Swanlake LMB E92 6MT Photo Journey

[swanlake]

Howdy M3Post,

It's great to be back on the forums again. I bought my first E92 M3 in 2014, a 2008 E92 DCT in Space Grey/Fox Red, and was fairly present on the forums and the SoCal M Scene for the duration of my ownership. I drove that car from 67k miles to 122k in 4 years and loved every mile. Some of you may remember my car, wrapped in 3M Blue Raspberry on Forgestar CF5V's. Pics below:



After selling my E92 to a friend of mine in 2018, I had a brief stint with a Shelby GT350, Porsche 991 Carrera S, Porsche Cayenne Diesel, and I now still have my W205 C63S Coupe. After going through all of these I realized I was searching for something I'd already had, the perfect balance of the E92 M3. In my opinion this new M3 is my forever M3, and I intend to care for and maintain it as such.

So without further adeu, my 2012 E92 M3 6mt in LeMans Blue on Bamboo Beige, currently with 44k miles on the odo:







And next to its cousin from Afalterbach in the garage:


I've yet to do a proper shoot yet, but I will be posting pics in this thread once I do. I plan to keep this car OEM+ in terms of styling, but remains to be seen what kind of mechanical modifications I go forward with. So far I've installed the OEM Performance Spoiler, and an OEM exhaust mod from EAS.



I want a bit more volume out of the exhaust so I'm evaluating catted xpipe options.

Great to be back, cheers everyone!

[akkando]

Originally Posted by swanlake

Howdy M3Post,

It's great to be back on the forums again. I bought my first E92 M3 in 2014, a 2008 E92 DCT in Space Grey/Fox Red, and was fairly present on the forums and the SoCal M Scene for the duration of my ownership. I drove that car from 67k miles to 122k in 4 years and loved every mile. Some of you may remember my car, wrapped in 3M Blue Raspberry on Forgestar CF5V's. Pics below:



After selling my E92 to a friend of mine in 2018, I had a brief stint with a Shelby GT350, Porsche 991 Carrera S, Porsche Cayenne Diesel, and I now still have my W205 C63S Coupe. After going through all of these I realized I was searching for something I'd already had, the perfect balance of the E92 M3. In my opinion this new M3 is my forever M3, and I intend to care for and maintain it as such.

So without further adeu, my 2012 E92 M3 6mt in LeMans Blue on Bamboo Beige, currently with 44k miles on the odo:







And next to its cousin from Afalterbach in the garage:


I've yet to do a proper shoot yet, but I will be posting pics in this thread once I do. I plan to keep this car OEM+ in terms of styling, but remains to be seen what kind of mechanical modifications I go forward with. So far I've installed the OEM Performance Spoiler, and an OEM exhaust mod from EAS.



I want a bit more volume out of the exhaust so I'm evaluating catted xpipe options.

Great to be back, cheers everyone!

Look into Karbonius or Eventuri CF plenum for more engine volume instead of exhaust.

[swanlake]

Originally Posted by akkando

Look into Karbonius or Eventuri CF plenum for more engine volume instead of exhaust.

I would love a Karbonius... cost is definitely on the upper end though and seems availability is spotty? Before this car I'd been considering an e46 with the CSL intake as it is pretty incredible sounding. Seems the Karbonius is much louder inside the car than the Eventuri, but that might just be the way the audio has been recorded in the vids I've seen

[akkando]

Originally Posted by swanlake

I would love a Karbonius... cost is definitely on the upper end though and seems availability is spotty? Before this car I'd been considering an e46 with the CSL intake as it is pretty incredible sounding. Seems the Karbonius is much louder inside the car than the Eventuri, but that might just be the way the audio has been recorded in the vids I've seen

I can't quite be sure of the difference based on video. My guess is Karbonius sounds better but it's also harder to buy. They're both very expensive, but so is a nice exhaust, and I won't have to mess with federal emissions equipment like cats to do plenum. Obviously you can make more power and lose more weight with the right exhaust, but in California it's legally annoying.

[Drifter2090]

Congrats and welo me back!!

Why 6mt this time around?

[Blindside_137]

Love it. I remember the old car. Crazy how time flies.

The new one sure is a gorgeous spec. Congrats and welcome back!

[swanlake]

Originally Posted by Drifter2090

Congrats and welo me back!!

Why 6mt this time around?

Thanks! I went 6mt for a couple reasons. 1) I think a low mileage 6mt is a solid long term buy and will probably appreciate after a while, at a stronger rate than the DCT will. 2) I love driving stick, it's so much more of an occasion going out for a drive. I did a test stint with the muffler removed and the sounds this car makes on the 3-4 upshifts at redline is absolutely addictive, and feels so right to be in full control of that. That said, I do want to do the auto solutions SSK to sharpen up the throw and shorten it up a bit, the 4-5 shift is tricky since it's so far away. Overall though, happy camper here

[Drifter2090]

Originally Posted by swanlake

Thanks! I went 6mt for a couple reasons. 1) I think a low mileage 6mt is a solid long term buy and will probably appreciate after a while, at a stronger rate than the DCT will. 2) I love driving stick, it's so much more of an occasion going out for a drive. I did a test stint with the muffler removed and the sounds this car makes on the 3-4 upshifts at redline is absolutely addictive, and feels so right to be in full control of that. That said, I do want to do the auto solutions SSK to sharpen up the throw and shorten it up a bit, the 4-5 shift is tricky since it's so far away. Overall though, happy camper here

Nice!! I did the same switch haha

And yeah I got the dinan ssk, can't wait to install it and try.

[D1ESEL]

Love the color combo!

[6ixSpd]

Holy crap that's such an incredible spec. LMB, BB extended, 6MT, ZCP.

I envy you!!!!

[swanlake]

Originally Posted by 6ixSpd

Holy crap that's such an incredible spec. LMB, BB extended, 6MT, ZCP.

I envy you!!!!

Thanks! I felt the same way, I didn't have any choice but to buy it! haha

[Bemo]

Welcome back. I waited 5 years to nail an LRP edition and the 911 has been spending a lot more time on the lift ever since!
Though I drove it on some back roads yesterday and once again reminded while it will alway be the most high, by a lot, in the handling department..but I digress.

+1 for getting a CF Plenum. I opted for the Eventuri and it completely transforms the auditory senses. The induction sound it generates is infinitely more satisfying than the perf exhaust. After all, the engine is the big story in this car, not its handling or weight.

[swagon]

Dream combo. Keep it pristine, please. There won't be anything like this ever again!

[W///]

Wait, did you get your car from Carvana? That's a super classy combo, congratulations! I've been toying with the idea of completely downsizing to 2 cars (truck and Porsche) so the 991 has been on my radar. Realistically, I could never part with my M's, especially my E92 since I've had it for 9 years now and still love it to death. What were your thoughts on that car, along with the Shelby and MB? Why does the E92 stick out so much to you?

Also, may I recommend a ZHP knob before you go SSK? It made a huge difference for me and I didn't bother with the SSK.

P.S. Bamboo Beige is truly an underrated interior color IMO.

[swanlake]

Originally Posted by swagon

Dream combo. Keep it pristine, please. There won't be anything like this ever again!

I will do my absolute best, I promise you that!

Originally Posted by W///

Wait, did you get your car from Carvana? That's a super classy combo, congratulations! I've been toying with the idea of completely downsizing to 2 cars (truck and Porsche) so the 991 has been on my radar. Realistically, I could never part with my M's, especially my E92 since I've had it for 9 years now and still love it to death. What were your thoughts on that car, along with the Shelby and MB? Why does the E92 stick out so much to you?

Also, may I recommend a ZHP knob before you go SSK? It made a huge difference for me and I didn't bother with the SSK.

P.S. Bamboo Beige is truly an underrated interior color IMO.

I did buy the car through Carvana. Aside from some logistical issues it was a very easy process. Kinda surreal clicking "Confirm purchase" on a 5 figure shopping cart haha, what a time to be alive...

The 991 was cool, but to be plain, it didn't feel that special knowing how much more was available in the 991 family tree. It was a PDK car (which is an amazing transmission) and black on black, but it simply didn't feel like something that was worth keeping forever. There's also the fact that they hold their value so well, both a good and bad thing. The good thing is obvious, the bad thing is I paid more for it than the driving experience warranted given the mileage. For comparison, I paid a full $10k more for my 991 with 30k more miles than I did for this e92, and from a driving experience I think they're on the same level.

The GT350 is probably the closest you can get from an ethos perspective to the e92 M3. The engine is an absolute monster, and it's an incredibly capable car on track, up until it overheats in 6 laps due to mine being a tech pack car. I felt fully duped by Ford here, as typically a "track pack" is kind of a gimmick and not a necessity to be able to drive the car to its full potential, but in this case it means it overheats very quickly and will dramatically go into limp mode after about 10 minutes of hard driving. That said, there was a brief period where I had my old E92 and the 350, and driving them in back to back track sessions on Laguna Seca was eye opening. Where the 350 falls short is the build quality. The interior just feels like a $25k Mustang with some alcantara and red accents. It also feels ginormous. It's a surreal experience driving that car at the limit because it's a big car, that just happens to do exactly what you tell it to do. The only car that was able to pass me at Laguna was a modded 993 Turbo. Great car, just doesn't feel like a quality product. On that note, I also had the AC go out on it 3 times within the first 30k miles which is pretty unacceptable.

[swanlake]

So as I mentioned in my original post, I was looking for a bit more sound from the car, and went forward with getting the resonators removed. Personally, I can't get enough of the sound of this car now, and the fact that I achieved that without compromising the CA emissions compliance is a solid win in my book.

Quick pic and before after vid from the shop:

[Drifter2090]

Originally Posted by swanlake

So as I mentioned in my original post, I was looking for a bit more sound from the car, and went forward with getting the resonators removed. Personally, I can't get enough of the sound of this car now, and the fact that I achieved that without compromising the CA emissions compliance is a solid win in my book.

Quick pic and before after vid from the shop:

Sounds great!! Which oem mod do you have? 2 pipe, 4 pipe, ACM? And that's just all cats in with resoantors removed?

[swanlake]

Originally Posted by Drifter2090

Sounds great!! Which oem mod do you have? 2 pipe, 4 pipe, ACM? And that's just all cats in with resoantors removed?

To be honest I'm not sure which version it is. I picked it up from EAS, so whatever they do. But yes, all cats are in place, just OEM exhaust mod and resonator delete.

[Helmsman]

Swanlake, welcome back! Your car look gorgeous, how nice it must be coming back to something missed and find an example like that!

[swanlake]

Originally Posted by Helmsman

Swanlake, welcome back! Your car look gorgeous, how nice it must be coming back to something missed and find an example like that!

Thank you! It felt like fate. The first day I started actively looking for one, this car was listed on CarGurus. It was purchased 3 hours later haha

[swanlake]

Just got my spacers in yesterday, 15mm front/ 12.5mm rear, and installed them on the car. I love the new stance and it may be placebo but I swear the car feel more balanced in corners and more planted at speed. Either way, I'm very happy.

[Matt@AUTOcouture]

Welcome back, great combo!