The best m3?

The best m3?

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Discussion

daviekiwi

Original Poster:

164 posts

204 months

Friday 9th August 2019
quotequote all
What the verdict on the the best m3/4 of all five generations?

1 e30 great looks, a screamer.
2 e46 best balance of old and new?
3 f80 rapid and newish
4 e36 hang on! to the rear.
5 e92 sounds awesome! a cruiser?

pidsy

7,958 posts

156 months

Friday 9th August 2019
quotequote all
E46 for me.

I miss mine far more than I should.

IanJ9375

1,467 posts

215 months

Friday 9th August 2019
quotequote all
6 "The one you currently own" - I guess this would be the winner lol

anonymous-user

53 months

Friday 9th August 2019
quotequote all
Quite different from end to end. I love the E30 for totally different reasons to the F80.

daviekiwi

Original Poster:

164 posts

204 months

Friday 9th August 2019
quotequote all
IanJ9375 said:
6 "The one you currently own" - I guess this would be the winner lol
clap unless your on pcp!

IanJ9375

1,467 posts

215 months

Friday 9th August 2019
quotequote all
daviekiwi said:
clap unless your on pcp!
7. The one you currently Loan? lol

T-bagger

446 posts

203 months

Friday 9th August 2019
quotequote all
I can’t help but feel (hope) that the E36 is underrated. A good blend of classic and modern.


cerb4.5lee

30,177 posts

179 months

Friday 9th August 2019
quotequote all
The E36 has always been my favourite overall, but I really want the F80 for its performance.

E30...too slow/only a 4 cylinder.
E36...just right for me and I've always been a fan.
E46...a horrible engine noise for me/a tad overrated.
E92...too heavy/too cruiser/poor torque to weight.
F80...awesome performance and torque/questionable noise.

JJ55

648 posts

114 months

Friday 9th August 2019
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E46 for the more modern stuff. My heart would want an E30 though cloud9

chow pan toon

12,356 posts

236 months

Friday 9th August 2019
quotequote all
Definitely number 6.

E30 Never driven but I imagine would feel very outdated.
E36 quick enough but a bit meh
E46 Maybe I only drove bottom of the market ones when I was in the market last and ended up with my 350z but I wasn't impressed.
F80 I couldn't put up with the racket they make and don't want a diesel like power delivery

E92 An engine you have to spank that rewards you for doing it, comes back for more and sounds glorious doing it cloud9

skylarking808

778 posts

85 months

Friday 9th August 2019
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E36; my era (so not really objective), and perhaps I also like it's the underated one.

Analogue with just about usable limits.

Would not mind that lovely V8 though wink

The best M3 though is the one you own, that you can afford to maintain/keep, that has not been thrashed by somebody else!

g3org3y

20,606 posts

190 months

Saturday 10th August 2019
quotequote all
Worth watching the really great Carfection videos about all the generations of M3:

Part 1 E30 M3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAcSYTuzst0
Part 2 E36 M3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-JFmjxu8f4
Part 3 E46 M3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_ifIha9vAc
Part 4 E92 M3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVY-70icub4
Part 5 F80 M4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdvZvjrZqIU
Part 6 Which is best: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiqdUW2JyBE

anonymous-user

53 months

Saturday 10th August 2019
quotequote all
chow pan toon said:
F80 I couldn't put up with the racket they make and don't want a diesel like power delivery
The power delivery is anything but diesel like. It builds as it revs, over 7000rpm, which is not just un-diesel, but also quite un-turbo.

russy01

4,693 posts

180 months

Saturday 10th August 2019
quotequote all
chow pan toon said:
Definitely number 6.

E30 Never driven but I imagine would feel very outdated.
E36 quick enough but a bit meh
E46 Maybe I only drove bottom of the market ones when I was in the market last and ended up with my 350z but I wasn't impressed.
F80 I couldn't put up with the racket they make and don't want a diesel like power delivery

E92 An engine you have to spank that rewards you for doing it, comes back for more and sounds glorious doing it cloud9
Clearly hasn’t driven an F80.

Leon R

3,182 posts

95 months

Saturday 10th August 2019
quotequote all
cerb4.5lee said:
The E36 has always been my favourite overall, but I really want the F80 for its performance.

E30...too slow/only a 4 cylinder.
E36...just right for me and I've always been a fan.
E46...a horrible engine noise for me/a tad overrated.
E92...too heavy/too cruiser/poor torque to weight.
F80...awesome performance and torque/questionable noise.
You know the E92 has the second highest torque to weight ratio right?

cerb4.5lee

30,177 posts

179 months

Saturday 10th August 2019
quotequote all
Leon R said:
You know the E92 has the second highest torque to weight ratio right?
Yes and I personally thought that the torque to weight ratio was poor compared to other cars I'd had that's all. 295 ib/ft is plenty in fairness in isolation.

I've always blamed the torque...but I guess that the real problem is max power being at 8300rpm and that makes it feel so weak lower down in the revs.

I would love that engine in a much lighter car without question though. The S65 engine in the the E30 M3 would be right up my street! smokin

Edited by cerb4.5lee on Saturday 10th August 10:01

cerb4.5lee

30,177 posts

179 months

Saturday 10th August 2019
quotequote all
As time has gone by I'm now really warming to the E9x M3 again though, and my mistake was using it as a daily. On my commute it just led to massive frustration for me(17mpg and not being able to use the performance).

I'm very tempted now with a E93 M3 as an occasional car though, because you can really enjoy the engine/exhaust noise with the roof down. The Coupe is very muted in the cabin exhaust wise but you do get the lovely induction noise though for sure.

Wills2

22,666 posts

174 months

Saturday 10th August 2019
quotequote all
There is no best M3, other than the one you think is best, I'd have to choose my frozen silver edition e92 CP as the best M3 out of the 4 I've had across e46/e92/F80.


bmwmike

6,918 posts

107 months

Saturday 10th August 2019
quotequote all
Is it just me, or does anyone else find torque comments strange ? After all that's what gearboxes are for. Lack of power can be a legit complaint. Lack of torque though hmm, really? Or is the issue really down to poorly matched gearing to engine revs?

Wills2

22,666 posts

174 months

Saturday 10th August 2019
quotequote all
bmwmike said:
Is it just me, or does anyone else find torque comments strange ? After all that's what gearboxes are for. Lack of power can be a legit complaint. Lack of torque though hmm, really? Or is the issue really down to poorly matched gearing to engine revs?
Yes, but Lee has form for that POV and I've told him he's wrong many times, but don't bother now. biggrin

I never thought the S65 was lacking at any RPM as the gear box sorts that out as you say, the S65 was a very tractable engine with incredibly long legs and a razor sharp response thanks to those 8 ITBs, just tickling it in 3rd from 3k was a joy to me.

When I had my frozen silver edition there was another one local to me (only made a 100 for the UK) and he still has it and every time I see it I wish I still had mine.