F80 M3

[RS Grant]

Just a heads up, these are going to be a couple of long posts to kick off... but my threads tend to be wordy stories/journals anyway and this time I've got even more ground to cover than usual. But I'll do a TL:DR hidden text bit and won't be offended if you don't click it and just scroll down and look at the pictures.

It all started in 2014/2015 and my mum had been driving a MK2 TTRS for a few years which she absolutely loved.

She tended to change her car every 2-3 years, but after ~4 years with the TT she was looking around at what could replace it and as per every other car my folks have bought; I gave them a helping hand to guide them towards something decent which ticked their requirement boxes at the time.

That being said, buying the TTRS happened by accident. We had gone to pick up my sisters new Polo GTi next door at the sister VW dealership and I suggested that we drop in to Audi next door and see if there were any nice TT S-Lines that mum might like... so we wandered round the forecourt and then towards the building with the TTRS sitting at the front door gleaming in the sun, I immediately knew what it was but my folks did not. They just liked the look/spec/price of it so we got the keys and after mum got back from her test drive, I got into the car for my test drive (be rude not to, surely?) and the sales lady said "your mum doesn't really know what this car is all about does she? I don't think she got above 3000rpm or 50mph." ...which is the long running joke between everyone: my mum drives these lovely/fast cars but has absolutely no idea what they're capable of. They travel from the house to M&S/Tennis Club/Gym and then home again.

Anyway back on topic and around the turn of the year 2014/2015 when my mum was starting to look at options to replace her TT; which coincided with some good deals and discounts around on the F8* model of M3 and M4. We had bought a couple of cars off a salesman at a local BMW dealership, so I spoke to him about the deals and what was available elsewhere on these cars. He said that he was unable to better the figures we were being offered but could get close to them and had build slots available which we could still alter the spec of to suit our ideal spec.

Just had a look at my old emails and I've still got the back and forth with the salesman ("Welcome to Britain's Biggest Hoarders" ...?!) with the spec which we originally requested a quote on:

F82 M4 LCI
Manual Gearbox
Sakhir Orange
Black Leather
Sun Protection Glass
Front Sliding Armrest
Carbon Interior Trim
M-Head Up Display
Harman Kardon Stereo
5yr Service Pack

In the meantime before making the final decision we organised an extended test drive in one of these cars to make sure it was as easy/docile to drive as the Audi had been for mum. Turned out that sourcing a manual car to drive was almost impossible so the dealership contacted BMW UK to request a car, which they agreed to... that was until the last person to drive it before it came up north wrote their manual M4 demonstrator off, fantastic. So after waiting a little longer, they managed to get hold of a Mineral White M3 with a manual gearbox for us to drive instead.

The test drive went really well, the car was very easy to drive, didn't shout or scream about it's performance unless prodded which was perfect... only big change after the test drive was the fact mum liked the practicality and preferred the looks of the M3 more than the M4 so now wanted the 4dr rather than the 2dr.

So an M3 was ordered with the following spec:

F80 M3 LCI
Manual Gearbox
Alpine White
Sakhir Leather
Sun Protection Glass
Front Sliding Armrest
Carbon Interior Trim
M-Head Up Display
Harman Kardon Stereo
5yr Service Pack

Fast forward a couple of months or so and we get a phonecall from the salesman who informs us that the M3 has arrived, but there had clearly been a bit of a mix up on the specification because the car which had arrived was the following spec:

F80 M3 LCI
Manual Gearbox
Sapphire Black
Black Leather
Adaptive Headlights
Black Insert 437M Wheels
Sun Protection Glass
Front Sliding Armrest
Carbon Interior Trim
M-Head Up Display
Harman Kardon Stereo
5yr Service Pack

Obviously almost everyone who buys this type of car touches themselves over the DCT gearbox and rightly so, it's a great box and a no brainer if you use your car in traffic regularly, but an automatic was not what was wanted here. We were told that the Sales Manager of the dealership was panicking about having a brand new F80 M3 sitting there with a manual gearbox if we rejected the car (which there was obviously no problem with) so we were offered an extremely good deal if we were happy to take the car which had arrived rather than wait for another one to be built to our original spec and delivered. Sapphire Black had been an option for us anyway so after going to see it in person the deal was done and the car was collected a few days later.

Here are a few pictures from collection day...

The TTRS which I regret not buying for myself but I'd only had my Golf R for ~6 months at that point so a switch would have been expensive...

IMG_0136 by Grant F, on Flickr

The new F80...

IMG_0151 by Grant F, on Flickr
IMG_0159 by Grant F, on Flickr
IMG_0144 by Grant F, on Flickr
IMG_0169 by Grant F, on Flickr
IMG_0183 by Grant F, on Flickr

The next 5-6 years passed without any real hassle with the F80. Aside from what seems to be the normal issue of rear springs snapping and being replaced under warranty. But apart from that, it went in to BMW for servicing when required and that was it.. relaxing into it's life of ferrying mum to and from M&S, tennis, etc etc.

Only real change which happened during that period was switching from the standard fit Continental tyres (there was a shortage of Michelin PSS at the time of build) to a set of Michelin Pilot Sport 4S in the original sizes. Just pootling around you would be hard pushed to feel any improvement, but the difference was absolutely night and day when pushing on in M-Dynamic Mode or with traction control off.. if you've not driven on them then I can't recommend them enough, they're unbelievably good tyres in both wet and dry conditions.

Edited by RS Grant on Sunday 30th January 12:21

[RS Grant]

So we arrive in 2021, my folks have moved out to the country and the M3 is seeing less and less use on the country roads because mum doesn’t like how dirty it gets on the country roads beside them and refuses to wash it herself/take it to a car wash in case it gets damaged, along with the usual worries about leaving it in busy car parks, icy roads etc. After moving to the country my folks had bought a Skoda Yeti 4x4 to bounce around in during the worst part of the year rather than their BMWs; but the Yeti slowly became the default mode of transport regardless of the time of year given the combination of practicality, 4WD and being able to leave it parked places without worrying if people would ding it, rub along the side of it with jackets/bags etc.

After they came to the decision to replace the M3 with a more practical ‘nice’ 4WD SUV, along with keeping dads 6-series and the Yeti going for the next wee while too. We looked at various options together but they eventually settled on an Audi SQ5 as something which ticked all their boxes and they are currently loving life with it.

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr

I had sold my old E92 M3 in 2020 and hadn’t bought anything to replace it, so knowing the history of this F80 from day 1 and it being specced very closely to how I would have specced one from factory it was a bit of a no-brainer for me, it’s not often that opportunity comes along so I said that I would buy the M3 from them rather than let them trade it in… much to the disappointment of the dealership who were keen to get their hands on it.
Had I been one of the aforementioned DCT fanboys then I may have let the car get traded in because I’m sure I could have found a decent example at any time from the massive pool of DCT equipped F80 M3 for sale; however the manual versions of the F80 M3 are far harder to find.

So here are a few pictures of the car on the day it arrived with me, 30k miles since it was picked up brand new at the tail end of 2015. Although I’ve cleaned it up and given it some protection, being black it could still benefit from a proper detail; which I’m hoping to get done at some point this year.

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr

There were a couple of things needing looked at, the main one I needed to address being the brakes. After sitting outside over 2-3 winters and a general lack of use, the front discs were beyond the point of a long swift run on some back roads to clean them up and they needed replaced. So I priced the replacements up from BMW and wished that I’d been sitting down, obscene prices.

When I started to look at aftermarket stuff the prices started to spiral when I used the ‘might as well upgrade at the same time’ way of thinking and started adding options like 2-piece discs, decent pads etc… and I was worried that it could still be hit or miss and after spending so much money that would be a very bitter pill to swallow. Then out came the man maths calculator and the ‘well when I sell the car I can sell the brakes’ reasoning that saw me put a big brake kit front and back on my E92 M3… so after some back and forth with Reyland, the following kit was ordered up:

AP F80 by Grant F, on Flickr

6-pot AP Radical Calipers
390mm Curved Groove AP Discs
Black Bells
Pagid RSL1 Pads
Braided Lines

AP F80 Rear by Grant F, on Flickr

4-pot AP Radical Calipers (from my E92 kit which I have continued to hoard long after selling the car.. see a pattern here?! )
380mm Curved Groove Discs
Black Bells
DS2500 Pads
Braided Lines

Whilst the calculator was out and someone would be in around all four corners of the car, I thought that it made sense to try and fix the large arch gap on the front of F80 M3. It’s not as bad on the F82 M4 but it’s really noticeable on the F80, so much so that I remember asking if the transport blocks were still in place when we went to collect the car for the first time.

I did a lot of research and reading about what options I had; Eibach apparently make two different types of spring, H&R springs, M Performance Springs, KW Springs and then the custom Eibach springs that Litchfield developed for the platform. The car isn’t to be used on track so going for a full coilover set up was a step too far for me, in the future we’ll see, but I really just wanted to spend a few hundred on some springs to improve the way the car sat.

The pictures that I saw of Eibach-own springs didn’t look like it dropped the front of the car enough, the H&R looked properly low (I’ve got H&R on my E91 and it’s low!) which made me fear for the bumper/as yet unpurchased front splitter on the entry and exit of my driveway and the MPS/KW adjustable springs were just too expensive for what they were.. so after looking at the Eibach option from Litchfield, the drop was slightly more than Eibach own but not as much as the H&R and Litchfield are pretty clued up so I bought some of those.

F80 Litchfield Springs by Grant F, on Flickr

As part of my research, I saw that a lot of people were fitting spacers to bring the standard wheels out a little, so I bought some 12mm and 15mm spacers for the car too.

When I was speaking to Andrew at Automek who was going to fit the parts for me, I mentioned that I was talking to someone about some Millway camber plates up front and he said that I should really get some camber arms for the rear so it could be dialled in properly too.. but to sit down because the price of rear arms for the F8* was on a whole different level to rear arms for something like my EP3 track car… and he wasn’t wrong.

I ordered up the Millway Front Camber Plates and matching Millway Rear Camber Arms:

F80 Millway Camber Plates by Grant F, on Flickr
F80 Millway Rear Arms by Grant F, on Flickr

Then me and a friend dropped the F80 through at Automek to get the bits and pieces fitted one weekend and would return the next weekend to pick it back up.

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr

The next week dragged slowwwly, with only a post popping up on Instagram the day before I was heading through to pick the car up. I did notice that the M Performance black grills I’d bought were fitted, I hadn’t asked them to fit them, but they were lying in the boot so they had popped them on for me… probably saved me a few layers of skin and my neighbours from hearing a tirade of vile language.

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr

Next day I went to collect the car and the first thing Andrew said was “it’s a lot lower than any other Eibach kit we’ve fitted” before coming out to the car with me.. he’s not wrong, but it sits really well, I’m very happy with the choice I made. *Touch wood* I haven’t noticed any issues, had any problems with speed bumps or my driveway post fitting either. It’s hard to lay the praise at one particular part when you fit a few things, but the combination of new springs and a proper geometry set up has really made the car handle superbly on the road. It was good before, but it is very sharp and responsive now. The new brake kit is super sharp too; I know it’s what you expect when you fit new/uprated parts, but it’s always nice to feel a genuine difference after fitting.

Here is the first picture I took after collecting the car when I stopped before heading back up the road:

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr

Then a photo to see just how close we were to the road when coming in and out of my driveway:

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr

So, yeah.. pretty close, haha!! I'm unsure whether a front splitter would survive very long... so it's probably something to revisit when I eventually get round to the landscaping/driveway stage of the house renovation and can alter the angle of departure from the driveway to the road.

I really like the way the car sits now, I’ve got plenty of pictures to share with you all.. if by any chance anyone here follows me on Instagram then you’ll probably already have seen most of them but it’d be good to have them all in here as part of the journey too.

As I said, I'm planning to get the car a full professional detail at some point and possibly add some PPF to the rear arches/front end to keep chips at bay. I also want to change to a longer front numberplate or have the holder removed and screw holes smoothed because I don't like the short plate/plate holder combination... but I'd already bought the plates and changed the registration with the DVLA before I realised that I couldn't take the holder off without showing about three dozen screw holes. Typical.

Edited by RS Grant on Sunday 30th January 12:39

[RS Grant]

After all that was done, the car needed an MOT which it flew through after addressing the brakes.. which would have been the only thing that would have possibly seen it fail/ping an advisory.

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr

I was moaning about the tailpipes being a bit too far gone to bring back to their former glory, so one of my friends sent me a link to some black replacements for sale locally, which I know won't be to everyone's taste but I like them and they're a little more beefy too without looking ridiculous.

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr

I had a set of 20" Ispiri wheels sitting doing nothing, so I thought I'd chuck them on to see whether I could advertise them as fitting an F8* car when I put them up for sale.. which being a hoarder, obviously hasn't happened yet.

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr

Part of me likes them and part of me doesn't like them.. regardless, if I ever get round to advertising them, at least I can say they fit an F8* car and if they clear my brakes then they should clear the standard originals without any hassle at all.

There was a marginal improvement in clearance leaving the driveway, as expected I suppose.

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr

[Court_S]

The M3 is so much better looking than the M4 to my eyes, but rarer and more expensive used. I used to pass a lady in a Yas Marina blue one with white seats in the old days when I actually commuted to work.

Sits well on the new springs but I think I prefer the OE wheels.

How does it compare to the E92?

[RS Grant]

Court_S said:

The M3 is so much better looking than the M4 to my eyes, but rarer and more expensive used. I used to pass a lady in a Yas Marina blue one with white seats in the old days when I actually commuted to work.

Sits well on the new springs but I think I prefer the OE wheels.

How does it compare to the E92?

Yeah I think the width of the arches gets a bit lost on the longer coupe panels of the M4, the M3 needs to come in for the doors so the arches look very wide in comparison.

Standard wheels are back on, I definitely prefer them too.. although when I was leaving the driveway I did prefer the marginally better ground clearance on the bigger wheels.

The difference between the two cars is quite vast in my opinion. If you take the tech differences (iDrive, HUD, headlights etc) as read and just focus on the actual driving side of things.. out of the box the F80 handles better, stops better, the seats/seating position is better, the manual gearbox change is better and the power delivery is night and day different.

I think power delivery, like looks, is a subjective thing so I won’t say one is better than the other because some people will prefer the high revving NA V8 engine in E9x cars which you need to wring every rpm out of to get the best from; where as other people will prefer the accessible and muscular shove which starts very low down the rev range but carries right through to the red line from the twin turbo straight 6 in the F8* cars.

Personally I really miss the real induction noise and exhaust note from the motorsport-bred V8 in the E9x cars.. the F80 has some electronic help to create a nice enough induction noise, but the exhaust note is crap. In fact on cold start, it’s absolutely unacceptable and sounds like someone has stolen your exhaust.

But because of the way the different way in which the cars deliver their power, the performance in the real world is getting on for night and day different in my opinion.. for example pulling out to overtake a couple of people dawdling down a B-road at 30-40mph would require shifting down to 2nd in an E9x car to make an overtake happen as quickly as possible.. I feel like that could easily be tackled in the same time using 3rd or 4th in an F8* car.

There are very few cars which I’ve driven that almost feel too much for a Scottish back road.. the F8* is borderline because the power just doesn’t seem to tail off, even in the higher 3 gears.. by which point you’d be really flying.

People who remap these cars must be considerably better drivers than me, like showing off dyno figures to their mates on the ‘gram or do a lot of motorway/straight line pulls.

[jjlynn27]

Car park picture is fantastic.

[cerb4.5lee]

RS Grant said:

The difference between the two cars is quite vast in my opinion. If you take the tech differences (iDrive, HUD, headlights etc) as read and just focus on the actual driving side of things.. out of the box the F80 handles better, stops better, the seats/seating position is better, the manual gearbox change is better and the power delivery is night and day different.

I think power delivery, like looks, is a subjective thing so I won’t say one is better than the other because some people will prefer the high revving NA V8 engine in E9x cars which you need to wring every rpm out of to get the best from; where as other people will prefer the accessible and muscular shove which starts very low down the rev range but carries right through to the red line from the twin turbo straight 6 in the F8* cars.

Personally I really miss the real induction noise and exhaust note from the motorsport-bred V8 in the E9x cars.. the F80 has some electronic help to create a nice enough induction noise, but the exhaust note is crap. In fact on cold start, it’s absolutely unacceptable and sounds like someone has stolen your exhaust.

But because of the way the different way in which the cars deliver their power, the performance in the real world is getting on for night and day different in my opinion.. for example pulling out to overtake a couple of people dawdling down a B-road at 30-40mph would require shifting down to 2nd in an E9x car to make an overtake happen as quickly as possible.. I feel like that could easily be tackled in the same time using 3rd or 4th in an F8* car.

There are very few cars which I’ve driven that almost feel too much for a Scottish back road.. the F8* is borderline because the power just doesn’t seem to tail off, even in the higher 3 gears.. by which point you’d be really flying.

People who remap these cars must be considerably better drivers than me, like showing off dyno figures to their mates on the ‘gram or do a lot of motorway/straight line pulls.

I always really enjoy reading your Readers Cars threads Grant.

I agree with everything you say here about the 2 cars as well.

I always used to have to drop the M3 down into 2nd to overtake stuff too, and I do think that a DCT would suit the M3 better than the manual, however I did like having a manual gearbox mated to the V8 though.

I have the DCT in the M4(I'd love to try a manual one though) and its overall performance never fails to raise a smile, and I even enjoy revving it right out even though you really don't have to because of the way the power/torque is delivered. I find myself at times driving the M4 defensively at this time of the year...in fear of putting myself into a field with it!

Keep enjoying the F80 M3.

[Usy777]

Great thread Grant!

I myself was debating between the M3 & M4, I was on the verge of buying a yas marina M4 2 weeks ago but instead I opted for the M3 as pictured above and absolutely love it. I've had a issue with the TPMS failure message popping up but think the sensors just need a change, other than that I'm loving it!

[RS Grant]

jjlynn27 said:

Car park picture is fantastic.

Thanks mate, I like it too. I was really impressed given that it was taken on my phone.

[RS Grant]

cerb4.5lee said:

I always really enjoy reading your Readers Cars threads Grant.

I agree with everything you say here about the 2 cars as well.

I always used to have to drop the M3 down into 2nd to overtake stuff too, and I do think that a DCT would suit the M3 better than the manual, however I did like having a manual gearbox mated to the V8 though.

I have the DCT in the M4(I'd love to try a manual one though) and its overall performance never fails to raise a smile, and I even enjoy revving it right out even though you really don't have to because of the way the power/torque is delivered. I find myself at times driving the M4 defensively at this time of the year...in fear of putting myself into a field with it!

Keep enjoying the F80 M3.

Thanks Lee, I think my threads can be a bit much to digest for most who are just browsing... but I'm glad someone enjoys my rambling.

As you know I'm a diehard manual guy who would only choose the auto option if I encountered heavy traffic regularly. However that being said I agree that a DCT probably does suit the V8 engine better, unless you start playing around with the manual gearbox and shorter final drives.. which is meant to wake things up nicely, but costs ££££ in the process.

Haha I know what you mean about the weather just now, it's been properly greasy and I'd not be a fan of piloting the M3 in it. What colour of M4 did you go for? I feel like the F8* cars will be a good fit for you going by the stuff you've put up here in the past and address the issues which you had with the E9* cars.

[RS Grant]

Usy777 said:

Great thread Grant!

I myself was debating between the M3 & M4, I was on the verge of buying a yas marina M4 2 weeks ago but instead I opted for the M3 as pictured above and absolutely love it. I've had a issue with the TPMS failure message popping up but think the sensors just need a change, other than that I'm loving it!

That's lovely, congratulations.

I've got a real soft spot for Sakhir Orange paint.. I put a deposit down on a manual F80 M3 Competition in SO, although I ended up pulling out of the deal and ordering a new M2 Competition instead. But the Sakhir paint was unbelievable in direct sun, it really came alive.

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr

Part of me regrets not getting it, however there were marks on the bodywork which they weren't prepared to address as part of the deal, which I couldn't accept given the cost of the car.

[RS Grant]

One of my friends who has recently bought an F80 M3 asked me if I wanted to come along to a car show up in Aberdeenshire, so I got up at an ungodly hour for a Sunday morning and met up with him and others from Scottish M Club at the show, which turned out to be brilliant and much busier than any of us expected it to be.

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr

A bonus of it being so far north was the opportunity to take the car down some brilliant roads and through some amazing scenery on the way home.

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr

Was the first proper drive with the suspension and brakes fitted, so I got home with a big smile on my sun burnt face.

[RS Grant]

I took the car for a few good drives on some of my favourite roads, but given the time of year a black car stays clean for about 16 seconds in this weather... as you can see.

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr

These photos were taken in complete darkness with 'night mode' on my phone, the first one with a wee keyring torch as a very budget flash.

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr

Then a couple of photos of it cleaned back up again, before being tucked away in the garage.

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr

Outside the hospital in the pick up/drop off point in the early hours, like something out of 28 days later.

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr

Edited by RS Grant on Wednesday 2nd February 23:52

[cerb4.5lee]

RS Grant said:

Thanks Lee, I think my threads can be a bit much to digest for most who are just browsing... but I'm glad someone enjoys my rambling.

As you know I'm a diehard manual guy who would only choose the auto option if I encountered heavy traffic regularly. However that being said I agree that a DCT probably does suit the V8 engine better, unless you start playing around with the manual gearbox and shorter final drives.. which is meant to wake things up nicely, but costs ££££ in the process.

Haha I know what you mean about the weather just now, it's been properly greasy and I'd not be a fan of piloting the M3 in it. What colour of M4 did you go for? I feel like the F8* cars will be a good fit for you going by the stuff you've put up here in the past and address the issues which you had with the E9* cars.

I went for San Marino Blue Grant.

I had a bit of fun with a Golf R yesterday in it which was fun! It was a bit more mild and dryer, so it was nice to open the throttle up more. I'm really happy with the car thanks.

[carbonblack]

Stunning car, and very rare in manual too.

I've got half an eye on a F80 - I think they look so great and really like the styling. For me, a clear cut above the coupé - no offense to any F82 owners.

Can you fit two adults in the back? When I sat in one at the dealers it seemed felt large inside and out compared to an E46 coupe, but I didn't try the rear.

[RS Grant]

cerb4.5lee said:

I went for San Marino Blue Grant.

I had a bit of fun with a Golf R yesterday in it which was fun! It was a bit more mild and dryer, so it was nice to open the throttle up more. I'm really happy with the car thanks.

SMB is a stunning colour, what a great choice... in the sun it is absolutely amazing!!

Great that you're enjoying it. Are you planning any modifications for it or just going to keep it as is?

[RS Grant]

carbonblack said:

Stunning car, and very rare in manual too.

I've got half an eye on a F80 - I think they look so great and really like the styling. For me, a clear cut above the coupé - no offense to any F82 owners.

Can you fit two adults in the back? When I sat in one at the dealers it seemed felt large inside and out compared to an E46 coupe, but I didn't try the rear.

The rear space is fine for two adults, I've had four in the car and at no point were there any complaints. It's a really usable package, definitely better than my old E92 M3 which isn't too surprising I suppose. But the road tax, MPG, boot space, interior space and real world performance are all a big step forward.. the only real downside being that the engine (to me) doesn't feel or sound anywhere near as special as the V8.

What other options are you considering?

[cerb4.5lee]

RS Grant said:

SMB is a stunning colour, what a great choice... in the sun it is absolutely amazing!!

Great that you're enjoying it. Are you planning any modifications for it or just going to keep it as is?

Thanks Grant.

It does look amazing in the sun...but it is just a shame that the sun rarely comes out in the UK though!

I will be keeping it standard because I'm happy with the performance as it is. However because it is a December 2018 model it has the OPFs(emmisions fuel filters) on it, so I lose all the pops/bangs/crackles/volume of noise from it sadly. So if I was to do anything with it-it would be a change of exhaust/get rid of the OPFs for definite.

When I was buying it-it completely slipped my mind about the OPFs, so with hindsight now I would've gone for a pre 2018 model instead.

I am over the moon with the car overall though.

[RS Grant]

cerb4.5lee said:

Thanks Grant.

It does look amazing in the sun...but it is just a shame that the sun rarely comes out in the UK though!

I will be keeping it standard because I'm happy with the performance as it is. However because it is a December 2018 model it has the OPFs(emmisions fuel filters) on it, so I lose all the pops/bangs/crackles/volume of noise from it sadly. So if I was to do anything with it-it would be a change of exhaust/get rid of the OPFs for definite.

When I was buying it-it completely slipped my mind about the OPFs, so with hindsight now I would've gone for a pre 2018 model instead.

I am over the moon with the car overall though.

I can understand that, I've certainly not got any plans in the foreseeable to boost performance on mine either, it's plenty fast enough for me on the roads I use.

Mine is an LCI but non-CP car and I don't get any pops or crackles either. I've seen people mention them a fair bit, wonder if it was a post-CP but pre-OPF thing. I'm not wanting 'Ecoboost Fiesta at McDonalds car park' levels of pops/crackles but a little bit of burble/subtle crackle in Sport Plus mode would be nice and add a little bit of occasion to the whole thing.

[cerb4.5lee]

RS Grant said:

Mine is an LCI but non-CP car and I don't get any pops or crackles either. I've seen people mention them a fair bit, wonder if it was a post-CP but pre-OPF thing. I'm not wanting 'Ecoboost Fiesta at McDonalds car park' levels of pops/crackles but a little bit of burble/subtle crackle in Sport Plus mode would be nice and add a little bit of occasion to the whole thing.

Ahh I didn't realise that and I just thought it was because of the OPFs regards the pops/crackles.

Completely agree, and it would be nice to have a little bit more theatre with them exhaust noise wise. I'm fortunate that the 370Z offers me the theatre/noise exhaust wise though, because that has a full custom exhaust and sports cats on it, plus upgraded twin intakes so that does sound nice. Maybe a bit too loud though at times!

My missus likes how discreet the M4 sounds to be fair, whereas she finds the 370 too ostentatious(she won't even travel in it as a passenger...let alone drive it!).