My Impression of the new E93 M3 vs M roadster

[Mikewarlover]

Yesterday i had the chance to really have a good joy in one of my close buddy's gf's m3 lol ( i know its a girl). Her car is equiped with the new DCT tranny and every single option possible for the m3 and costed 100k cad lol...

Anyhow i just like to compare the feeling between the two car. First of all i would like to start with the interior, as a pre e92 owner (loaded with all the goodies) i would say once again the interior of the current 3 series is nothing but quality and Germany standard. Every panel is well thought out and every button you push have a quality feel to it. So i will end here with interior cause really its perfect. (a lot of e90 owner complain that audi makes a better interior than bmw but the reason behind that statement is because they have the base model 335 with no option whatso ever or very little which makes the interior boring.....)

Look is the second thing i am gonna talk about. The e92 design is one of bmws best design in recent years in my opinion and the M just makes it perfect. Everything from the hood to the quad pipes are pretty much perfect. It is less flashy than the C63 amg but still flashy enough for people to notice and every thing is performance dedicated.

So far everything is perfect.... but things change a bit when we get to handling the power of the E93 specificly.
On paper at list the E93 seems to be a very powerful car a high reving v8 with over 400hp and 300 foot lb of torque and will do the quater a little over 13 sec. However as a M roadster owner i wasn't impressived with the power at all. In the M second or third gear little over 3k rev and the power is plentiful on the street and i would certainly upshift to reign in the power. In the E93 it wasn't that scary at all you really need 3k rev just to be going at a little faster in traffic. You never get the sense of OMG i am gonna kill myself in that car up until at least 5k rpm. In the M roadster though anything over 3k is hugely exciting. However i understand the differnce in the butt dyno since the the M roadster has a much better tq to weight ratio. Despite the fact the low end power is shit when you slam ur foot into the carpet it still is a M for sure. At 7, 8 k rpm the thing just comes to life like a sleepy tiger thats being awakened. The V8 even with stock exhaust just roars and roars with anger. Yet then as u are enjoying the power and sound you encounter a turn and then you push ur feet slightly on the brake trying to go around the corner. However with in sec you will find out the the car isn't stopping as you would expect it too since the E93 is such a heavy car so u have to brake harder. At first i took the turns more easily and the car felt very good around the bend. It actually feels awesome for a 4100lb car you can really chuck the car around in the slower corners. However as i got more comfortable i tried to go harder then the car really starts to fight back. You really feel the hard top and all the weight trying to stop u from going around the bend. Over all though the handling was better than my expection but no where near my M roadster.

Conlusion: After the car one driver drive yesterday i just started to love M division more and more. Despite the lack of power and the super heavy hardtop body the car still felt very lively and is a lot of fun. However i still can not justify the 80k usd price tag for it. Just not my type of thing i guess.

[MRulz]

Interesting review. I also drive a Z4MR. The new M3 revs up to 8400 if I am not mistaken that is 500k more then our car and in high gears that can make a difference. Z4MR had a faster lap time then the M5 on Top gear, Its a nice car, a go cart on steroids. I love the new M3's also,aaa I love any M.

[enfield]

I just got an E92 M3 - I used to have the Z4M Coupe.

I think my M3 Coupe is much better than the Z4M Coupe. It is built better. It is much faster in a straight line but it is not as good in the turns. It has better technology in it. It is MUCH more comfortable. Therefore it is definitely an upgrade.

[Burt Reynolds]

Its an upgrade to you-not so much for me. No offense b/c it is a beautiful car... All M cars deserve respect

[Z4MCJJ]

I agree with what has been mentioned so far. Although I have limited seat time in the new M3 (my friend owns one) the Z4M coupe seems to be much more agile. It's probably the weight difference. The M3 is a big car no doubt. The V8 has great sound.

[O-cha]

I was not impressed at all, the new M3 feels much more like a regular BMW then an M.

Completely detached from the road, sound is neutered, steering feel non existent, poor turn in and so on.

And that clutch, my god.

[Dammmittt]

The cars are two different for a direct comparison...and they're both great.

[AWM3]

Originally Posted by Dammmittt

The cars are too different for a direct comparison...and they're both great.

+1000

Z4M is a sports car. From what I've seen of the new Z4 so far, the old Z4 might be the last BMW sports car for a while. Unfortunately the Z4 is cramped, rough riding, and has minmal passenger/cargo space. You can't even carry a broom in a Z4, never mind a bicycle or a set of track tires or more than one passenger. But it's not intended to do those things - it's a sports car designed for one or two people to experience the joy of driving.

E9X M3 is a very well done luxury sport sedan with performance surprisingly close to a real sports car and lots of amenities and conveniences not found on the Z4. Top of that list for me is a back seat, ability to carry four comfortably, large trunk with folding rear seats for large cargo, good factory stereo, reasonably comfortable ride on bad pavement, and a different persona in traffic. When I drive my Z4M people stare like I'm driving a car from Mars or perhaps France, while the M3 gets a different reaction altogether. M3s have been around so long and established so much credibility on the street and the track that most of the nosepickers that you encounter at traffic lights just look the other way and don't even try to mess with you. That makes everyday commuting much more pleasant. When I'm reluctantly dragging my butt to work in the morning I really don't want to be bothered.

To OP - your comparison is not really a fair one because you are comparing a lightweight roadster to a heavy hardtop convertible. Drive a Z4MC and a E92 M3 back to back for a more fair comparison.

[Mikewarlover]

Originally Posted by car62

+1000

Z4M is a sports car. From what I've seen of the new Z4 so far, the old Z4 might be the last BMW sports car for a while. Unfortunately the Z4 is cramped, rough riding, and has minmal passenger/cargo space. You can't even carry a broom in a Z4, never mind a bicycle or a set of track tires or more than one passenger. But it's not intended to do those things - it's a sports car designed for one or two people to experience the joy of driving.

E9X M3 is a very well done luxury sport sedan with performance surprisingly close to a real sports car and lots of amenities and conveniences not found on the Z4. Top of that list for me is a back seat, ability to carry four comfortably, large trunk with folding rear seats for large cargo, good factory stereo, reasonably comfortable ride on bad pavement, and a different persona in traffic. When I drive my Z4M people stare like I'm driving a car from Mars or perhaps France, while the M3 gets a different reaction altogether. M3s have been around so long and established so much credibility on the street and the track that most of the nosepickers that you encounter at traffic lights just look the other way and don't even try to mess with you. That makes everyday commuting much more pleasant. When I'm reluctantly dragging my butt to work in the morning I really don't want to be bothered.

To OP - your comparison is not really a fair one because you are comparing a lightweight roadster to a heavy hardtop convertible. Drive a Z4MC and a E92 M3 back to back for a more fair comparison.

I never meant to say those are cars in the same class, i just wanted to post my feeling towards the M3 vert as i know a lot of pre MRz4 owners actually moved on to a E93.