Performance parts for the M3......

[ss134]

Anyone else feel that BMW are being are being a bit devious by not offering
performance parts as a package/ option for the M3 from the factory.

My thoughts - as it stands if i want a BMW performance steering wheel i have to order one from the dealership and then pay labour to have my standard wheel replaced etc......i am then left with a standard steering wheel
(i know i can sell it but thats not my point) I have then effectively paid BMW for 2 steering wheels for my car.

Why cant the performance parts be ordered from the factory in lieu of the standard parts - have them as stand alone options or even as a 'performance package' that includes the M performance exhaust etc etc.

The price of the standard items could be deducted from the performance options as you would not need them on your car - i don't want to pay BMW for a standard exhaust and then again for a performance exhaust - i want to spec the car with these parts from the factory and not have to pay BMW twice for the same functioning part/accessory.
Porsche are very good at this - most of their performance orientated accessories can be specced with the car in lieu of the standard items.

[klammer]

Completely agree. Wish there were more options from the factory, brakes being number one as well as all the available options out today. Seems like a miss from a true "Motorsport" perspective, but then again, nothing's perfect

[eisenb11]

Yeah, I find this annoying as well. I'd rather not be overcharged for the standard exhaust since I'm already going to be overcharged for the performance exhaust. It would be nice to just have to be overcharged once!

On a side note, I'm also a little annoyed that the performance exhaust seems to be the only performance option that actually affects performance.

[ss134]

Originally Posted by eisenb11

Yeah, I find this annoying as well. I'd rather not be overcharged for the standard exhaust since I'm already going to be overcharged for the performance exhaust. It would be nice to just have to be overcharged once!

On a side note, I'm also a little annoyed that the performance exhaust seems to be the only performance option that actually affects performance.

In some countries in Europe you can order the 'M Drivers Package' which gives you a day at the M driving school and they raise the top speed limiter on the car to 280kph - but no extra hp. The cost for this day at the school and an extra 10 kph top speed (standard car is limited to 270kph although its advertised at 250 kph by BMW) is $3500!

[eisenb11]

Originally Posted by ss134

In some countries in Europe you can order the 'M Drivers Package' which gives you a day at the M driving school and they raise the top speed limiter on the car to 280kph - but no extra hp. The cost for this day at the school and an extra 10 kph top speed (standard car is limited to 270kph although its advertised at 250 kph by BMW) is $3500!

Ouch!!!

[klammer]

And people wonder why there's an aftermarket. This is the reason why I'm annoyed by the "BMW Knows best" attitude to modding. They don't, and brakes are the first, maybe an exhaust that actually MAKES power, suspension upgrades( I mean at least camber plates or better adjustment) and there are many others...

[Ateam]

no exhaust makes power sorry (axle back)

[Twinbo]

Originally Posted by klammer

And people wonder why there's an aftermarket. This is the reason why I'm annoyed by the "BMW Knows best" attitude to modding. They don't, and brakes are the first, maybe an exhaust that actually MAKES power, suspension upgrades( I mean at least camber plates or better adjustment) and there are many others...

I would like to see what you have suggested but I assume you have some experience with adjusting suspension. Can you imagine people dialing in more negative camber themselves than taking the car to the dealership complaining how fast the inside shoulders of their tires are wearing?
I think that BMW has to guard against Darwin's soldiers in the case of allowing owners to tune their own cars.

[Edward]

Originally Posted by klammer

And people wonder why there's an aftermarket. This is the reason why I'm annoyed by the "BMW Knows best" attitude to modding. They don't, and brakes are the first, maybe an exhaust that actually MAKES power, suspension upgrades( I mean at least camber plates or better adjustment) and there are many others...

BMW engineers and designers DO know best when it comes to designing and creating the cars we drive. Yea, certain aftermarket companies are able to improve upon stock components, but the improvement does not exist because BMW was not good at their job in the first place. There was room for improvement because BMW has cost constraints as well as the need to make a car that appeals to the masses. If they built an M3 that was more akin to the GT3RS vs a Carrera S, you'd have the masses complaining about a chattery clutch, unforgiving seats and suspension, fast wearing tires, no sound insulation, cheap door pulls etc.

I guarantee you that if you asked the BEST aftermarket tuners to get together and build a 430-450 hp M3 for the track and had BMW build their own, BMW would destroy the aftermarket tuners.

Obviously aftermarket brakes are way better than stock M3 brakes and an Akra exhaust is definitely higher quality and prettier than the stock M3. This isn't because BMW doesn't do it right. If BMW built every component to super high quality aftermarket spec, they'd be offering you an M3 that costs $110k.

[checkmate]

Originally Posted by Edward

BMW engineers and designers DO know best when it comes to designing and creating the cars we drive. Yea, certain aftermarket companies are able to improve upon stock components, but the improvement does not exist because BMW was not good at their job in the first place. There was room for improvement because BMW has cost constraints as well as the need to make a car that appeals to the masses. If they built an M3 that was more akin to the GT3RS vs a Carrera S, you'd have the masses complaining about a chattery clutch, unforgiving seats and suspension, fast wearing tires, no sound insulation, cheap door pulls etc.

I guarantee you that if you asked the BEST aftermarket tuners to get together and build a 430-450 hp M3 for the track and had BMW build their own, BMW would destroy the aftermarket tuners.

Obviously aftermarket brakes are way better than stock M3 brakes and an Akra exhaust is definitely higher quality and prettier than the stock M3. This isn't because BMW doesn't do it right. If BMW built every component to super high quality aftermarket spec, they'd be offering you an M3 that costs $110k.

^^^ This

[Rshane]

Originally Posted by Edward

BMW engineers and designers DO know best when it comes to designing and creating the cars we drive. Yea, certain aftermarket companies are able to improve upon stock components, but the improvement does not exist because BMW was not good at their job in the first place. There was room for improvement because BMW has cost constraints as well as the need to make a car that appeals to the masses. If they built an M3 that was more akin to the GT3RS vs a Carrera S, you'd have the masses complaining about a chattery clutch, unforgiving seats and suspension, fast wearing tires, no sound insulation, cheap door pulls etc.

I guarantee you that if you asked the BEST aftermarket tuners to get together and build a 430-450 hp M3 for the track and had BMW build their own, BMW would destroy the aftermarket tuners.

Obviously aftermarket brakes are way better than stock M3 brakes and an Akra exhaust is definitely higher quality and prettier than the stock M3. This isn't because BMW doesn't do it right. If BMW built every component to super high quality aftermarket spec, they'd be offering you an M3 that costs $110k.

Well, I was going to say something like this, but it was easier to just quote you. If only other things in life were this easy

[LTJohn]

It would be great if they could do what subaru did a few years back. They offered some speed parts like a SSK, cat back exhaust and suspension mods as dealer installed options. They benefit the dealership tremendously, and make the owners happy too. I had a friend that got a WRX back in 2001 and he came back from the dealership with some awesome mods, and they were all higher than OEM quality. At the time, I was trying to hide a GIAC chip tune on my S4 from my dealership!!!

[Edward]

I think offering the Inconel performance exhaust would be the sickest factory option. I mean, that thing costs thousands of dollars even discounted and probably 15%+ of the buyers would opt for it. Or even create like a ZCP+ package where it costs an extra 1500 or 2k for ZCP+ exhaust and some other performance bits. I know they can work the numbers to get it to work in their favor. It's a lot easier to absorb these things in the overall lease/finance payments than it is to outright buy the thing with a check.

[-=Hot|Ice=-]

It's good that BMW doesn't offer performance parts for the M3, The M3 owners can jump to a P-Car. 991 S and Turbo S. Those are what I am aiming for as my future cars.

[Mr. ///M3 RD]

Originally Posted by ss134

I have then effectively paid BMW for 2 steering wheels for my car.

I so agree with you...

Your sentence above that is exactly what it is all about ... like "show me the money"

Manufacturers in general are not making all there money on the main product (BMW may be the exception to this) ... the money is made on spare and replacement parts.

I wish the option and package selection on a BMW would be more flexible ... often we get to select a package, however, there are options within the package we simply don't want or need and still have to pay for it ... not fair I say ....

[stefan]

This applies to your basic options as well. For example. In Canada, it's $2K for the 220Ms. You don't get to keep the 219Ms. And they are worth about $2300 with tires. So you pay $4300 for 220s.

BMW sees that we are ridiculous and throw our money at aftermarket vendors... even doing things as crazy as pulling of brand new exhausts and suspensions. Naturally, they wanted a piece of that.

[THE TECH]

BMW also makes a nice brake upgrade setup (looks like Brembos) but not for the M. Seems odd.

[dmw16]

I would think the main reason they don't offer things like the performance wheel as a factory option has to do with the fact that the car is produced in a factory. In an effort to control costs they design the cars for ease of production and with each possible permutation comes added variability in the process as well as additional material costs/burden/etc.

Ensuring the proper parts go onto the proper car is no easy task so BMW's goal is to strike a balance between giving the customer flexibility while still operating within the reasonable limitations of their production process.

I don't think they'd sell enough M3's with the performance wheel as an installed option to justify the costs of offering it as an option. They probably don't sell very many as an aftermarket parts and I don't think the average buyer (not all of us on this forum) would step up for the (let's guess and say) $800-$1000 option.

It seems to me that BMW does a nice job of offering a good even of customization without getting too crazy and also offers high quality factory performance parts to the aftermarket.

[Technic]

Originally Posted by dmw16

I would think the main reason they don't offer things like the performance wheel as a factory option has to do with the fact that the car is produced in a factory. In an effort to control costs they design the cars for ease of production and with each possible permutation comes added variability in the process as well as additional material costs/burden/etc.

The BMW M Performance steering wheel is available as a factory option -and be customized as well- thru Individual.

Looking at the aftermarket customer base relative to the 1.2+ million annual BMW sales is what BMW must be doing, and simply deciding that the investment will not yield the desired profit margin. If you add the fact that components/parts must pass specific durability, emission, usability, sound and ergonomic tests on average of 100,000 miles or more then we can see that it is not as simple or inexpensive to offer a multitude of performance parts just because the aftermarket (which 99% do not perform any long term tests) offer performance products.

In BMW defense, they do offer one of the widest selection of accessory OEM wheels in the market. They used to offer a vast selection of OEM retrofits, leather interiors and electronics years ago as well. But it seems that the profit was not there so they eliminated most of the OEM retrofit and accessories from their catalogs. So they did try it.

Even when BMW offered a South Africa-only special edition M3 (25 units only) with 440hp with the same 4.0L V8 as the "standard" M3 (instead of the GTS 4.4L) they assigned the V8 tuning to AC Schnitzer and not to M GmbH.

Go figure.

[stefan]

Originally Posted by Technic

Even when BMW offered a South Africa-only special edition M3 (25 units only) with 440hp with the same 4.0L V8 as the "standard" M3 (instead of the GTS 4.4L) they assigned the V8 tuning to AC Schnitzer and not to M GmbH.
Go figure.

Really! I did not know this. So BMW sanctioned a nearly 30hp software tune? Interesting.

[Technic]

Originally Posted by stefan

Really! I did not know this. So BMW sanctioned a nearly 30hp software tune? Interesting.

That answer came straight from M GmbH when I personally asked.

They do not mess around... if it does not make the money that they want they do not do it.

[stefan]

Originally Posted by Technic

That answer came straight from M GmbH when I personally asked.

They do not mess around... if it does not make the money that they want they do not do it.

Cool. Can we get our hands on it?