RE: The Long Read: BMW M3 CS
Discussion
The CS on the BMW stand at the FoS was priced at £95k so it’s even worse! Isn’t the Giulia Quadrofoglio the place to put you money? I specced one up even with the carbon bucket seats (£3.5k) and most options and it came up at £71k. They had a frozen silver Giulia special edition at FoS and it looked incredible.
Or a comp pack M3 with those CS wheels would also do the trick!
Or a comp pack M3 with those CS wheels would also do the trick!
Gus265 said:
The CS on the BMW stand at the FoS was priced at £95k so it’s even worse! Isn’t the Giulia Quadrofoglio the place to put you money? I specced one up even with the carbon bucket seats (£3.5k) and most options and it came up at £71k. They had a frozen silver Giulia special edition at FoS and it looked incredible.
Or a comp pack M3 with those CS wheels would also do the trick!
The GQ is a massively overhyped car in my view. Very disjointed. Or a comp pack M3 with those CS wheels would also do the trick!
Gus265 said:
The CS on the BMW stand at the FoS was priced at £95k so it’s even worse! Isn’t the Giulia Quadrofoglio the place to put you money? I specced one up even with the carbon bucket seats (£3.5k) and most options and it came up at £71k. They had a frozen silver Giulia special edition at FoS and it looked incredible.
Or a comp pack M3 with those CS wheels would also do the trick!
Depends what you’re looking for but given that the M3/4 CP is a better track car than the Alfa, I wouldn’t consider the Alfa to be competing against the CS regardless of price.Or a comp pack M3 with those CS wheels would also do the trick!
RB5_245 said:
For £89k a GTR will walk all over this as a drivers car. If you want a 'nice' sporty car then my money is on a 911T.
I looked at an M4 before, but it's priced in the wrong league on this one.
The GTR I’m sure will be quicker in most situations, but walk all over this as an actual drivers car??? Not a chance!I looked at an M4 before, but it's priced in the wrong league on this one.
gstubbs010893 said:
A good read Matt, think you've said what we all think though, not quite worth the money over a regular Comp Pack. For the money I'd have a standard Comp Pack and a stripped track car, pretty sure most would too.
CS does look the NUTS though.
Thanks! Yeah, it's very hard to justify. Suspect those wheel and tyres might make a big difference to a Comp Pack, too.CS does look the NUTS though.
Matt
philmots said:
The GTR I’m sure will be quicker in most situations, but walk all over this as an actual drivers car??? Not a chance!
Quicker in all situations. I test drove an M4 when they were launched, nearly bought one, and again last year with intent to buy one. I test drove a GTR, since 'why not' the Nissan dealer was across the road. I've never been a big fan of the GTR up until I drove it, and ordered one the same day. In terms of a drivers car, every single facet is better in the GTR. It's more nimble, more stable, more confident, better steering, better feedback, more brake feel and understandably the engine is in a completely different league. Traction control was battering away and killing power while hardly pushing on in the BMW, steering is dead and weird feeling, it tramlines too much and it's too twitchy at the back. I enjoyed it, still liked it and I still do, but it's not half the car the Nissan is.Up until now it was never a consideration, the GT-R is 20k more expensive than I would have spent on an M4. It's not a fair comparison. The CS is though, and I'm also on the lookout for the next replacement. Some nice wheels and a bit of Alcantara aren't going to cut it in this company. I guess they'll sell well to look good outside an office in London, which is a bit of a shame really.
philmots said:
RB5_245 said:
For £89k a GTR will walk all over this as a drivers car. If you want a 'nice' sporty car then my money is on a 911T.
I looked at an M4 before, but it's priced in the wrong league on this one.
The GTR I’m sure will be quicker in most situations, but walk all over this as an actual drivers car??? Not a chance!I looked at an M4 before, but it's priced in the wrong league on this one.
Alpinestars said:
The GQ is a massively overhyped car in my view. Very disjointed.
I tend to agree with your POV on most things across the broad church that is PH, however on this occasion I beg to differ.Interested to hear why you feel that way and what experiences led you to that conclusion.
Brooking10 said:
I tend to agree with your POV on most things across the broad church that is PH, however on this occasion I beg to differ.
Interested to hear why you feel that way and what experiences led you to that conclusion.
Interested to hear why you feel that way and what experiences led you to that conclusion.
This led me to the conclusion. Excuse the rubbish photo.
Starting with the basics. The steering is too quick for this type of car. It suits the Ferraris and TVRs, but not something that is really a posh daily.
The brakes are the worst I’ve ever come across. Electric rather than hydraulic? No feel, very on off, and you never know when they are going to bite. Especially on slow manoeuvres like parking.
The driving modes are really badly thought out. In anything but sport, it changes up too quickly, so when you decide you want to make a move, it has to think about it before it drops cogs. Just way too slow witted. The only mode where the box feels good is the sportiest setting. The problem with that is that it turns ESP off. So if you want a sporty box, you’re on your own vis a vis traction. Very silly.
The diff is very inconsistent. Allowing slip sometimes and no or little slip at others. Which makes you feel like you don’t know where you stand, until something happens, or doesn’t.
A really poor and incoherent car. I know most journos disagree with me, but hey ho, I’m not here to sell it, or my views.
On the plus side, it looks awesome, especially in red, and sounds good.
Alpinestars said:
Brooking10 said:
I tend to agree with your POV on most things across the broad church that is PH, however on this occasion I beg to differ.
Interested to hear why you feel that way and what experiences led you to that conclusion.
Interested to hear why you feel that way and what experiences led you to that conclusion.
This led me to the conclusion. Excuse the rubbish photo.
Starting with the basics. The steering is too quick for this type of car. It suits the Ferraris and TVRs, but not something that is really a posh daily.
The brakes are the worst I’ve ever come across. Electric rather than hydraulic? No feel, very on off, and you never know when they are going to bite. Especially on slow manoeuvres like parking.
The driving modes are really badly thought out. In anything but sport, it changes up too quickly, so when you decide you want to make a move, it has to think about it before it drops cogs. Just way too slow witted. The only mode where the box feels good is the sportiest setting. The problem with that is that it turns ESP off. So if you want a sporty box, you’re on your own vis a vis traction. Very silly.
The diff is very inconsistent. Allowing slip sometimes and no or little slip at others. Which makes you feel like you don’t know where you stand, until something happens, or doesn’t.
A really poor and incoherent car. I know most journos disagree with me, but hey ho, I’m not here to sell it, or my views.
On the plus side, it looks awesome, especially in red, and sounds good.
Alpinestars said:
Helicopter123 said:
Always good to hear from owners prepared to be so honest with their cars.
This be fair, I don’t think the f8x M series cars are that good either. Struggle for traction, awful EPAS, and a sound that’s a bit too gratuitous. But better than the Alfa.
The F8x I had was the most disappointing performance car I have ever owned and the worst facet of it by a distance was the steering which was just horrible. I loved the steering in the Alfa and thought it was almost as good as that in a McLaren or Lotus and the engine and exhaust note easily has the beating of the BMW I recognise some of the other failings you point out though albeit I expect they become exacerbated in a daily urban environment. I didn’t ever have any diff issues other than an overheating message after very hard driving.
Overall I do think the GQ is a very special if a little flawed car. Sadly mine broke. A lot.
Edited by anonymous-user on Monday 16th July 14:28
Brooking10 said:
Here’s where I disagree
The F8x I had was the most disappointing performance car I have ever owned and the worst facet of it by a distance was the steering which was just horrible. I loved the steering the Alfa and thought it was almost as good as that in a McLaren or Lotus and the engine and exhaust note easily has the beating of the BMW style beating I recognise some of the other failings you point out though albeit I expect they become exacerbated in a daily urban environment. I didn’t ever have any diff issues other than an overheating message after very hard driving.
Overall I do think the GQ is a very special if a little flawed car. Sadly mine broke. A lot.
I think there’s a level of agreement there. Steering on F8x cars is generally awful. Much better on the GTS/DTM. Noise is just too artificial. Alfa steering was much better, but didn’t really suit the nature of the car. There was nothing wrong with the diff from a mechanical perspective, it is just inconsistent. The F8x I had was the most disappointing performance car I have ever owned and the worst facet of it by a distance was the steering which was just horrible. I loved the steering the Alfa and thought it was almost as good as that in a McLaren or Lotus and the engine and exhaust note easily has the beating of the BMW style beating I recognise some of the other failings you point out though albeit I expect they become exacerbated in a daily urban environment. I didn’t ever have any diff issues other than an overheating message after very hard driving.
Overall I do think the GQ is a very special if a little flawed car. Sadly mine broke. A lot.
I forgot to add about damping. Which again I don’t think is very good.
I'm toying with the idea of buying an M3, and have had my eyes on the CS version of the current F80 model.
Used prices are about 30% down from their crazy list price at new, with cars listed around £60k with sub 10k miles on the clock.
Do you think that the F80 M3 CS is now a good buy, even a future classic, or has it still got a long way to go?...
Used prices are about 30% down from their crazy list price at new, with cars listed around £60k with sub 10k miles on the clock.
Do you think that the F80 M3 CS is now a good buy, even a future classic, or has it still got a long way to go?...
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