2012 E92 M3 LE500 Santorini Blue - Ownership Blog.
Discussion
I found myself with some spare time tonight so I thought i'd log a place where I can keep up-to-date with my new purchase, which is a 2012 BMW E92 Limited Edition 500 in Santorini blue.
First of all though, some car history.... I've always had a history of hot hatches and have previously owned:
2 x Clio 182
1 x Clio 172
2 x Clio 200
Fiesta ST
300bhp Superchared Fiesta ST
Focus RS mk2
MR2 Turbo
All of those cars were great, but I kind of fell out of love with fast cars a little over the last few years. I've always been a bike guy and have had more special bikes than cars over the recent years.
However, since the m3 LE500 in this exact blue came out a few years ago, I have always wanted one. It started when I used to see one on the way to work every single morning and said to myself that one day i'd own one, and now at the grand old age of 28, this is my chance!
The car is a great spec with just 15,000 miles on the clock. Myself, partner and friend flew up to Scotland from Oxford to go collect it and drove it back, all in a single (long) day. We set off at 4am and got home at gone 21:00. However, it was worth it! It's amazing.
The full spec is:
2012 LE500 Santorini Blue
LE comes with black shadow line around mirrors / grills , black wheels and black exhaust tips.. as well as matching blue stitching on the leather.
15,000 miles
DCT Gearbox
Electric seats
EDC
PDC
Privacy Glass
USB interface
First impressions of the car are that's it's simply amazing on all fronts. It can cruise in comfort on the motorway, but when you start playing with the paddles and using the engine a bit more it really does perform great. Oh and it's a real head turner, almost to the point it's a little embarrassing sometimes!
Comparing this car to my previous cars is pretty hard, as to be honest it's on a new level in terms of both quality and performance. It really is a step up from a hot hatch, but you of course pay the price for that in terms of costs.
I have a daily drive which is a Mazda 3 Sport diesel which I will use everyday for work and boring trips, and save the M3 for special occasions and keep the mileage down.
Here a couple of poor quality pics from the dealership on collection day.
I will try and get some good pictures soon
The car does not want for anything at the minute as it's just had a big service, but there were a few little things I wanted to do to the car.
It came with a modified backbox which was a little loud on cold start for me, and would quickly lead to my neighbors getting p1ssed off very quickly, so that was swapped out for a brand new backbox from another LE500 so had it at least had the correct black exhaust tips.
It's much quieter, but suits me better i think. It's just a shame I have lost some of the v8 growl. But the standard one is still nice and throaty when giving it some stick i'm pleased to say.
Next up is to swap the LED H8 bulbs in the DRLs for some standard halogen bulbs, as they are the bright white type at the minute which I think looks a little crap / cheap. So I will swap them for the standard ones this week. I will post a comparison shot once I've done it.
Here is my current other toy too. So it's a V4 and V8 garage at the minute
Roll on many road trips and much fun this year... first up is PH Sunday Service this Sunday. See some of you there perhaps?
Edd
First of all though, some car history.... I've always had a history of hot hatches and have previously owned:
2 x Clio 182
1 x Clio 172
2 x Clio 200
Fiesta ST
300bhp Superchared Fiesta ST
Focus RS mk2
MR2 Turbo
All of those cars were great, but I kind of fell out of love with fast cars a little over the last few years. I've always been a bike guy and have had more special bikes than cars over the recent years.
However, since the m3 LE500 in this exact blue came out a few years ago, I have always wanted one. It started when I used to see one on the way to work every single morning and said to myself that one day i'd own one, and now at the grand old age of 28, this is my chance!
The car is a great spec with just 15,000 miles on the clock. Myself, partner and friend flew up to Scotland from Oxford to go collect it and drove it back, all in a single (long) day. We set off at 4am and got home at gone 21:00. However, it was worth it! It's amazing.
The full spec is:
2012 LE500 Santorini Blue
LE comes with black shadow line around mirrors / grills , black wheels and black exhaust tips.. as well as matching blue stitching on the leather.
15,000 miles
DCT Gearbox
Electric seats
EDC
PDC
Privacy Glass
USB interface
First impressions of the car are that's it's simply amazing on all fronts. It can cruise in comfort on the motorway, but when you start playing with the paddles and using the engine a bit more it really does perform great. Oh and it's a real head turner, almost to the point it's a little embarrassing sometimes!
Comparing this car to my previous cars is pretty hard, as to be honest it's on a new level in terms of both quality and performance. It really is a step up from a hot hatch, but you of course pay the price for that in terms of costs.
I have a daily drive which is a Mazda 3 Sport diesel which I will use everyday for work and boring trips, and save the M3 for special occasions and keep the mileage down.
Here a couple of poor quality pics from the dealership on collection day.
I will try and get some good pictures soon
The car does not want for anything at the minute as it's just had a big service, but there were a few little things I wanted to do to the car.
It came with a modified backbox which was a little loud on cold start for me, and would quickly lead to my neighbors getting p1ssed off very quickly, so that was swapped out for a brand new backbox from another LE500 so had it at least had the correct black exhaust tips.
It's much quieter, but suits me better i think. It's just a shame I have lost some of the v8 growl. But the standard one is still nice and throaty when giving it some stick i'm pleased to say.
Next up is to swap the LED H8 bulbs in the DRLs for some standard halogen bulbs, as they are the bright white type at the minute which I think looks a little crap / cheap. So I will swap them for the standard ones this week. I will post a comparison shot once I've done it.
Here is my current other toy too. So it's a V4 and V8 garage at the minute
Roll on many road trips and much fun this year... first up is PH Sunday Service this Sunday. See some of you there perhaps?
Edd
Edited by eddd1e on Tuesday 15th March 22:48
Edited by eddd1e on Tuesday 15th March 22:51
wow what a stunning looking car in santorini, congrats! personally think these e9x m3s are very good indeed, having spent quite some time in one a couple years back i really fell in love with it! i feel the dct box is fantastic when pressing on and keeping the engine in the sweet spot coupled with some nice noises on downshifts.
great looking car, more pics when you can please!
great looking car, more pics when you can please!
So a small update, I've done just over 1,000 miles in the car now, and so far so good. I'm really enjoying it and seeing as it's not my daily, every time I go out in it feels like a special occasion.
I have swapped over the HID bulbs for the daytime running lights to normal halogen ones, which I think suit it much better. Overall the car is now exactly how I want it.
Here is a 50/50 shot.
I then went to the PH Sunday Service at MBW last Sunday with a friend who has also just picked up another M3 LE500. It was a great day out, we were the first ones to arrive!
Seeing the picture above, it's amazing the difference the splitter makes to the front of the car. Much more aggressive.
Not a huge amount planned in next few weeks for the car, just driving it and enjoying it hopefully.
Another update to follow soon!
I have swapped over the HID bulbs for the daytime running lights to normal halogen ones, which I think suit it much better. Overall the car is now exactly how I want it.
Here is a 50/50 shot.
I then went to the PH Sunday Service at MBW last Sunday with a friend who has also just picked up another M3 LE500. It was a great day out, we were the first ones to arrive!
Seeing the picture above, it's amazing the difference the splitter makes to the front of the car. Much more aggressive.
Not a huge amount planned in next few weeks for the car, just driving it and enjoying it hopefully.
Another update to follow soon!
Edited by eddd1e on Thursday 24th March 23:39
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