F80 M3 living with it
Discussion
I'm looking at getting at F80 M3 at some point, but just wanted to know what's it like to live with. I have a very short commute at the moment around 10 miles a day, I've got a Cupra 300 so wanted to know what the fuel costs were like.
What about the car itself, can it be a practical family car, we already have an X3 so it wouldn't be needed for any heavy lifting.
Just wanted to hear owners comments about it
What about the car itself, can it be a practical family car, we already have an X3 so it wouldn't be needed for any heavy lifting.
Just wanted to hear owners comments about it
6 weeks in for me and running in service done yesterday
Ride is firm in all settings but coming from an e46 m3 still acceptable!
However in sport plus suspension settings, pushing on not fully confident it’s not going to ping me into a field!
Car does feel big to start with, but getting used to it
Pretty nice place to be and boot fairly practical. Wife and kids happy in the car but not done a long trip yet. They certainly tell me seats are comfy
Car will happily sit in full auto, slowest gearbox setting and plod around town. 1000 miles in and getting 22mpg. Mixture of 5 minutes to office, 60 minutes drives to clients
Now able to exceed 4K revs so that’s pretty special
Ride is firm in all settings but coming from an e46 m3 still acceptable!
However in sport plus suspension settings, pushing on not fully confident it’s not going to ping me into a field!
Car does feel big to start with, but getting used to it
Pretty nice place to be and boot fairly practical. Wife and kids happy in the car but not done a long trip yet. They certainly tell me seats are comfy
Car will happily sit in full auto, slowest gearbox setting and plod around town. 1000 miles in and getting 22mpg. Mixture of 5 minutes to office, 60 minutes drives to clients
Now able to exceed 4K revs so that’s pretty special
I find it a very good practical car. I down sized from an M5 18 months ago to the F80 M3 and love it. Did a 1500 mile round trip from Kent to Scotland at Easter 4 up with luggage no problem. I seem to average better mpg than most as mine is averaging 30.5 mpg over the last 8000 miles. Seats are very comfortable. Boot is a good size for family unlike all the previous 3 series generations.
Only downside I can think of is quite a bit of tyre noise with MPSS tyres.
I’ve no idea what I’d replace it with at the moment so plan on keeping it until the new M3 is out.
Only downside I can think of is quite a bit of tyre noise with MPSS tyres.
I’ve no idea what I’d replace it with at the moment so plan on keeping it until the new M3 is out.
cosworth330 said:
I find it a very good practical car. I down sized from an M5 18 months ago to the F80 M3 and love it. Did a 1500 mile round trip from Kent to Scotland at Easter 4 up with luggage no problem. I seem to average better mpg than most as mine is averaging 30.5 mpg over the last 8000 miles. Seats are very comfortable. Boot is a good size for family unlike all the previous 3 series generations.
Only downside I can think of is quite a bit of tyre noise with MPSS tyres.
I’ve no idea what I’d replace it with at the moment so plan on keeping it until the new M3 is out.
4 adults? 1,500 miles and ample luggage room in a 3 series latest generation (F30 IIrC). They must be short adults and must pack small suitcases -the F10 5 series boot isn’t great and simply couldn’t take 4x medium sized suitcases (2medium plus hand luggage sure). Only downside I can think of is quite a bit of tyre noise with MPSS tyres.
I’ve no idea what I’d replace it with at the moment so plan on keeping it until the new M3 is out.
Yes luggage fitted fine, the boot was packed full. My wife has had various Volvo V70’s from 2002 upto 2016 which we always used as family car but as my kids are older and driving themselves she ordered a new Golf GTI in 2016 and we sold the V70. So we have always been used to having a huge estate car. The golf boot is tiny and certainly couldn’t be used for 4 on holiday. The F80 boot is actually a good size, as said before all previous 3 series I never considered as boot too small. We used it for a week in France with 4 people no problem as well.
JMBMWM5 said:
My only complaint was tyre roar on poor roads, yes the car rides a bit hard but acceptable , economy can be very good if you take it easy.
I had two F80's None CP and CP.
Are you sure it's tyre wear you are experiencing? I disconnected the stupid exhaust noise speaker in mine and it's certainly quieter at motorway speeds.I had two F80's None CP and CP.
I saw a M3 CP (an off white colour matt ish?) when walking today. He was driving it very slowly - cannot recall if it was a 66 or 67 reg car but the wheels looked very good - noise... well he was really pootling so it sounded a bit meh.
The 4 exit exhaust looked good and very E60/F10 M5 esque.
The 4 exit exhaust looked good and very E60/F10 M5 esque.
I've done 18k in mine since July last year (bought a new one, DCT CP). Use it for my daily urban, stop-start commute. Have done some Euro trips in it and West Coast Scotland, as well.
It's firm, but comfortable. I find the seats very supportive and happliy do 400-500 miles a day in one.
Commuting it's 23mpg, keeping with the flow of traffic on the motorway its 30mpg, B road blast 16-18mpg and on track 8mpg. Best I've ever had was 39mpg over 100 miles of 50-60mph motorway.
It's a really good, do everything car.
On track it's predictable, great front end and genuinely pretty fast.
Uses front tyres.more than you might think.
Mine came with MPSS from new, which were fine but needed care in wet/cold/greasy. Now fitted PS4S which feel very slightly softer sidewalled but less fussy on road condition.
Just had its first service (excluding running in), which came to the grand total of £270 at BMW.
Happy to answer any specifics.
It's firm, but comfortable. I find the seats very supportive and happliy do 400-500 miles a day in one.
Commuting it's 23mpg, keeping with the flow of traffic on the motorway its 30mpg, B road blast 16-18mpg and on track 8mpg. Best I've ever had was 39mpg over 100 miles of 50-60mph motorway.
It's a really good, do everything car.
On track it's predictable, great front end and genuinely pretty fast.
Uses front tyres.more than you might think.
Mine came with MPSS from new, which were fine but needed care in wet/cold/greasy. Now fitted PS4S which feel very slightly softer sidewalled but less fussy on road condition.
Just had its first service (excluding running in), which came to the grand total of £270 at BMW.
Happy to answer any specifics.
I've done 82,500 miles in the last 30 months from new, car has behaved perfectly zero issues not one never missed a beat, they love being driven.
On run you'll easily see 35mpg (a run to me to 100 miles+ one way) had 450 miles from a tank on a round trip, you'll see mid teens going for a blast and 20-22 round town if driving with the traffic rather than hooning through it.
Gets serviced every 6 months or thereabouts and the costs swap from £300 to £900 (ish) every other service. Tyres last forever I get 25k+ out of each set.
I have to say the more miles I put on it the better it gets, I've probably done more miles than most in the F80 so ask any questions you like, it's as practical as another other 3 series saloon.
On run you'll easily see 35mpg (a run to me to 100 miles+ one way) had 450 miles from a tank on a round trip, you'll see mid teens going for a blast and 20-22 round town if driving with the traffic rather than hooning through it.
Gets serviced every 6 months or thereabouts and the costs swap from £300 to £900 (ish) every other service. Tyres last forever I get 25k+ out of each set.
I have to say the more miles I put on it the better it gets, I've probably done more miles than most in the F80 so ask any questions you like, it's as practical as another other 3 series saloon.
AHUX said:
Wills2 said:
I've done 82,500 miles in the last 30 months from new, car has behaved perfectly zero issues not one never missed a beat, they love being driven.
that's some serious milage over a short period, you must spend a lot of time in the car. Nice car to do it in too!Wills2 said:
I've done 82,500 miles in the last 30 months from new, car has behaved perfectly zero issues not one never missed a beat, they love being driven.
On run you'll easily see 35mpg (a run to me to 100 miles+ one way) had 450 miles from a tank on a round trip, you'll see mid teens going for a blast and 20-22 round town if driving with the traffic rather than hooning through it.
Gets serviced every 6 months or thereabouts and the costs swap from £300 to £900 (ish) every other service. Tyres last forever I get 25k+ out of each set.
I have to say the more miles I put on it the better it gets, I've probably done more miles than most in the F80 so ask any questions you like, it's as practical as another other 3 series saloon
Is yours a Competition Pack car ? On run you'll easily see 35mpg (a run to me to 100 miles+ one way) had 450 miles from a tank on a round trip, you'll see mid teens going for a blast and 20-22 round town if driving with the traffic rather than hooning through it.
Gets serviced every 6 months or thereabouts and the costs swap from £300 to £900 (ish) every other service. Tyres last forever I get 25k+ out of each set.
I have to say the more miles I put on it the better it gets, I've probably done more miles than most in the F80 so ask any questions you like, it's as practical as another other 3 series saloon
I noted a comment on here recently about the press slating the early cars (primarily for being lairy due to the power delivery and questionable traction/stability control and suspect suspension settings (spring and damper rates) ?
A post on here seemed to indicate all these alleged "vices" had been addressed in one fell swoop with some software updates
Now call be a cynic, but I find that a bit hard to believe, all the moreso as the M division saw fit to release the Competition Pack ...I'm sorely tempted to change from my '63 plate F30 330D Msport auto into a £45k (ish) Competition Pack F80 M3. Your thoughts on the M3's civility (some appear to be saying that the ride is a bit on the firm side) it's alleged lairy behaviour and general day to day usability on a mixture of roads, A,B M/Ways etc, would be much appreciated
I’ve got a June 2016 non-CP (but post software update) M4 and find it a very practical daily drive. As others have said you can easily get 35 mpg on a run. Seats very comfy and ride is very acceptable (better than a normal 3 series on 19’’ runflats IMO). Main downsides are quite a lot of tyre roar (although normal 3 series suffers as this too) and the engine sounds awful (made worse still by the fake sound generator). Mine also came on MPSS which when they wore out I swooped for PS4S which are quieter but give less feedback. 
Slippydiff said:
Is yours a Competition Pack car ?
I noted a comment on here recently about the press slating the early cars (primarily for being lairy due to the power delivery and questionable traction/stability control and suspect suspension settings (spring and damper rates) ?
A post on here seemed to indicate all these alleged "vices" had been addressed in one fell swoop with some software updates Now call be a cynic, but I find that a bit hard to believe, all the moreso as the M division saw fit to release the Competition Pack ...
I'm sorely tempted to change from my '63 plate F30 330D Msport auto into a £45k (ish) Competition Pack F80 M3. Your thoughts on the M3's civility (some appear to be saying that the ride is a bit on the firm side) it's alleged lairy behaviour and general day to day usability on a mixture of roads, A,B M/Ways etc, would be much appreciated
But was the jurnos view based upon tracking it/hooming it and not actually driving it and living with it Day in Day outI noted a comment on here recently about the press slating the early cars (primarily for being lairy due to the power delivery and questionable traction/stability control and suspect suspension settings (spring and damper rates) ?
A post on here seemed to indicate all these alleged "vices" had been addressed in one fell swoop with some software updates
Now call be a cynic, but I find that a bit hard to believe, all the moreso as the M division saw fit to release the Competition Pack ...I'm sorely tempted to change from my '63 plate F30 330D Msport auto into a £45k (ish) Competition Pack F80 M3. Your thoughts on the M3's civility (some appear to be saying that the ride is a bit on the firm side) it's alleged lairy behaviour and general day to day usability on a mixture of roads, A,B M/Ways etc, would be much appreciated
AliMc99 said:
I’ve got a June 2016 non-CP (but post software update) M4 and find it a very practical daily drive. As others have said you can easily get 35 mpg on a run. Seats very comfy and ride is very acceptable (better than a normal 3 series on 19’’ runflats IMO). Main downsides are quite a lot of tyre roar (although normal 3 series suffers as this too) and the engine sounds awful (made worse still by the fake sound generator). Mine also came on MPSS which when they wore out I swooped for PS4S which are quieter but give less feedback.
The 19" wheels and runflats were removed 7 days into my ownership, to be replaced with 18" wheels and non-runflats ...I've just fitted SuperSports having run it on PS4's (not PS4S's) the SuperSports have waaaaay more grip, but don't ride as smoothly as the PS4's. But they all produce large amounts of tyre roar (as you say, I think it's an F30 or perhaps a BMW trait/characteristic).
How awful is the engine ? And what makes it sound awful ?
Slippydiff said:
The 19" wheels and runflats were removed 7 days into my ownership, to be replaced with 18" wheels and non-runflats ...
I've just fitted SuperSports having run it on PS4's (not PS4S's) the SuperSports have waaaaay more grip, but don't ride as smoothly as the PS4's. But they all produce large amounts of tyre roar (as you say, I think it's an F30 or perhaps a BMW trait/characteristic).
How awful is the engine ? And what makes it sound awful ?
M3/4 Do NOT come with Run Flat tyres, IF they were on it someone added them and good job you had no accedents as an inspector whould find them and NO Insurance cover. I've just fitted SuperSports having run it on PS4's (not PS4S's) the SuperSports have waaaaay more grip, but don't ride as smoothly as the PS4's. But they all produce large amounts of tyre roar (as you say, I think it's an F30 or perhaps a BMW trait/characteristic).
How awful is the engine ? And what makes it sound awful ?
JMBMWM5 said:
Slippydiff said:
The 19" wheels and runflats were removed 7 days into my ownership, to be replaced with 18" wheels and non-runflats ...
I've just fitted SuperSports having run it on PS4's (not PS4S's) the SuperSports have waaaaay more grip, but don't ride as smoothly as the PS4's. But they all produce large amounts of tyre roar (as you say, I think it's an F30 or perhaps a BMW trait/characteristic).
How awful is the engine ? And what makes it sound awful ?
M3/4 Do NOT come with Run Flat tyres, IF they were on it someone added them and good job you had no accedents as an inspector whould find them and NO Insurance cover. I've just fitted SuperSports having run it on PS4's (not PS4S's) the SuperSports have waaaaay more grip, but don't ride as smoothly as the PS4's. But they all produce large amounts of tyre roar (as you say, I think it's an F30 or perhaps a BMW trait/characteristic).
How awful is the engine ? And what makes it sound awful ?
The 19" runflats were fitted to my F30 330D Msport
As for insurance being voided if you fit runflats to a car normally equipped with non-runflats, it's an internet myth.
As long as the tyres are legal from a tread depth, construction, integrity and speed rating perspective, you're insured.
Thanks for all the responses, its testament to the car that people drive them as much as diesel and still get fairly good economy.
I'm currently in my lease and have just over a year to run so its a while yet, I'm hoping by then, to pick a year/ 18 months old one up.
I love the look of them and they sound like they are a cracking car.
With regards to the servicing why is there such a range of costs for servicing, someone said almost £900, whats the average?
I'm currently in my lease and have just over a year to run so its a while yet, I'm hoping by then, to pick a year/ 18 months old one up.
I love the look of them and they sound like they are a cracking car.
With regards to the servicing why is there such a range of costs for servicing, someone said almost £900, whats the average?
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