E92 BMW M3 Monte Carlo Edition
Discussion
For anyone who frequents the BMW section on here, Z4-Forum or M3 Cutters you may have seen me commenting and asking questions about the E9X M3.
Not going to do a full car history, but I'll preface this by saying that I have owned cars that aren't BMWs :-) However, all the cars I've owned for the past 5 years have been BMWs, as much by accident as design.
The current cars fall into the following categories.
Family Car - BMW E91 335i. Owned for the past 4 years and doing a good job as the daily / family car. Spends half it's life in station car parks and has the battle scars to prove it - but while I might be guilty in neglecting the exterior, the mechanicals are in fine fettle.
Keeper - BMW Z1. Belonged to my Father for many years until he realised that I really needed a quirky, 80s BMW in my life. Hugely impractical but elicits interest, confusion and joy wherever it goes.
Sports Car - Z4M Coupe. Loved these from the moment BMW announced them and was lucky enough to buy this one at 2 years old. Not always felt that the Universe thought I should own one - broke my leg in multiple places almost immediately after buying this and took 6 months before I was 'recovered' enough to drive it again. Thought about selling many times but never quite went through with it.
Roll back to January 2018 and our second child was born. My use of the 2 seaters had already declined significantly since the arrival of our first child and as I usually commute by train my annual mileage is low. I did look at a couple of M3s, but then got sidetracked by a familiar 130i which I bought after an extensive test drive and an enthusiatsic conversation with its then (and current:-) owner.
A (very brief, infrequently updated) Reader's Cars thread here:
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
For anyone following Yonex's Readers Car thread you'll know that he missed the car so much he bought it back. Can't blame him, if I had more parking/garage spaces I probably wouldn't have let it go.
Finally, onto it's replacement.
The reason I choose the 130i was that with a 1 month old baby and a 3 year old, I didn't fancy trying to shoehorn them into a coupe for every trip and the saloon version of the M3 in a spec and colour I wanted seemed elusive. Also, despite always being of the opinion that the saloon looked better, once I started looking in earnest I did a full 180 and decided that only the coupe would do.
Despite test driving a fair few M3s I decided I was never going to get the measure of the M3 on a test drive, so owning one for a while was the only option. Worst case is that I sell it and lose a bit along the way.
After a few months of browsing forums, AutoTrader and Pistonheads, looking at a fair few dogs (usually described as mint), I managed to find the follwing:
A E92 Monte Carlo Edition with only one previous owner, always serviced at the same dealership and supplied by a BMW dealer with a years approved used car warranty.
In terms of spec the car has heated seats, front parking sensors and an upgraded stereo - all things that I would have expected to be standard on a flagship model, but that's German car brands for you. It also have adaptive lights (think they move with steering wheel) but no adaptive suspension (the internet tells me that my car is worth £500 because of this, but I prefer a good setup over loads of button pushing ;-)
First impressions are that the engine is great, the way it spins from 4-8k rpm is epic. In the end I went for the DCT gearbox, which tends to be a controversial topic. The manual M3's I drove had a longer throw and were more 'notchy'. Read loads about how changing the shift knob to a F10 M5 one would help but in the end I found, as many others have, that the DCT gearbox was a really good match for the engine. The other thing that put me off the manual is the ratios - it seems that top speed in 3rd gear for the manual is roughly equivalent to 4th gear in the DCT, so much more useable.
Time for some pictures:
Lots of potential plans for the car, but in the past 3 weeks I have managed to get a few mods done. Some permanent (hopefully) and some temporary.
First modification is exhaust related.
Even though it was an AUC car, it came supplied with a Cobra Sport aftermarket exhaust. It was fitted as the OEM exhaust didn't meet the AUC standards (apparently?) and a replacement OEM item was on 6 months backorder. As such the exhaust is less than a month old and has seen less than 500 miles. Downside is that it was LOUD. For those familiar with the OEM 4-Pipe Mod (essentially no rear silencer), it's similar to that but with more bass.
While I loved the way it sounded from 6-8k rpm, the added volume and bass meant that early morning starts and driving slowly through towns/villages attracted more looks than I'd like. To put it in perspective, I'm more of a fan of intake noise and have never previously fitted an aftermarket exhaust.
After meeting up with a helpful guy from the m3cutters forum I decided that a OEM exhaust with the 2 pipe mod was the way to go. Fitted this week and so far it seems to be perfect - frees up the V8 sound, but doesn't drone or sound too loud rolling through villages on gentle throttle.
Hardest part was deciding on exhaust tips. As it's a Monte Carlo Edition the originals were black and while they complement the black grille, wheels etc the downside to black tips is that they can look small. I had planned to go for some larger, slash-cut black tips but in the end decided to go for chrome tips with a carbon surround (like the current gen BMW performance exhausts. My thinking was that the black carbon matches the grille, wheels and roof but the chrome metal would still work if I decided to change the wheels.
Happy with my choice so far, just worried that OEM carbon mirror caps and maybe even splitters might be on the cards as well, so overall the exhaust might end up being an expensive decision.
ETA - Fixing Broken Links
Not going to do a full car history, but I'll preface this by saying that I have owned cars that aren't BMWs :-) However, all the cars I've owned for the past 5 years have been BMWs, as much by accident as design.
The current cars fall into the following categories.
Family Car - BMW E91 335i. Owned for the past 4 years and doing a good job as the daily / family car. Spends half it's life in station car parks and has the battle scars to prove it - but while I might be guilty in neglecting the exterior, the mechanicals are in fine fettle.
Keeper - BMW Z1. Belonged to my Father for many years until he realised that I really needed a quirky, 80s BMW in my life. Hugely impractical but elicits interest, confusion and joy wherever it goes.
Sports Car - Z4M Coupe. Loved these from the moment BMW announced them and was lucky enough to buy this one at 2 years old. Not always felt that the Universe thought I should own one - broke my leg in multiple places almost immediately after buying this and took 6 months before I was 'recovered' enough to drive it again. Thought about selling many times but never quite went through with it.
Roll back to January 2018 and our second child was born. My use of the 2 seaters had already declined significantly since the arrival of our first child and as I usually commute by train my annual mileage is low. I did look at a couple of M3s, but then got sidetracked by a familiar 130i which I bought after an extensive test drive and an enthusiatsic conversation with its then (and current:-) owner.
A (very brief, infrequently updated) Reader's Cars thread here:
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
For anyone following Yonex's Readers Car thread you'll know that he missed the car so much he bought it back. Can't blame him, if I had more parking/garage spaces I probably wouldn't have let it go.
Finally, onto it's replacement.
The reason I choose the 130i was that with a 1 month old baby and a 3 year old, I didn't fancy trying to shoehorn them into a coupe for every trip and the saloon version of the M3 in a spec and colour I wanted seemed elusive. Also, despite always being of the opinion that the saloon looked better, once I started looking in earnest I did a full 180 and decided that only the coupe would do.
Despite test driving a fair few M3s I decided I was never going to get the measure of the M3 on a test drive, so owning one for a while was the only option. Worst case is that I sell it and lose a bit along the way.
After a few months of browsing forums, AutoTrader and Pistonheads, looking at a fair few dogs (usually described as mint), I managed to find the follwing:
A E92 Monte Carlo Edition with only one previous owner, always serviced at the same dealership and supplied by a BMW dealer with a years approved used car warranty.
In terms of spec the car has heated seats, front parking sensors and an upgraded stereo - all things that I would have expected to be standard on a flagship model, but that's German car brands for you. It also have adaptive lights (think they move with steering wheel) but no adaptive suspension (the internet tells me that my car is worth £500 because of this, but I prefer a good setup over loads of button pushing ;-)
First impressions are that the engine is great, the way it spins from 4-8k rpm is epic. In the end I went for the DCT gearbox, which tends to be a controversial topic. The manual M3's I drove had a longer throw and were more 'notchy'. Read loads about how changing the shift knob to a F10 M5 one would help but in the end I found, as many others have, that the DCT gearbox was a really good match for the engine. The other thing that put me off the manual is the ratios - it seems that top speed in 3rd gear for the manual is roughly equivalent to 4th gear in the DCT, so much more useable.
Time for some pictures:
Lots of potential plans for the car, but in the past 3 weeks I have managed to get a few mods done. Some permanent (hopefully) and some temporary.
First modification is exhaust related.
Even though it was an AUC car, it came supplied with a Cobra Sport aftermarket exhaust. It was fitted as the OEM exhaust didn't meet the AUC standards (apparently?) and a replacement OEM item was on 6 months backorder. As such the exhaust is less than a month old and has seen less than 500 miles. Downside is that it was LOUD. For those familiar with the OEM 4-Pipe Mod (essentially no rear silencer), it's similar to that but with more bass.
While I loved the way it sounded from 6-8k rpm, the added volume and bass meant that early morning starts and driving slowly through towns/villages attracted more looks than I'd like. To put it in perspective, I'm more of a fan of intake noise and have never previously fitted an aftermarket exhaust.
After meeting up with a helpful guy from the m3cutters forum I decided that a OEM exhaust with the 2 pipe mod was the way to go. Fitted this week and so far it seems to be perfect - frees up the V8 sound, but doesn't drone or sound too loud rolling through villages on gentle throttle.
Hardest part was deciding on exhaust tips. As it's a Monte Carlo Edition the originals were black and while they complement the black grille, wheels etc the downside to black tips is that they can look small. I had planned to go for some larger, slash-cut black tips but in the end decided to go for chrome tips with a carbon surround (like the current gen BMW performance exhausts. My thinking was that the black carbon matches the grille, wheels and roof but the chrome metal would still work if I decided to change the wheels.
Happy with my choice so far, just worried that OEM carbon mirror caps and maybe even splitters might be on the cards as well, so overall the exhaust might end up being an expensive decision.
Edited by survivalist on Monday 22 July 22:03
ETA - Fixing Broken Links
Edited by survivalist on Tuesday 23 July 06:33
Lovely.
I’ve got a real thing for the E9x M3. I always thought they sounded a bit weak compared to AMG and RS cars but the F series cars made me realise that these actually sound fab! Hindsight eh?
My uncle had an E90 which I drove a bit and loved; the DCT really does suit the engine and in its most aggressive setting it adds a fair bit of drama. These were top of my list but the running costs over 15k per year were probably a bit rich for me.
Enjoy.
I’ve got a real thing for the E9x M3. I always thought they sounded a bit weak compared to AMG and RS cars but the F series cars made me realise that these actually sound fab! Hindsight eh?
My uncle had an E90 which I drove a bit and loved; the DCT really does suit the engine and in its most aggressive setting it adds a fair bit of drama. These were top of my list but the running costs over 15k per year were probably a bit rich for me.
Enjoy.
Court_S said:
These were top of my list but the running costs over 15k per year were probably a bit rich for me.
I managed 10k miles in 10 months as a daily in mine before I ran out of money! 
I'm starting to really fancy another now though and I wished at the time that I could have afforded to have it as a second/occasional car. That way the fuel costs wouldn't hurt as much...plus it keeps it feeling special as well.
You won't see engines like this again that's for sure.
cerb4.5lee said:
I managed 10k miles in 10 months as a daily in mine before I ran out of money!
I'm starting to really fancy another now though and I wished at the time that I could have afforded to have it as a second/occasional car. That way the fuel costs wouldn't hurt as much...plus it keeps it feeling special as well.
You won't see engines like this again that's for sure.
Ha ha. My little 140 is averaging 30.4 at the mo which includes some silliness and motorway cruising to work. I wouldn’t be seeing that in an M3.I'm starting to really fancy another now though and I wished at the time that I could have afforded to have it as a second/occasional car. That way the fuel costs wouldn't hurt as much...plus it keeps it feeling special as well.
You won't see engines like this again that's for sure.
Yep, we’re never going to see engines like this, especially not in saloon or normal(ish) coupes.
Thanks for all the positive comments.
As much as I love manuals, 3rd gear on the E9X M3 is north of 100 mph which was more of an influencer for me than the supposedly notchy shift.
I almost bought a 2008 M3 back in 2010, but I was doing 25k miles a year at that point and no amount of man maths could make that work. On top of the fuel, taking a 2 year old car from 20k miles to over 100k in 3 years meant that the projected depreciation was brutal.
I really need to do a separate Reader's Car thread on the Z1.
I remember sitting in one in BMW Cooper Reading when my Dad's E34 535i was in for a service. The car seemed space age at the time, even if 911s and E34 M5s were faster.
My Dad ended up buying this one around 95/96 from a collector with almost no miles on it. Amazingly he used as his only car for 2 years. In Switzerland. And while the retracting doors are cool, because the roof is narrower than the car, any rain or snow sitting on roof rapidly makes it's way onto your legs when you open the door. After the second winter he gave in and bought a E36 M3 Saloon :-)
Edited for grammar and spelling
cerb4.5lee said:
A great write up and I enjoyed reading that, such a lovely collection of cars too.
Enjoy the M3 and I will be following with interest!
Thanks :-) I know you didn't really gel with your M3, but I'll probably be doing less than 5k a year in this one, so some of the compromises that would grate in a daily hopefully won't affect me so much. Enjoy the M3 and I will be following with interest!
Court_S said:
Lovely.
I’ve got a real thing for the E9x M3. I always thought they sounded a bit weak compared to AMG and RS cars but the F series cars made me realise that these actually sound fab! Hindsight eh?
My uncle had an E90 which I drove a bit and loved; the DCT really does suit the engine and in its most aggressive setting it adds a fair bit of drama. These were top of my list but the running costs over 15k per year were probably a bit rich for me.
Enjoy.
The OEM exhaust is a bit quiet. Early days, but the 2 Pipe Mod really brings out the sound without (hopefully) being too obnoxious. I’ve got a real thing for the E9x M3. I always thought they sounded a bit weak compared to AMG and RS cars but the F series cars made me realise that these actually sound fab! Hindsight eh?
My uncle had an E90 which I drove a bit and loved; the DCT really does suit the engine and in its most aggressive setting it adds a fair bit of drama. These were top of my list but the running costs over 15k per year were probably a bit rich for me.
Enjoy.
As much as I love manuals, 3rd gear on the E9X M3 is north of 100 mph which was more of an influencer for me than the supposedly notchy shift.
I almost bought a 2008 M3 back in 2010, but I was doing 25k miles a year at that point and no amount of man maths could make that work. On top of the fuel, taking a 2 year old car from 20k miles to over 100k in 3 years meant that the projected depreciation was brutal.
cerb4.5lee said:
Croutons said:
More on the Z1 though please, always wanted one of them 
I was only 16/17 years old when I first saw one and I was blown away by it! That is now around 30 years ago for me and it has still left its mark on me. I remember sitting in one in BMW Cooper Reading when my Dad's E34 535i was in for a service. The car seemed space age at the time, even if 911s and E34 M5s were faster.
My Dad ended up buying this one around 95/96 from a collector with almost no miles on it. Amazingly he used as his only car for 2 years. In Switzerland. And while the retracting doors are cool, because the roof is narrower than the car, any rain or snow sitting on roof rapidly makes it's way onto your legs when you open the door. After the second winter he gave in and bought a E36 M3 Saloon :-)
Edited for grammar and spelling
Interesting read as I picked one up last week. So is the 2 pipe mod the one to go for? Like you I'd like a bit more noise but don't want it to be over bearing nor annoy the neighbours etc.
Is there anyone in particular who's favourite to do them, or would a fabricator etc be able?
Suspect I need to get myself over to m3cutters to work it all out.
Cheers
Is there anyone in particular who's favourite to do them, or would a fabricator etc be able?
Suspect I need to get myself over to m3cutters to work it all out.
Cheers
acme said:
Interesting read as I picked one up last week. So is the 2 pipe mod the one to go for? Like you I'd like a bit more noise but don't want it to be over bearing nor annoy the neighbours etc.
Is there anyone in particular who's favourite to do them, or would a fabricator etc be able?
Suspect I need to get myself over to m3cutters to work it all out.
Cheers
There's a 1.75, 2 and 2.5 pipe mod. To my ears they are all slightly too loud on cold start, but after that they settle down to a very nice burble. The 4 pipe mod is loud and IMHO would definitly annoy the neighbours.Is there anyone in particular who's favourite to do them, or would a fabricator etc be able?
Suspect I need to get myself over to m3cutters to work it all out.
Cheers
You profile says you're based in the South East. I had mine done by a guy in Surrey (I'll PM you his details) who did a great job.
My advice would be to meet up with someone who's had the mod done, I found it impossible to work out which one to go for based on youtube videos.
m3cutters is a great forum, but everyone seemed to have different opinion on which exhaust mod to go for.
ETA - you have PM's disabled. Drop me a PM and I can send you the details.
Edited by survivalist on Wednesday 24th July 14:42
Many thanks for the reply, and great advice re the mod, my experience on another car is that one man’s quiet is another’s boomy and annoying, and whilst I’d like a bit more noise I’m not in the mode of attracting attention to myself.
I am in the South East but based the other side of London in north Essex, will PM you though – I assume you’re Surrey based?
Interesting that you note re loud cold start as I have noted it does start with a fair old flare of revs, very soon idling.
Ideally it’s more intake and exhaust noise at speed I’m looking for, going under the radar the rest of the time is fine by me.
I am in the South East but based the other side of London in north Essex, will PM you though – I assume you’re Surrey based?
Interesting that you note re loud cold start as I have noted it does start with a fair old flare of revs, very soon idling.
Ideally it’s more intake and exhaust noise at speed I’m looking for, going under the radar the rest of the time is fine by me.
acme said:
Many thanks for the reply, and great advice re the mod, my experience on another car is that one man’s quiet is another’s boomy and annoying, and whilst I’d like a bit more noise I’m not in the mode of attracting attention to myself.
I am in the South East but based the other side of London in north Essex, will PM you though – I assume you’re Surrey based?
Interesting that you note re loud cold start as I have noted it does start with a fair old flare of revs, very soon idling.
Ideally it’s more intake and exhaust noise at speed I’m looking for, going under the radar the rest of the time is fine by me.
Cold start is always going to be loud, even more so with any of the exhaust mods. So if the neighbours curtains are already twitching it could be an issue.I am in the South East but based the other side of London in north Essex, will PM you though – I assume you’re Surrey based?
Interesting that you note re loud cold start as I have noted it does start with a fair old flare of revs, very soon idling.
Ideally it’s more intake and exhaust noise at speed I’m looking for, going under the radar the rest of the time is fine by me.
It's running a secondary air pump to warm up the primary cats, so mainly an emissions thing. It can be coded out as this is usually what people with a de-cat do as there are no longer any primary cats to warm up.
Can't see any reason why it couldn't be removed with the cats still in place, just means the cats take longer to warm up start doing their thing. Engine might have to be warm when you get an MOT though, as I imagine emissions will be higher when the car is initially started from cold.
survivalist said:
Cold start is always going to be loud, even more so with any of the exhaust mods. So if the neighbours curtains are already twitching it could be an issue.
It's running a secondary air pump to warm up the primary cats, so mainly an emissions thing. It can be coded out as this is usually what people with a de-cat do as there are no longer any primary cats to warm up.
Can't see any reason why it couldn't be removed with the cats still in place, just means the cats take longer to warm up start doing their thing. Engine might have to be warm when you get an MOT though, as I imagine emissions will be higher when the car is initially started from cold.
Fortunately my neighbours aren't that close, plus they're use to old noisey cars!It's running a secondary air pump to warm up the primary cats, so mainly an emissions thing. It can be coded out as this is usually what people with a de-cat do as there are no longer any primary cats to warm up.
Can't see any reason why it couldn't be removed with the cats still in place, just means the cats take longer to warm up start doing their thing. Engine might have to be warm when you get an MOT though, as I imagine emissions will be higher when the car is initially started from cold.
Interesting to hear re the cats, never heard that before but it does make sense.
As it's an AUC car I'd assume mods aren't particularly favoured, I do wonder if even the pipe mod is acceptable.
acme said:
survivalist said:
Cold start is always going to be loud, even more so with any of the exhaust mods. So if the neighbours curtains are already twitching it could be an issue.
It's running a secondary air pump to warm up the primary cats, so mainly an emissions thing. It can be coded out as this is usually what people with a de-cat do as there are no longer any primary cats to warm up.
Can't see any reason why it couldn't be removed with the cats still in place, just means the cats take longer to warm up start doing their thing. Engine might have to be warm when you get an MOT though, as I imagine emissions will be higher when the car is initially started from cold.
Fortunately my neighbours aren't that close, plus they're use to old noisey cars!It's running a secondary air pump to warm up the primary cats, so mainly an emissions thing. It can be coded out as this is usually what people with a de-cat do as there are no longer any primary cats to warm up.
Can't see any reason why it couldn't be removed with the cats still in place, just means the cats take longer to warm up start doing their thing. Engine might have to be warm when you get an MOT though, as I imagine emissions will be higher when the car is initially started from cold.
Interesting to hear re the cats, never heard that before but it does make sense.
As it's an AUC car I'd assume mods aren't particularly favoured, I do wonder if even the pipe mod is acceptable.
I’ve found both AUC and Insured Warranty’s to be very reasonable. My 335i has a Quaife LSD and Birds Anti-Roll Bars and they’ve still replaced suspension components under warranty.
Obviously if you do the 2 pipe mod and your backbox rusts/corrodes BMW won’t be funding a new one. But the risk is minimal and as the welds are on the side that faces the body they’re unlikely to notice.
On to the second mod.
In my OP I explained that one of the reasons for buying this car was the fact that it has a pair of rear seats ... and I have a pair of young children. Downside to the second point is that I think a pack of wild, feral dogs might be more forgiving on a car's interior.
While not nearly as nice as the Novillo leather on the M3, the Dakota leather is much more hardwearing and given that my kids are 18 months and (almost) 5 years it means that I'm stuck with car seats for a minimum of another 7 years.
Given the rarity of the Monte Carlo interior (it’s special edition and comes with blue detailing and stitching on seats to match the exterior colour), I didn't want to rely on finding another one, so wanted to ensure the one I have stays in good condition. I'm also planning on installing either M Performance Seats or some aftermarket bucket type seats.
I had planned on sourcing a 'regular' set of M3 rear seats, but these remained elusive and I didn't want to buy a whole interior. In the end I ended up buying at set of Dakota rear seats for a bargain price.
In the past I've removed seats to find a collection of ancient coppers, boiled sweets and worse, so was pleasantly surprised to find very little lurking below the rear seats.
Left side has been vacuumed, right side was as bad as it got.
Rear seats partially fitted:
All remaining seat bits fitted and kids seats installed:
This might all be temporary is that I was already in the process of sourcing a set of standard M3 rear seats and from an originality perspective a pair of plain black M3 Seats would be more authentic.
In my OP I explained that one of the reasons for buying this car was the fact that it has a pair of rear seats ... and I have a pair of young children. Downside to the second point is that I think a pack of wild, feral dogs might be more forgiving on a car's interior.
While not nearly as nice as the Novillo leather on the M3, the Dakota leather is much more hardwearing and given that my kids are 18 months and (almost) 5 years it means that I'm stuck with car seats for a minimum of another 7 years.
Given the rarity of the Monte Carlo interior (it’s special edition and comes with blue detailing and stitching on seats to match the exterior colour), I didn't want to rely on finding another one, so wanted to ensure the one I have stays in good condition. I'm also planning on installing either M Performance Seats or some aftermarket bucket type seats.
I had planned on sourcing a 'regular' set of M3 rear seats, but these remained elusive and I didn't want to buy a whole interior. In the end I ended up buying at set of Dakota rear seats for a bargain price.
In the past I've removed seats to find a collection of ancient coppers, boiled sweets and worse, so was pleasantly surprised to find very little lurking below the rear seats.
Left side has been vacuumed, right side was as bad as it got.
Rear seats partially fitted:
All remaining seat bits fitted and kids seats installed:
This might all be temporary is that I was already in the process of sourcing a set of standard M3 rear seats and from an originality perspective a pair of plain black M3 Seats would be more authentic.
Croutons said:
Excellent thinking there, well worth the effort!
Thanks for the validation :-) Pretty sure Mrs Survivalist think I’m nuts.Not to mention that the original interior is in the spare room while I clear storage space elsewhere which is earning me precisely zero brownie points.
Edited by survivalist on Friday 26th July 21:58
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