Nice comparison! I'm very curious to drive an f8x car particularly a manual. I've got the opportunity to drive an M4 on track in July when I'm back in the UK which I'm excited about. Quicker turn in and more responsive sounds good to me. If one comes up on Turo in NJ i'd definitely rent one for day as well so I could explore the handling on the bear mountain twisties.

[EricSMG]

Originally Posted by Montaver

Nice comparison! I'm very curious to drive an f8x car particularly a manual. I've got the opportunity to drive an M4 on track in July when I'm back in the UK which I'm excited about. Quicker turn in and more responsive sounds good to me. If one comes up on Turo in NJ i'd definitely rent one for day as well so I could explore the handling on the bear mountain twisties.

Meh, I was turned off by the manual. The massive on/off nature of the motor needs constant load to operate properly and thus, in my opinion, the DCT is vastly superior. It's very laggy below 3k and then WHAMO!! huge torque wall and then you lift to upshift and it's like you're falling off a cliff, then clutch out back on the gas... and then WHAMO!!.

No thanks.

DCT just let's you keep your foot down which means constant boost which means seamless acceleration. I know that isn't the "cool kids" answer, but it's the truth. It's a more effective combo for turbo motor. You want to be cool, you get the manual. You want a combo that really works well, you get the DCT

I do like the F80 ZCP overall, though. Ultra responsive, razor sharp car and drop dead gorgeous. I honestly think it'd be too aggressive to drive everyday - too hard edged and hard riding. My EDC/220M E90M is borderline and the F80 ZCP was significantly more hard edged. But I would love to have one three days a week

[neilum]

Originally Posted by EricSMG

Meh, I was turned off by the manual. The massive on/off nature of the motor needs constant load to operate properly and thus, in my opinion, the DCT is vastly superior. It's very laggy below 3k and then WHAMO!! huge torque wall and then you lift to upshift and it's like you're falling off a cliff, then clutch out back on the gas... and then WHAMO!!.

No thanks.

DCT just let's you keep your foot down which means constant boost which means seamless acceleration. I know that isn't the "cool kids" answer, but it's the truth. It's a more effective combo for turbo motor. You want to be cool, you get the manual. You want a combo that really works well, you get the DCT

I do like the F80 ZCP overall, though. Ultra responsive, razor sharp car and drop dead gorgeous. I honestly think it'd be too aggressive to drive everyday - too hard edged and hard riding. My EDC/220M E90M is borderline and the F80 ZCP was significantly more hard edged. But I would love to have one three days a week

Agree with this 100%. The DCT is just a better fit for the F80, while I think the manual is a better suited for the E90.

E90 is also better dampened by a lot.

[EricSMG]

Originally Posted by neilum

Agree with this 100%. The DCT is just a better fit for the F80, while I think the manual is a better suited for the E90.

E90 is also better dampened by a lot.

My E90M is a manual and it's very good. However, the upper end of the powerband is very narrow (about 1.5k rpm or so) and I find the gear spacing of the manual results in each upshift dropping the revs a little too far such that the motor isn't kept in its sweet spot.

For example, if I shift at redline, the rpms drop to somewhere in the low 6s. That's too far since the powerband doesn't really come on until just before 7k.

The DCT with its much closer tranny ratios should result in a smaller rpm drop between shifts and thus keep the motor in the band at all times if shifted at redline. I haven't tested this to be sure but I bet it's the case, hence why the DCTs are faster.

Now, having owned a 6MT E90M, I would go DCT if I could do it over even though the manual is very good. I'm more about "effective" than purely "involvement".

[Agent-GHQ]

Welcoming back!

I dread the countless mail offers from BMW to jump into the M4 with zero down $3500- credit. I’m like I’d rather pay you not for me to get an M4

[BOOF-M3]

Originally Posted by EricSMG

My E90M is a manual and it's very good. However, the upper end of the powerband is very narrow (about 1.5k rpm or so) and I find the gear spacing of the manual results in each upshift dropping the revs a little too far such that the motor isn't kept in its sweet spot.

For example, if I shift at redline, the rpms drop to somewhere in the low 6s. That's too far since the powerband doesn't really come on until just before 7k.

The DCT with its much closer tranny ratios should result in a smaller rpm drop between shifts and thus keep the motor in the band at all times if shifted at redline. I haven't tested this to be sure but I bet it's the case, hence why the DCTs are faster.

Now, having owned a 6MT E90M, I would go DCT if I could do it over even though the manual is very good. I'm more about "effective" than purely "involvement".

I'll test this out on my DCT today and update.