Bye Bye 2008 E93; Hello 2009 E92

[Finnegan]

I said goodbye to my AW/FR 6MT E93 this week. I'll always remember that car very fondly as it taught me how much I really love driving. But as time went by what I wanted out of a car changed and evolved over time:

• We didn't run with the top down enough (my wife's allergies have gotten worse this year).
• I found myself wanted something a bit lighter than the vert as my driving skills have improved and my needs changed.
• I wanted to track the car--not something the vert is really set up for
• My wife has gotten more into driving but we've come to realize she's just not going to do well at heel/toe or smooth enough when doing spirited driving. DCT seemed like a better choice for us.

The .9% on the 2009s was just to hard to pass up; and since I could get a good price on my trade, I decided to let the E93 go.

The new baby is a Le Mans Blue E92 with a CF roof with Tech, Premium, Black Novillo leather, Carbon Leather Trim, Premium Sound, Heated Seats, USB/I-Pod, PDC, and 18" wheels. I don't have the Gintani exhaust on at this point; that will wait until after the 1,200 mile service.

My impressions so far:

• It's HELL keeping the revs down! It's so hard not to go WOT to red line once you've been there! (Yes, I know, and I'm very thankful I have had the opportunity to live through the 1,200 mile period twice.)
• The car feels much stiffer that the vert and I definitely notice the lightness of the car compared to the vert in all driving aspects.
• EDC now on my "must have" option list. It's noticeable, and useful for some of the crummy roads we have here (like 80 west by Davis).
• Comfort Access--I missed you!
• Gasp, heresy, dare I say it? Yikes! I like the DCT. It's a really nice piece of engineering. But most importantly it meets our needs right now. IMO I don't think you can go wrong with either transmission if the decision is based on what you want out of the car or what your needs are.
• The 2009 I-drive is a big improvement. Not "great", but really easy to use. The new controller helps a lot too.
• The Premium stereo is nice; but not $1,900 worth of nice.
• My neighbors think I'm a nut (trading in a "perfectly good car" for what, as they call it, is "the same car" in blue)
• My wife loves the new car...big plus there and I really could not car less what the neighbors think anyway!

My planned mods are:

• Clear bra
• Black grill and gills
• Do something with those ugly orange reflectors (painted, smoked...new bumper, who knows?)
• Gintani axleback (in my garage awaiting the magic 1,200 mark)
• Pinnacle F1 Tint
• Springs?
• ???? (I'm sure Doba will think of something )

[longtran]

thats one way to get the new navi. congrats.

[Green///Hell]

Great change and keeping it M awesome

[Takumi587]

You made the right choice boss. Well I would of gotten the MT again haha. However, I own the E46 M3 vert with SMG and despise the gearbox... I would have traded it in for an E46 coupe but financially it's impossible.

BUT! I bet you love the new navi system!

[Moxie]

Most excellant - Congratulations.

Let me know if you don't already have the matte Black grills - I have a new set amoung other things, never used, still in the box. Just haven't gotten around to putting 'em up for sale yet. I got 'em & decided to go with the performance grills.

Nice to hear your wifes on board with the purchase & mods.

I'm lucky that way too -

[MJC///M3]

very M-pressive!

Enjoy the new whip bro.

[bavarian19]

[doba_s]

Good job Ron ! now I would have to go on a diet to keep up with you ...

I really like the color !

[KANdaddy]

sweet! One of my favorite colors.

[330CIZHP]

Glad to hear you got the car you wanted.

Definitely, you will feel the difference overall with 440 pounds less than the convertible had.

[Finnegan]

Thanks for all the !

After a fun day of driving today all I can say is that I'm even more happy with the car! Back roads are even more fun than they were before (and they were dan fun in the E93). Handling, braking, feel and precision really have improved. I've got 450 miles in on the break-in--it's going to be fun to see what happens when I can really get on the throttle again!

I've have parts from the E93 I'm putting on this one--exhaust, grill/gills. Just as soon as I sit still and stop driving it that is!

[FStop7]

The Premium stereo is nice; but not $1,900 worth of nice.

Having owned both how big is the difference? I have the Premium in my current car. But when the time comes to get a new car I will probably do another M3, and I'm really unsure if I want this option.

[doba_s]

Originally Posted by FStop7

Having owned both how big is the difference? I have the Premium in my current car. But when the time comes to get a new car I will probably do another M3, and I'm really unsure if I want this option.

I would skip it ( had ES on e92 but don't have it on e90) and build your custom system ... This is what I am doing now with Technic's help ...

[IND-Distribution]

That's a great step! Having had the opportunity to drive both the convertible and the coupe almost back to back, would you say that the coupe is significantly faster through corners, or just more "confidence-inspiring" than the convertible? I remember how huge the difference was between E36 M3 coupes and convertibles, and that it did diminish somewhat on the E46 chassis. I've never gotten to really drive a convertible, so this is a cool comparison.

[TonyTone]

Congrats!!!!

[veightkiller]

Congrats bro!

[Finnegan]

Originally Posted by FStop7

Having owned both how big is the difference? I have the Premium in my current car. But when the time comes to get a new car I will probably do another M3, and I'm really unsure if I want this option.

Originally Posted by doba_s

I would skip it ( had ES on e92 but don't have it on e90) and build your custom system ... This is what I am doing now with Technic's help ...

Doba's advice is right on. There's a difference between Premium and Base, and you can hear it. But it's not that big a difference IMO. And for $1,900 or so you could build your own and really have an outstanding system (huge difference) that would be customized to your needs.

If you're not interested in doing that, then I'd take some sample music selections (burned to CD) and go listen to the base and compare to the premium. I ended up with Premium as the number of 09s with most of the options/colors I wanted were somewhat limited at the end of the model year--it wasn't a "must have" option for me.

[Finnegan]

Originally Posted by Ilia@IND

That's a great step! Having had the opportunity to drive both the convertible and the coupe almost back to back, would you say that the coupe is significantly faster through corners, or just more "confidence-inspiring" than the convertible? I remember how huge the difference was between E36 M3 coupes and convertibles, and that it did diminish somewhat on the E46 chassis. I've never gotten to really drive a convertible, so this is a cool comparison.

I had a good reply written and lost it (text editor crashed)! I'll come back and edit this post later or start another thread for this since it's a bit off-topic in the photo section I think....

[linsm3]

Your car looks great, now the real fun begins with all the mods to come, nice color too, I LIKE

[Pete The Greek]

congrats! lookin good!

[mPlasticDesign]

Ron, you're crazy! Good move nonetheless! I will have to check it out IRL sometime.

[Finnegan]

Originally Posted by ///Metak

Ron, you're crazy! Good move nonetheless! I will have to check it out IRL sometime.

Yeah, I know! But you only live once!

I can always take a run out your way sometime, there's ES later this month, and I have to get exhaust back on so I'm out that way for that to at some point (after 1,200 miles).

The guys at American Muffler and Brake have the on/off procedure down to 15 minutes now on the M3 BTW! I've got to check out your heat shield solution before I put that back on too.