Doug Demuro Finally Reviews e92 M3

[importraceram]

Originally Posted by akkando

8-9 handling? is that relative to cars at the time or overall? What would you give an f80 m3 then? an m2? a current Porsche 911, a Cayman?

Exactly, keep in mind those numbers are in comparison to EVERY car that he has driven not just cars in that segment at the time.

[elvism]

Originally Posted by akkando

8-9 handling? is that relative to cars at the time or overall? What would you give an f80 m3 then? an m2? a current Porsche 911, a Cayman?

Handling for the time. On a side note I like hydraulic steering over electric.

[Megabrode]

All criticism is poisoned with envy. Zvi Zeitlin, 1922-2012, violin soloist and revered teacher.

[leemik]

I feel like the final "Doug score" are all predetermined upon how he wants it to rank in his spreadsheet. Like for instance, the e92 m3 can't be better than then 1M according to him so he'll choose the score so that it fits nicely under the 1M not matter if it's what he really feels or not... His spreadsheet has been very consistent if you notice with zero surprises... That can't be by accident.

--mike

[chocstraw]

Doug is maybe the biggest and most sustainable car YouTuber out there right now, so I take what he says with a grain of salt because he does cater to a mass audience, the guy's gotta eat.

I agree with his scoring here except for styling. The E92 introduced a ton of design cues that are still in use today, and it has an incredibly cohesive design language, almost everything is well weighted and mirrored across some axis. It has aged well objectively, and I guarantee you in 15 years when people are doing retro throwbacks to the mid 2000s, the E92 will be in photoshoots and album covers, like people did with the E30 M3.

Then there's the disconnect between handling & testing on the street and handling at the limit on track. New cars corner flatter and feel more composed on the street, but if you get them into real performance situations, most of them understeer. E92 handles great for what it is but there is certainly better.

[Tommysalami]

It's weird owning a car that he reviews. When he did the S2000, I was really disappointed that he didn't show the secret compartment. This video was okay but the comment/joke on the power button was stupid

Can't have everything though and his videos are a nice change that show some things you wouldn't normally see about these cars. I like watching his videos on random obscure cars that I've only seen in a video game, like his recent one on the Vector

4 for practicality is too low, but 6 for handling sounds right considering a 10 would be something like an Ariel Atom or a Senna

[BeaterM3]

I am surprised for his "quirks and features" portion, he didn't mention when opening the trunk with the FOB with the OEM alarm system, you literally have to countdown 2 seconds before lifting off the trunk button unless you want to set off your alarm instead of opening the trunk lol

[BeaterM3]

Originally Posted by Tommysalami

It's weird owning a car that he reviews. When he did the S2000, I was really disappointed that he didn't show the secret compartment. This video was okay but the comment/joke on the power button was stupid

Can't have everything though and his videos are a nice change that show some things you wouldn't normally see about these cars. I like watching his videos on random obscure cars that I've only seen in a video game, like his recent one on the Vector

4 for practicality is too low, but 6 for handling sounds right considering a 10 would be something like an Ariel Atom or a Senna

4 is too low for practicality. I would put it at 6 or so, since it's not really the car for constant short trips.

[nRabbit]

Sad he missed some of the asymmetry quirks.. different driver's side door pull vs passenger's side. More numbers on right side of speedo... bolts on the intake plenum are fake but BMW made them asymmetrical anyway.

Also kind of an edge case but the owner's manual almost doesn't fit in the glovebox but it does fit suspiciously well in the weird pop out box between the rear two seats.

[Ab28]

Thought it was pretty spot on...

Short of the S65 there isn’t anything truly remarkable about it. He drives so many cars that it’s nice to see him enjoying it as much as he did.

[///WeissBisBlau]

Originally Posted by nRabbit

Also kind of an edge case but the owner's manual almost doesn't fit in the glovebox but it does fit suspiciously well in the weird pop out box between the rear two seats.

Ha ha! I noticed this too, and that is where I keep mine! 😂

[neilum]

Originally Posted by Ab28

Thought it was pretty spot on...

Short of the S65 there isn’t anything truly remarkable about it. He drives so many cars that it’s nice to see him enjoying it as much as he did.

At the E9X M's release it was pretty remarkable, especially in its segment. Time has a way of making any car pretty unremarkable objectively speaking.

The cars being made today will be slow and outdated in 2030 when electric cars are making 1000 HP all the time like a light switch.

I just look at things from the time period when they were made otherwise nothing will be special.


Doug also never drives anything on the track or truly pushes the cars, so his opinion on handling or performance is very shallow. Cars today are so fast that you need to take them to the track to understand the true dynamics of the car. He basically pushes these cars 6-7/10th's on the street.

Cool for entertainment I guess.

[SVH]

Originally Posted by akkando

8-9 handling? is that relative to cars at the time or overall? What would you give an f80 m3 then? an m2? a current Porsche 911, a Cayman?

Handling wise the e92 was hands down superior to the f80. BMW went for acceleration with the turbo f80's but aren't nearly as good on the track as the e92's

[LakeSurfer]

If this was a review from the year the car was manufactured, I think it's mostly accurate, however, for someone to pick up a car like this today from $25k -$35k I think his review is way off. He should consider bang for buck within the review because for that price range and age of the car, what else could even come close to it? What car from that era has the history and legacy as well as performance that the E9x's have that can be obtained for such a low price.

I absolutely adore my car but if I had paid the original sticker of $80k I'm not to sure I'd feel the same way. I probably would've looked elsewhere. But for me paying half that price it can't be beat.

Maybe I'm just a fanboy but I felt a little disrespected from his review.

-Mark

[Tommysalami]

I also was disappointed he didn't point out the passenger side hood vent is fake

[ItsGary]

He did miss a lot.

One thing he covered was the DSC off. On earlier model cars you were able to turn off traction from the iDrive. On later models they removed it(Can be coded back)

[wfdeacon88]

overall it was a solid review compared to what it could have been with Doug and I bet the interest for these cars ticked up a little on the used market.

One small part I didn't understand... when he talked about how much "plastic" was used for the console area around the climate buttons, I don't understand what he expected as an alternative given the carbon leather trim and extended leather on the other areas, there's no real alternative to plastic over the button areas. I think the Interior in this car is pretty high end given the period.

[STooK]

Watched this the other day and it was pretty entertaining. I was also a little disappointed with the score because the whole review it looked like he really liked the car but I guess I'm also biased.

I was confused about the split armrest though. Does the one that come with speed cloth not slide over for the driver? I noticed it has the dakota leather instead of the novillo. But overall, a pretty cool review from Doug.

[New2Roundel]

Wow, tough freakin crowd in here! I am not Doug, but I do generally like his stuff. His shtick isn't to go over every single little detail that only the nerds who own the car think is cool. Sure he may pick out things that YOU don't think are cool, but his audience isn't owners, it's people who don't own the car. The current version of his reviews are based on pointing out the most unique things HE feels are relevant about a car. And please note, him and every other Youtuber with some level of success has to be careful about how long the video is. If he covered everything people in this thread are suggesting, he'd be at about 40 mins. And frankly, some of the elements pointed out in this thread aren't that interesting.

I'm certainly more critical of things he reviews that I have ownership experience with, but I generally like when he reviews vehicles I know little about (which is almost all of them). I like when he reviews various design and engineering features that are almost never covered in primary reviews in the big auto journalism outlets. Like everything, his reviews are just another side of the entertainment coin that is automotive journalism.

I do think that he should do more research on the items he encounters but doesn't know what they do. It's kind of annoying when he points out a button or lever, but has no clue what it does---that's why we're all watching you! The power button is a great example of that. Obviously, the Doug Score is 100% subjective--based on his seat of the pants impression. What I find annoying is that he doesn't actually rate cars based on the period they were produced in (so will give very low tech scores to cars produced in eras with very low tech). For newer cars, he dings vehicles for things that are options but simply not outfitted in the version of the car he's looking at---again, particularly as it relates to tech. He basically put everything on the exact same scale---could be a Yugo, Tesla, or the newest Ferrari sports car. So given that, I think his review of the e92M was fairly accurate. I might go up or down a point or two, but if the scale has a Yugo on one end and the likes of a Pagani Huayra on the other end, there's only so far our cars will go.

He seems to fancy himself an auto journalist, but he's does what we all do when we get into a car for the first time---look around and press buttons. The only difference is that is video records the experience. Would anyone make a decision on a car based on "the Doug Score"?

[BGBF18]

Doug's reviews are lightly entertaining and occasionally, informative.

Assessing the merit of any fast car by driving it on a slow road, as he generally does, is pointless...

...like ranking an F-22 based on how it taxis around the ramp.

Nonsense.

[Hagasan41]

His review of our beloved E92 M3 was slightly entertaining but his scores were way off. No way the M3 gets a lower score in quality compared to a Ford Focus and a Volkswagen R. Both of those cars are super cheap feeling and definitely should have scored lower.

I for one unsubscribed as his shtick and quirkiness has gotten old...

I prefer Savageese and Matt Maran much more informative with a greater focus on the vehicles details.