Talk me out of an E92 M3…

[c4sman]

Leon R said:

Very nice, can't believe how many e9x M3 owners there are on here now.

cerb4.5lee said:

Very nice and I love the colour The V8 sounds mint with the roof down, and I've always enjoyed driving my brother in laws with the roof down.

When he went out in my Coupe he thought it had a different engine under the bonnet...because it was so quiet in comparison to his! Enjoy it.

Thanks Both. Although the cab is completely against the M3 ethos, with this engine and as a car in it's own right, I thiink its superb. You don't have to be gunning it to know something special is sat under your right foot. So far so good!

MikeGoodwin said:

Hope you like it.

Have you polished BMW paint before? Even my Flex VRG DA isnt powerful enough to cut quickly. I prefer rotary for BMW.

My Monte Carlo is in good condition and that generally needs 2 hits of M105 and 1 finish with P1 to get it 98% corrected (thats with an IPA wipedown ready for a ceramic sealant).

Never really polished a BMW as the 330i was silver and always looked great just by adding wax. You sound way more advanced than I am but i have had a little go with applying Megs compound by hand and already seen some good results, so I think with the DA it will be more than enough for what I am hoping to get to. Not trying for perfection or 100% correction as it would then put me off using the car all year which is the intention. I just want to take the big defects out and initial signs are it will be straightforward. I am already feeling even better about it than the day it came as it is starting to look as shiny as one of my cars should and I am getting better at knowing how to drive it.

[c4sman]

tejr said:

Although its nothing like an E93, the coupe is worlds apart with the windows up vs windows down.. the E93 is another universe with the roof down though.

I can't help but drive with the windows dropped a little now. We are so used to driving with the windows up and aircon on in modern cars.

Agreed, I think modern cars are just so remote and I refinement can be too much of a good thing.

Buffy d said:

Nice work I just don't want to rush into anything - I've bought far too many cars on impulse so I want to take my time and I'm also going to be ultra-demanding and totally unwilling to compromise with any future purchase because this is going to be the most I've ever spent on a car and I want it to be exactly what I want and utterly perfect. I appreciate that might take me a bit longer to find the right car, but I'm willing to wait.

How's your search going Buffy d? Recommend you look at a few cars as you might be surprised by the reality of what you think you're looking for. I had ruled out Interlagos Blue, only to now know that 1/ I had never seen one in the flesh and 2/ that I love it!

Edited by c4sman on Wednesday 1st August 18:13

[c4sman]

Had my first chance to spend some quality time with the E93 today. I liked it a lot at first but now that i have had several hours in it I like it even more. Seems to be a great blend of practical, comfortable transport, that can transform into an exotic angry sports car as soon as you press a few buttons or just the accelerator. The colour is proving a hit not just with me but with passers by also.

Really not sure about what to do with the exhaust now as (and i think i am getting old) I quite like the stealthy cruising hush, then as you press on a little short shifting and using the torque as opposed to power there’s a nice subtle growl, and then if you head into the real power you get the V8 hammer time.

Bit worried about neighbours during cold start also if I mod the exhaust as it is quite full on already. Also surprised that the 19 inch wheels are growing on me now that I own one so no longer sure I will be spending on some competitions after all. I think the comp wheels suit coupes (more racy) whilst the standard 19s suit the cab (cruiser) especially with the Interlagos paint. I am sure there will be other views out there!

[Buffy d]

c4sman said:

How's your search going Buffy d? Recommend you look at a few cars as you might be surprised by the reality of what you think you're looking for. I had ruled out Interlagos Blue, only to now know that 1/ I had never seen one in the flesh and 2/ that I love it!

I've put it on hold for the moment because I go on holiday in 4 weeks' time for a week and didn't want to deal with the hassle of trying to juggle 3 cars before I went away on top of being very busy with work. But, I have promised myself that when I get back from holiday the serious search begins and I will be shopping for real. As I said before I am not willing to compromise on anything because this will be the most I've ever spent on a car and I want it to be perfect I love all blues on the M3, I also like Melbourne red and I will consider silver or grey but only with red leather. No blacks, whites or yellows for me. I actually think I might employ the services of Palmdale Motors for this hunt; I have one friend who has bought almost all his cars through them and has nothing but praise for them, and another friend who actually worked for them for a bit and also loves them. As much as I love hunting for cars I get the feeling they'll be able to do a better job than me, which is hard to say! But if they're as good as everyone says they are then I'm happy to let them do the legwork to find me the perfect car

[c4sman]

Buffy d said:

I've put it on hold for the moment because I go on holiday in 4 weeks' time for a week and didn't want to deal with the hassle of trying to juggle 3 cars before I went away on top of being very busy with work. But, I have promised myself that when I get back from holiday the serious search begins and I will be shopping for real. As I said before I am not willing to compromise on anything because this will be the most I've ever spent on a car and I want it to be perfect I love all blues on the M3, I also like Melbourne red and I will consider silver or grey but only with red leather. No blacks, whites or yellows for me. I actually think I might employ the services of Palmdale Motors for this hunt; I have one friend who has bought almost all his cars through them and has nothing but praise for them, and another friend who actually worked for them for a bit and also loves them. As much as I love hunting for cars I get the feeling they'll be able to do a better job than me, which is hard to say! But if they're as good as everyone says they are then I'm happy to let them do the legwork to find me the perfect car

I know what you mean, my buying experience with BMW wasn’t great, in fact it was awful. I only persisted as I thought the car was great value and in brilliant underlying condition which so far it is. I would go as far as to say that I was shocked by how what I thought was a premium brand behaved having bought new and used several times from Posrsche and Mercedes. The dealer I dealt with was nowhere near up to those standards and I think the last Ford dealer I dealt with felt more premium in terms of customer service.

[g3org3y]

Thread resurrection:

c4sman, how are you getting on with your E93 M3?

Any tips for purchase or must have features/spec you suggest? Seems like the DCT box suits the convertible?

[c4sman]

g3org3y said:

Thread resurrection:

c4sman, how are you getting on with your E93 M3?

Any tips for purchase or must have features/spec you suggest? Seems like the DCT box suits the convertible?

Hi there, I’m 15 months and 5k miles in and still loving it. Went for a 2 pipe mod last November which I’ve found to be a good balance of shouty when you go for it but subtle but definitely still there when not gunning it. Doesn’t mess with the induction and engine noise which remains special for a v8 (I’ve had quite a few). The car is definitely more a GT than a sports car due to weight, but when you push it holds itself together surprisingly well, but I think the DCT is the way to go. Suits both the GT type drive and the high reving engine. Would also go for EDC for the same reasons.

Engine isn’t that torquey low down, and with the weight you have to work it a little to go quickly, but I love the fact that it’s not a rocket ship.

Super fast modern turbo cars don’t interest me any more, and I prefer to get the roof off and listen to the epic downshifts from the DCT in manual aggressive mode

Costs so far have been £200 for the stealers to successfully fix a big roof rattle, new set of Contis on the back, an oil service and lots of tanks of V Power (it does like a drink). Doesn’t seem to use any oil which is encouraging. Overall it ticks the boxes I was looking for and sits well alongside my 997 GTS. Also when you find the right spot pressing the M button with everything set to max attack and finding a quiet but spacious roundabout or corner is a lot of fun. It doesn’t mind the odd drift .

Edit: make sure you get a decent drive with the roof up. You hear a lot more from roof and trim rattles with it up. Other than that I did notice the step up to LCI infotainment from my 330i and it feels a hell of a lot more modern so I would try for that. Although it’s out of date compared with the latest kit, it has everything you really need with streaming and Nav

Edited by c4sman on Sunday 6th October 13:16

[g3org3y]

Thank you for the reply, very helpful. Always useful to hear a real life ownership experience.

I am tending to the E93 rather then E92. LCI + DCT and it sounds like EDC is worth holding out for.

[cerb4.5lee]

g3org3y said:

it sounds like EDC is worth holding out for.

I think so and it gives the car that bit more flexibility. I used to enjoy setting the M button to full attack mode and with one press you really felt the car tighten up and it felt much more alive to me.

[c4sman]

cerb4.5lee said:

g3org3y said:

it sounds like EDC is worth holding out for.

I think so and it gives the car that bit more flexibility. I used to enjoy setting the M button to full attack mode and with one press you really felt the car tighten up and it felt much more alive to me.

Indeed. And in comfort mode and auto a nice cruiser with a great engine. Mine is a E93 BTW

[g3org3y]

Thanks chaps

LCI from 2010 (April?) from my understanding.

[c4sman]

Also on LCI after 15 months ownership I put my first CD in the slot on Sunday only to notice that the car started automatically ripping the CD onto a 12.5GB hard disk onboard with full name and genre info. Should get 80-100 albums on there I think. Who knew and how cool, bonus

Edited by c4sman on Monday 7th October 20:22

[cerb4.5lee]

c4sman said:

Also on LCI after 15 months ownership I put my first CD in the slot only to notice that the car started automatically ripping the CD onto a 12.5GB hard disk onboard. Should get 80-100 albums on there. Who knew and how cool

Yes and I filled mine up completely on the M3!

I was pleasantly surprised to find that my 370Z has the same feature too.

[g3org3y]

c4sman said:

Also on LCI after 15 months ownership I put my first CD in the slot on Sunday only to notice that the car started automatically ripping the CD onto a 12.5GB hard disk onboard with full name and genre info. Should get 80-100 albums on there I think. Who knew and how cool, bonus

V cool feature.

Any other rare or desirable features I should look out for?

I'm thinking that heated seats are essential (certainly make roof down driving in my Z4 more pleasant in all weathers).

[c4sman]

Most cabs seemed to have heated seats (as does mine) and they work great on a chilly roof down day.

[g3org3y]

c4sman said:

Most cabs seemed to have heated seats (as does mine) and they work great on a chilly roof down day.

Thanks, have noticed that. Also seems on the LCI models, the switch for these has been move up to the a/c panel. Definitely a nice feature in a convertible.

From my research it seems the Logic 7 stereo is a nice bonus addition if you can find one with it.

Now it's just a matter of finding one in the right spec and right colour. Thanks for your input.

[Buffy d]

Just thought I'd comment on my own resurrected thread to say that I've had my Monte Carlo Edition E92 for just over a year now and I couldn't be happier

[c4sman]

Buffy d said:

Just thought I'd comment on my own resurrected thread to say that I've had my Monte Carlo Edition E92 for just over a year now and I couldn't be happier

Congratulations!!!!!

[Babw]

I'd love to find a DCT E90 M3 saloon but they're like rocking horse st compared the coupe and vert. Planning to have a kid in the not so near future otherwise the E93 would have been great to go alongside the Z4M.

If anyone knows of a suitable E90 do let me know. Must have EDC, DCT, adaptive lights and heated seats. Colour not too concerned.

[cerb4.5lee]

Babw said:

I'd love to find a DCT E90 M3 saloon but they're like rocking horse st compared the coupe and vert. Planning to have a kid in the not so near future otherwise the E93 would have been great to go alongside the Z4M.

If anyone knows of a suitable E90 do let me know. Must have EDC, DCT, adaptive lights and heated seats. Colour not too concerned.

The E92 M3 still works well enough with children, the rear seats are roomy enough but appreciate that it isn't quite as easy to get them in and out as the E90 M3 though.