New M3 - thoughts after 3 weeks miles
Discussion
Have had my E92 M3 for just over 3 weeks now, so I thought I'd post up my experiences with it so far.
Running in service
Dealer said this had to be done between 1000 and 1200 miles or warranty was void. On board computer (which I assume is variable interval servicing) said 1560 miles for the running in service. I played safe and did it at 1200 miles, but I didn't like the dealer/computer discrepancy.
General living with it
After a few weeks with a car you notice things which you didn't catch initially. A quick list of them:
BAD: I-drive takes ages (10-20 seconds?) to boot up and start playing MP3s
BAD: Rev counter is too damped as mentioned in a thread elsewhere
BAD: The fuel reserve comes up at 1/4 tank, about 15-20 litres. It should be half this.
BAD: When your range is <30 miles you can't clear the notification from the screen.
BAD: The Sat Nav doesn't accept full postcodes, when will manufacturers get this right!
BAD: The seat motors to allow people to get into the back more easily are too slow.
BAD: The comfort access needs you to "stroke it" a little too long to close for my liking, and should have a bigger proximity range for the key.
BAD: The rain sensing wipers let too much rain fall for my liking, I'd prefer them to activate sooner, and more often when on the intermittent mode.
GOOD: Comes with a ski hatch as standard
GOOD: Auto-dimming rear view mirror works v. well.
GOOD: The alloys (mine has 18s) came in grey rather than silver, they suit the white paint.
GOOD: The seats are very supportive, better than many others I've used.
GOOD: iDrive has been discussed to death elsewhere; I like it.
GOOD: Plays MP3 CDs
GOOD: I thought the M button was a bit of a novelty at first, but it is a genuinely useful feature.
Attention
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I like the look of the M3, especially my car in white. Lots of others have said they don't like it for X, Y and Z reasons. Ultimately, it attracts quite a bit of attention. So far attention has only been good; lots of people interested to see how quick it will accelerate up the slip road, and many have been surprised. People seem to stare in a way that my last car (987S) never attracted. The car attracts positive attention from a wide audience; I have had comments ranging from "Lush ride bruv" from a Max Powered Escort owner at Santapod, to slightly more normally wordered positive comments from Lambo+Ferrari owners.
Straight Line Performance
After running in I took it to a VMax event at Brunters. The limiter kicked in at 260km/h (as expected, apparently the limiters are set a bit higher than 250km/h) but it reached that speed very easily, about 8100rpm in 5th I seem to remember. It felt good for another 15mph, e.g. 175-180. In terms of acceleration, it showed a clean pair of heels to a 997S and RS4. It was very evenly matched (but eventually beaten by) a Merc SL55 AMG.
Driving/Balance
As the reviews have mentioned, it has a slight bias towards understeer at the limit. I would prefer a more neutral balance, but it is only slighty towards understeer and this can easily be cured with a bit of right foot. I am still trying to "get" the differential. From what I have felt driving the car so far, it doesn't always lock up quite as early as I want. So instead of having a very small amount of rear steer by applying a touch too much power for the grip, you get "normal" driving characteristics.
I've taken it out a few times on greasy private track with the DSC off, and it's been an absolute hoot. There are lots of back end going out moments to be gathered up, but I've only had the balls to hold it in a slide when the track was very wide. When I've had the balls to do that, it was brilliant fun.
On the public road, the car is a very effective tool for overtaking. Second gear can dispatch 40mph doddlers in NSL sections of the road in very short spaces. Equally, the car is relatively torquey and you can use the torque to pass people very quickly if the overtaking requirement isn't as urgent.
DSC
- DSC On will kill power before it goes sideways. If it does go sideways (has happened to be once with DSC On) then it will try to sort it out for you immediately.
- MDM will let the back end go and for you to catch it in a reasonable time frame. If you don't start to catch it, MDM will sort it out for you.
- DSC Off... you're on your own.
The MDM doesn't let you hold a slide from my experience.
Variable damping/throttle/steering
I tried to get on with the Power button for a while but couldn't get the hang of it. Basically it gives you a different throttle position, with the intention being to make it easier to drive smoothly with the button off. With Power off I find heel + toe downshifts nigh on impossible. I find that I learn a throttle in a car, the same way you learn the clutch bite point. I have it configured to have the Power on "Sport" all the time, I just couldn't get on with using two different settings.
The (EDC) variable damping is the same Bosch DampTronic system that Porsche's PASM uses I believe. It works well. I am not sure on the value of having three settings though; I would be happy with just the softest and harshest settings.
The steering has extra assistance at low speeds, as well as having a sport mode to make it firmer. The low speed assistance confused me at first, but as soon as I knew about it "intellectually" it didn't bother me. The sport mode in steering is really worth a mention. I don't know whether it is a psychological thing, but I really notice a massive difference in road feedback between having my M button off and on. The M button for me changes EDC and steering only. I couldn't believe it at first, but it felt like more of the road surface was being transmitted to the wheel with the M button pushed.
Problems
I've had one problem with the car so far, this was after 1400 miles. There was a limit of grip and the rear wheels were juddering/skipping under power. As this was occurring, the computer decided that tyre pressure had been lost, ABS disabled, DSC disabled, and flashed up a message along the lines of: "Drive with extreme caution or you will definitely die." I assume this problem was that sensors to one of the rear wheels lost their circuit under the juddering. I pulled over and turned off/back on, problem went away and hasn't resurfaced.
Running in service
============
Dealer said this had to be done between 1000 and 1200 miles or warranty was void. On board computer (which I assume is variable interval servicing) said 1560 miles for the running in service. I played safe and did it at 1200 miles, but I didn't like the dealer/computer discrepancy.
General living with it
================
After a few weeks with a car you notice things which you didn't catch initially. A quick list of them:
BAD: I-drive takes ages (10-20 seconds?) to boot up and start playing MP3s
BAD: Rev counter is too damped as mentioned in a thread elsewhere
BAD: The fuel reserve comes up at 1/4 tank, about 15-20 litres. It should be half this.
BAD: When your range is <30 miles you can't clear the notification from the screen.
BAD: The Sat Nav doesn't accept full postcodes, when will manufacturers get this right!
BAD: The seat motors to allow people to get into the back more easily are too slow.
BAD: The comfort access needs you to "stroke it" a little too long to close for my liking, and should have a bigger proximity range for the key.
BAD: The rain sensing wipers let too much rain fall for my liking, I'd prefer them to activate sooner, and more often when on the intermittent mode.
GOOD: Comes with a ski hatch as standard
GOOD: Auto-dimming rear view mirror works v. well.
GOOD: The alloys (mine has 18s) came in grey rather than silver, they suit the white paint.
GOOD: The seats are very supportive, better than many others I've used.
GOOD: iDrive has been discussed to death elsewhere; I like it.
GOOD: Plays MP3 CDs
GOOD: I thought the M button was a bit of a novelty at first, but it is a genuinely useful feature.
Attention
===
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I like the look of the M3, especially my car in white. Lots of others have said they don't like it for X, Y and Z reasons. Ultimately, it attracts quite a bit of attention. So far attention has only been good; lots of people interested to see how quick it will accelerate up the slip road, and many have been surprised. People seem to stare in a way that my last car (987S) never attracted. The car attracts positive attention from a wide audience; I have had comments ranging from "Lush ride bruv" from a Max Powered Escort owner at Santapod, to slightly more normally wordered positive comments from Lambo+Ferrari owners.
Straight Line Performance
===================
After running in I took it to a VMax event at Brunters. The limiter kicked in at 260km/h (as expected, apparently the limiters are set a bit higher than 250km/h) but it reached that speed very easily, about 8100rpm in 5th I seem to remember. It felt good for another 15mph, e.g. 175-180. In terms of acceleration, it showed a clean pair of heels to a 997S and RS4. It was very evenly matched (but eventually beaten by) a Merc SL55 AMG.
Driving/Balance
=========
As the reviews have mentioned, it has a slight bias towards understeer at the limit. I would prefer a more neutral balance, but it is only slighty towards understeer and this can easily be cured with a bit of right foot. I am still trying to "get" the differential. From what I have felt driving the car so far, it doesn't always lock up quite as early as I want. So instead of having a very small amount of rear steer by applying a touch too much power for the grip, you get "normal" driving characteristics.
I've taken it out a few times on greasy private track with the DSC off, and it's been an absolute hoot. There are lots of back end going out moments to be gathered up, but I've only had the balls to hold it in a slide when the track was very wide. When I've had the balls to do that, it was brilliant fun.
On the public road, the car is a very effective tool for overtaking. Second gear can dispatch 40mph doddlers in NSL sections of the road in very short spaces. Equally, the car is relatively torquey and you can use the torque to pass people very quickly if the overtaking requirement isn't as urgent.
DSC
=
The DSC has three modes; off, on and MDM. Off/on don't need explaining. MDM allows you to play a bit more, but will save you making a really big mistake. So as an example, wet roundabout and you boot it:- DSC On will kill power before it goes sideways. If it does go sideways (has happened to be once with DSC On) then it will try to sort it out for you immediately.
- MDM will let the back end go and for you to catch it in a reasonable time frame. If you don't start to catch it, MDM will sort it out for you.
- DSC Off... you're on your own.
The MDM doesn't let you hold a slide from my experience.
Variable damping/throttle/steering
============================
I tried to get on with the Power button for a while but couldn't get the hang of it. Basically it gives you a different throttle position, with the intention being to make it easier to drive smoothly with the button off. With Power off I find heel + toe downshifts nigh on impossible. I find that I learn a throttle in a car, the same way you learn the clutch bite point. I have it configured to have the Power on "Sport" all the time, I just couldn't get on with using two different settings.
The (EDC) variable damping is the same Bosch DampTronic system that Porsche's PASM uses I believe. It works well. I am not sure on the value of having three settings though; I would be happy with just the softest and harshest settings.
The steering has extra assistance at low speeds, as well as having a sport mode to make it firmer. The low speed assistance confused me at first, but as soon as I knew about it "intellectually" it didn't bother me. The sport mode in steering is really worth a mention. I don't know whether it is a psychological thing, but I really notice a massive difference in road feedback between having my M button off and on. The M button for me changes EDC and steering only. I couldn't believe it at first, but it felt like more of the road surface was being transmitted to the wheel with the M button pushed.
Problems
==
I've had one problem with the car so far, this was after 1400 miles. There was a limit of grip and the rear wheels were juddering/skipping under power. As this was occurring, the computer decided that tyre pressure had been lost, ABS disabled, DSC disabled, and flashed up a message along the lines of: "Drive with extreme caution or you will definitely die." I assume this problem was that sensors to one of the rear wheels lost their circuit under the juddering. I pulled over and turned off/back on, problem went away and hasn't resurfaced.
Superb running report. Might be an idea to put a link to this thread from your car profile.
Eg
Three weeks in running report:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Eg
Three weeks in running report:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
bher said:
Thank you VERY much for this post.
I tried a Boxster S and a 997 4S today and will try the M3 next week
Please tell me how they compare?
I've had a BoxsterS and a 997S a while ago and more recently the new M3. They are all VERY different cars. You'll soon know for yourself by the sound of it. Enjoy. IMHO the M3 is the least interesting, the 997 the most interesting and involving and the Boxster probably actually the 'best'. All purely from a driving and of course personal point of view that is. I tried a Boxster S and a 997 4S today and will try the M3 next week
Please tell me how they compare?
Edited by Pugsey on Saturday 24th November 21:04
bher said:
Thank you VERY much for this post.
I tried a Boxster S and a 997 4S today and will try the M3 next week
Please tell me how they compare?
Horses for courses. Driving wise, the Boxster has fantastic poise and brilliantly delicate. The M3 has grunt and is more "in yer face". I tried a Boxster S and a 997 4S today and will try the M3 next week
Please tell me how they compare?
The practicality/comfort differences of the M3/Boxster are pretty clear without me going into them. I haven't had a 997 so can't comment.
Good feedback.
I have enjoyed my first 2 months with my car. It is effortless and refined when you are just getting about, but focused and hard edged when you poke it. Miles better than I expected, and truly a leap forward from the E46, despite what (ill-informed) people say.
I like iDrive and am also annoyed that BW do't use the full 7 digit postcode search like Tom Tom do.
I have two minor issues with it. The first was the tyre pressure monitor told me it had a flat on a very cold morning. I reckon the low temp caused all the pressures to drop and the slight discrepancy was exacerbated. Problem is it doesn't tell you which wheel is suffering, so you have to find it, in the wet, and pump all the tyres up to the same pressure to reset the system. Only 5psi differnce caused it. Pumped it up and is now fine.
The other issue was an inexplicable surging at top revs. Restarted the car after the journey and it had cleared, but no alarms in the dash... Sometmes on sport throttle setting, the engine gets a bit confused how to fuel when you are coasting downhill and have a very light throttle application. Not sure if these two things are linked.
I like the sport throttle setting, but prefer the lighter power steering, the two of which can't be be mixed.
MDM is good, letting the rear move around a bit without intruding.
I have enjoyed my first 2 months with my car. It is effortless and refined when you are just getting about, but focused and hard edged when you poke it. Miles better than I expected, and truly a leap forward from the E46, despite what (ill-informed) people say.
I like iDrive and am also annoyed that BW do't use the full 7 digit postcode search like Tom Tom do.
I have two minor issues with it. The first was the tyre pressure monitor told me it had a flat on a very cold morning. I reckon the low temp caused all the pressures to drop and the slight discrepancy was exacerbated. Problem is it doesn't tell you which wheel is suffering, so you have to find it, in the wet, and pump all the tyres up to the same pressure to reset the system. Only 5psi differnce caused it. Pumped it up and is now fine.
The other issue was an inexplicable surging at top revs. Restarted the car after the journey and it had cleared, but no alarms in the dash... Sometmes on sport throttle setting, the engine gets a bit confused how to fuel when you are coasting downhill and have a very light throttle application. Not sure if these two things are linked.
I like the sport throttle setting, but prefer the lighter power steering, the two of which can't be be mixed.
MDM is good, letting the rear move around a bit without intruding.
bher said:
What do you think about the brakes?
Some review say they are improved and others (influence by the past? ) are saying it is a negative point.
On road they are a great improvemen IMO. The old M3 could be made to cook it's brakes pretty quickly even on road whereas those on the new car seem pretty fade resistant in addition to being more powerful and inspire a lot of confidence. The improvement seems to hold up on track too where they turned to pastry after 20 laps or so - rather than five! Pretty good for a fairly fast, heavy road car. I've noticed that the reviewers who say the brakes are just as bad seem to be the ones who haven't done particularly in depth tests and have probably merely reached for their book of 'M3 standard test comments'. The same ones also seem to think the steering lacks feel which IMHO is cobblers, especially in 'M' mode. It IS light, which is something completely different and shouldn't be confused with lack of feel - unless you're a complete oaf that is........................ Some review say they are improved and others (influence by the past? ) are saying it is a negative point.
Thanks for the reply about the brakes
Next question is about tyre pressure control
which as created some faults
This is not an option but seems to come as standard.
Could the owner explain more about the way the idrive give the info and the consequence of bad reading - loss of pressure.
Next question is about tyre pressure control
which as created some faultsThis is not an option but seems to come as standard.
Could the owner explain more about the way the idrive give the info and the consequence of bad reading - loss of pressure.
Just found an article which explains the surging on over-run! Great thing, t'internet!
Brakes are fantastic. Different ball park to the crap on an E46.
pointy heads in Germany said:
Brake Energy Regeneration for greater efficiency and dynamic performance.
Brake Energy Regeneration also serves on the new V8 power unit in the BMW M3 to enhance all-round drivetrain efficiency to an even higher level, concentrating the generation of electrical energy for the car’s on-board network on the engine’s overrun mode and application of the brakes.
This highly efficient energy management related to actual driving conditions is made possible by intelligent control of the alternator. The two advantages offered by Brake Energy Regeneration in practice are that, first, specific, on-demand generation of electrical energy serves to reduce fuel consumption, while, second, the driver benefits directly from the disconnection of the alternator when the engine is running under load: With the generation of electric power being cut off when running under load, more drive power is available to accelerate the car, meaning not only greater all-round economy, but also extra driving pleasure.
With the number of charge cycles increasing as a result of such intelligent power generation, BMW combines this Brake Energy Regeneration technology with modern AGM (absorbant glass mat) batteries able to withstand a much greater load than conventional lead acid batteries. In an AGM battery, the acid is held in micro-glass-fibre mats between the individual layers of lead, the battery thus remaining able to store energy over a long period even when charged and discharged regularly.
I have a green car!Brake Energy Regeneration also serves on the new V8 power unit in the BMW M3 to enhance all-round drivetrain efficiency to an even higher level, concentrating the generation of electrical energy for the car’s on-board network on the engine’s overrun mode and application of the brakes.
This highly efficient energy management related to actual driving conditions is made possible by intelligent control of the alternator. The two advantages offered by Brake Energy Regeneration in practice are that, first, specific, on-demand generation of electrical energy serves to reduce fuel consumption, while, second, the driver benefits directly from the disconnection of the alternator when the engine is running under load: With the generation of electric power being cut off when running under load, more drive power is available to accelerate the car, meaning not only greater all-round economy, but also extra driving pleasure.
With the number of charge cycles increasing as a result of such intelligent power generation, BMW combines this Brake Energy Regeneration technology with modern AGM (absorbant glass mat) batteries able to withstand a much greater load than conventional lead acid batteries. In an AGM battery, the acid is held in micro-glass-fibre mats between the individual layers of lead, the battery thus remaining able to store energy over a long period even when charged and discharged regularly.
Brakes are fantastic. Different ball park to the crap on an E46.
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