Thursday 31st July 2008

BMW M Car Revisions

BMW reworks the whole M range...

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2009 M3 Saloon

It only seems like yesterday that the BMW M3 saloon arrived on this planet but the company has already seen fit to revise it. For 2009 the M3 gets new rear lights, a new bootlip spoiler and a modified bumper - so nothing too extreme then. The alterations come just a year after the M3 came to market and the coupe and saloon also get BMW’s seven-speed dual clutch gearbox - which was first introduced for the M3 Cabrio.

Meanwhile the M6 is getting a 'Competition Pack' to sharpen up its handling. The option makes the car 10mm lower at the front and 12mm at the rear and should make it flatter through the twisties. The Competition Pack also adds adaptive suspension control, new alloys and it will be available later this year.

A new iDrive system will also be fitted to the M6 and M5 as standard from 2009 as well as a part-time alternator which should help fuel economy.

[Magners P.H]

But no M3 Touring.

Which is a shame, since the touring versions of the 5 and 3 series are better looking than their saloon counterparts in my opinion.

Still an awesome car though.

[Windymiller]

Wouldn't be too impressed if you'd just bought one would you...?

[mat205125]

The saloon looks better than the coupe IMO. It has less of a "saddle bags" rear to it's profile. No carbon roof though from what EVO said.

[cvegas]

These kind of largely unnecessary cosmetic changes only serve to increase the depreciation of existing model.

[dan101smith]

Do second hand M3s depreciate then?

[Munich]

Although this might upset a number of customers, these changes are all about optimising the business case. Reducing parts complexity by applying the changes of the facelift (or Life Cycle Impulse in BMW speak) to all 3-series models (including the modelline with the smallest volume potential) reduces cost.

Therefore BMW either had to decide whether to do exactly what has been detailed in this story, or delay the M3 saloon until the LCI which would have lost volume and therefore worsen the business case.

[dan101smith]

^^^ what is LCI?

[Mr_C]

dan101smith said:

^^^ what is LCI?

Life Cycle Impulse, at a guess

[Beefmeister]

Read his post again...

[cowellsj]

dan101smith said:

Do second hand M3s depreciate then?

No they don't, erm yeah, they stay the same price their entire lives.

Ps. If you're interested I may have an E30 for sale, only 212k miles and most of the panels are the same colour, only want £45k for it, but i'm sure i can knock a bit off just for you.

[infradig]

'part time alternator' This is nothing new,I had a piece of Italian sh.. I mean engineering that had four different 'part time alternators' in eight months! I,m pretty sure that in their spare time they were part of a cappucinno machine.

But seriously with the ever greater demands placed on batteries, is this a token green gesture too far?

[berkorich]

infradig said:

'part time alternator' This is nothing new,I had a piece of Italian sh.. I mean engineering that had four different 'part time alternators' in eight months! I,m pretty sure that in their spare time they were part of a cappucinno machine.

But seriously with the ever greater demands placed on batteries, is this a token green gesture too far?

IIRC, BMW's Efficient Dynamics use regenerative energy from the braking to replenish the battery so the part-time alternator doesn't act as a drain on the battery.

[dan101smith]

Mr_C said:

dan101smith said:

^^^ what is LCI?

Life Cycle Impulse, at a guess

Even I can work out a TLA, what I meant was is it just BMW speak for "facelift" or is it an initiative or what? What does it really mean?

[dan101smith]

cowellsj said:

dan101smith said:

Do second hand M3s depreciate then?

No they don't, erm yeah, they stay the same price their entire lives.

Ps. If you're interested I may have an E30 for sale, only 212k miles and most of the panels are the same colour, only want £45k for it, but i'm sure i can knock a bit off just for you.

Everyone knows the old E30 depreciates, but the new M3 doesn't - otherwise I would've read a thread about it on PH.

[cowellsj]

dan101smith said:

cowellsj said:

dan101smith said:

Do second hand M3s depreciate then?

No they don't, erm yeah, they stay the same price their entire lives.

Ps. If you're interested I may have an E30 for sale, only 212k miles and most of the panels are the same colour, only want £45k for it, but i'm sure i can knock a bit off just for you.

Everyone knows the old E30 depreciates, but the new M3 doesn't - otherwise I would've read a thread about it on PH.

yeah yeah only messing.

[AlexRWD]

"BMW reworks the whole M range..."

not quite true - anyone remember the Z4M's?

[Tsiakosmantis]

AlexRWD said:

"BMW reworks the whole M range..."

not quite true - anyone remember the Z4M's?

And what about an M1 goddammit, we want an M1.

[john_r]

Anyone with a current M5/M6? During the time it took you to read that article, your car probably depreciated £15! And they're introducing a face-lift...


(reading this post probably cost you 20 pence!)

[grasum]

LCI stands for Life Cycle Initiative

Graham

[308mate]

Anyone who uses the term "through the twisties" shoud be shot at dawn.

Journalists that use it should be shot in non life-threatening body parts for consecutive dawns, until their life drains from them.