E92 M3 Competition Pack

[RS Grant]

pangj1 said:

Awesome write up Grant! So glad that I came across this thread since it has answered a lot of my questions and the comparison with your golf r is making for an interesting read, and is relatable coming from an audi s3 8v. However, I would be after one with DCT having come from the s3 having DSG. I have been doing my research on the e92 m3 and trawling through Autotrader/Pistonheads for a good example, specifically looking for one which has low mileage, DCT and with the EDC function. I have now had the s3 for just over 3 years and covered 18k miles. I'm just a bit bored of it, and find it a bit soulless. Agree completely when you say that there was no real excitement from a 2l turbo producing 300bhp, i'm all for the noise too! I had the s3 lowered on h&r springs and ran a Milltek non res catback exhaust on it, which kept me amused for an additional 12 months or so, but those days are over. Hope you are still enjoying your car!

Jas

I'm glad that the thread has been useful for you as well Jas. If you're looking for a little more soul/noise/involvement then I'd be extremely surprised if you didn't enjoy the switch from your S3 to an E92 M3... good luck with your search, I would also include the classifieds on the M3Cutters forum in your searches as there are usually members looking to sell.

[RS Grant]

SiT said:

So its the New Year, what does it hold for the M3 Grant??

Si

That's an interesting question actually, I'm currently going through the usual 'classified scanning during the winter when my cars are off the road' period and while I really like the idea of a few things I'm not sure whether there is actually anything that I'd enjoy as much as the M3 after the initial new car honeymoon period wore off.

So as far as the M3 goes, I'm not sure there is much else I need to do with it rather than enjoy it. I've also come to really like the contrast of the Recaro seats too, so even if I could find someone to retrim them in Fox Red, I don't know if I would actually do it now.

I think I'll order the short shift kit I mentioned before and of course there are other modifications which I'd be tempted with; 18" wheels/sticky tyres, uprated suspension and if I was feeling really silly, a supercharger kit. However, I'll be more than happy with the car even if I do none of those things because it really is a great package now. I'm hopefully going back to Spa and Nurburgring again this year and I think I will take the M3 again rather than anything else I've got because it's such a great all rounder.

[RS Grant]

Well the winter hibernation is finally over and with a fresh MOT and a tank of fuel it took me about 2.4 seconds to remember why I love this car so much.

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr

The friend I've got who takes photos got in touch one evening and asked me if I had anything that I could bring down and meet him that night because he wanted to play with his new flashes and test out their capabilities. So I gave the M3 a quick wash and went down to see him... here is the result:

57503180_452516675518490_6732261069252722688_n by Grant F, on Flickr

...I wish I'd given the glass a quick wipe before he took the pictures now!

[RS Grant]

SiT said:

Still looks amazing!!!! What have you been driving whilst it’s been in hibernation?

I am now officially car-less and an E9x is firmly on the short list!

Si

I bought myself an E91 320d Sport Plus that I've been using, it's an absolutely great car and although similar to the M3 in some ways, it's wildly different in others!

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr

Back to the E92; I've actually been writing an advert for it, deleting it, writing it etc for the past few days!!

I'm going through a stage where I decided to have a bit of a shake up of the cars I've got and the cars I actually need. It was prompted by a property purchase and started with 'I'll stick a couple up for sale' and then escalated to the point where I thought that maybe throwing everything up for sale would be the correct way to go; so it might be time to wave goodbye to the big V8.... if I can get to the point of actually writing the advert that is.

[RS Grant]

Rhys-zzaud said:

Looking great, I have the same car E92 Comp pack in that colour. Love the thing. Just wish I could use it a bit more!!!

My car is standard apart from 2 pip exhaust mod. Anything you would recommend?

Hmm, it really depends what you use your car for (when you get the chance!!) and what you're into, be it looks/performance.

I love the MPerformance carbon extras fitted to my car, I think it lifts it above a normal E92 and they all tie in really well with the carbon fibre roof as well. The MPerformance steering wheel is something which is a complete extravagance (especially if you have a DCT with shift lights as standard!) but it gets a lot of comments from both car friends and 'normal' friends too. It's also really nice to hold, so a switch to an alcantara steering wheel of some sort would be a recommendation too.

Performance-wise, I've not done a great deal really. The exhaust mod is a 110% must as far as I'm concerned, it changes the whole experience for the better. A BMC drop in filter gives a little extra induction roar, which is no bad thing at all.

The other stuff which I've done, the Recaro CS' and AP Brakes have both made a big difference but they're not cheap upgrades. I mean that you've got to really want to improve the braking and/or be a bit of an aesthetic gimp like me to go for a front and back AP set up; the same goes for the seats too, you've got to really want some Recaro seats to set aside the cash for them/mounts/runners.

End of the day the driving position of the standard seats isn't bad in the slightest and with some uprated parts/fluid the standard brakes will perform fine for the vast majority of people too, so while I recommend the changes I've done, there's no need to buy them... unlike the BMC filter/exhaust mod, which are no brainers for the difference-per-pound that they make.

[RS Grant]

I can only agree with what you guys are saying regarding the sound, the difference that the simple exhaust mod made to the whole experience was enormous.

I've read that some people think the sound is possibly not as polished as an aftermarket exhaust system and I'm not sure about whether that is accurate or not, all I know is that my car sounds amazing and I have absolutely zero regrets about doing the 2-pipe mod. I would absolutely recommend it to anybody who hasn't got it done... an exhaust modification/upgrade of any kind releases the V8 note which is lacking as standard.

[RS Grant]

Smokey32 said:

Just read the lot, what a lovely M3. Awesome mods as well. Have you thought about a decat and remap and eventuri intake at Evolve? Long trip for you, but they get some decent gains..............

Love the early pics with the Forth bridge. Still makes my jaw drop seeing that bridge, its an amazing feat of engineering. The M3's not bad as well! lol

Gotta comment on the mag article though. Dunno what the dude who wrote it was smoking but he said the brakes on the M4 were 19" which is 480mm.

I have considered that package from Evolve, however (providing the car remains with me, which in all liklihood it will) I'm not sure about which direction to go with the car. There are a few options which I'm considering and I'm gonna go through them all in my next post.. but there is a bit more reading for me to do before I decide to go one way or t'other!!

I've taken a LOT of pictures of this car, however I think the photos I took at the Forth Rail Bridge on my first day of ownership are still my favourites too.

Haha I don't think I'd actually noticed the comment about 19" brake discs before you mentioned it ...that's brilliant, it'd be impressive squeezing 19" discs under 20" wheels or 19" wheels on non-CP cars.

[RS Grant]

MAB85 said:

Nice car and pictures, the exhaust sounds perfect too.

I'm surprised there are many (any?) E9* M3 left without modified exhausts, haha.. It's a bit of a no-brainer modification and really releases the V8 noise to whatever degree you fancy given there are different levels of OEM mod/noise you can go for depending on how much is changed within the backbox.

[RS Grant]

RS Grant said:

Back to the E92; I've actually been writing an advert for it, deleting it, writing it etc for the past few days!!

I'm going through a stage where I decided to have a bit of a shake up of the cars I've got and the cars I actually need. It was prompted by a property purchase and started with 'I'll stick a couple up for sale' and then escalated to the point where I thought that maybe throwing everything up for sale would be the correct way to go; so it might be time to wave goodbye to the big V8.... if I can get to the point of actually writing the advert that is.

As I mentioned above, I had been considering the possibility of moving the M3 onto pastures new... this is going to be another wordy one I'm afraid!!

It was prompted by a couple of people contacting me out of the blue and asking if I would consider selling the car, with one bloke in particular sounding very keen indeed. It also coincided with be being in the final stages of buying a property which will require some work post-purchase and the fact that things have got a wee bit out of control with the number of cars I've got at the moment. I thought that thinning down the 'fleet' (hate that term..) was a sensible way to go and taking the paths of least resistance and choosing the cars that will be easiest to sell would be the way to go and least hassle for me.

My initial plan was to sell off a few vehicles and buy something quick, new/nearly new and warranty'd up to remove any car related stress if any issues should arise while I'm concentrating on getting the house sorted out.

I had a bit of an issue being a manual diehard because most newer performance stuff is off the table for me since it's almost exclusively PDK, DSG, DCT, ZF equipped automatic cars which are specified from new... that's even if manual gearboxes were an option in the first place!! However I found a lovely 2018 M3 Competition Pack at a dealership local to myself which had a good specification, was a nice colour and had the all important manual gearbox.. so I went for a look/drive of it.. and subsequently left a deposit on it.

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr

...the aim was to have the mortgage stuff all done and dusted in plenty of time, so I could then get the car stuff sorted out and have plenty of time to relax and plan the move/post purchase work at my leisure. Well fast forward over 6 weeks and I'm due to collect the keys on Wednesday and due to many annoying factors outwith my control; I don't yet have the mortgage tied up. Therefore I pulled out of the deal because I didn't feel right having the dealership holding on for an unspecified length of time (which was completely out of my control) and to be honest, I had more important things to concentrate on too.

I have thought about it and while I'm a bit disappointed, I'm not unhappy at the thought of keeping the E92 at all. I've done some great upgrades to it so far and have reached a wee bit of a cross roads with the car. I mentioned in a post earlier today that there have been different options which I am considering, so I'll list them for anyone who is still following this journey.


Option 1: Primary Decat, Carbon Fibre Intake and Remap at Evolve plus KW Clubsport Coilovers: £991 Stage 2 Package ( Click For Details/Graphs) + £799 Carbon Intake ( Click For Details) + £549.60 Carbon Airbox Lid ( Click For Details) + £2100 KW Clubsport Coilovers ( Click For Details)

Option 2: Primary Decat, Carbon Fibre Plenum, Carbon Fibre Intake and Remap at Evolve plus KW Clubsport Coilovers: £991 Stage 2 Package ( Click For Details/Graphs) + £1650 Plenum ( Plenum Details) + £799 Carbon Intake ( Click For Details) + £549.60 Carbon Airbox Lid ( Click For Details) + £2100 KW Clubsport Coilovers ( Click For Details)

Option 3: KW Clubsport Coilovers, BMW Motorsport 4.1 Final Drive and Wavetrac LSD: £TBC (initial research suggests £3500-£4000) + £2100 KW Clubsport Coilovers ( Click For Details)

Option 4: ESS Supercharger Conversion, Rod Bearings and KW Clubsport Coilovers at AReeve Performance: £10100 ESS Kit & Bearings ( Click For Details/Graphs) + £2100 KW Clubsport Coilovers ( Click For Details)

Option 5: KW Clubsport Coilovers and BMW Comprehensive Warranty: £2100 KW Clubsport Coilovers ( Click For Details) + £1450 for first year warranty, with a c20% reduction to c£1160 for year 2, year 3, etc.


As you can see, there are plenty of ideas rattling around in my head!!

Options 1-3 would require an additional cost of a Rod Bearing upgrade which would be in the region of £1400 because once modified past that point, even if I put a BMW Warranty on the car then performance tuning would render that policy pretty much void and waste my money.

Option 1 would make some difference to the way the car drove, but enough to notice it on the road, I'm unsure.. the increase in headline figures aren't massive, however I know it's more about the entire rev range rather than peak power so maybe I'm being unfair. I'm also not sure about increasing the level of volume withe decatting the exhaust (secondaries are still in place and apparently fine for an MOT pass) will make... I don't want to ruin the experience and create a crazy loud car.

I have the same concerns for Option 2, however, the increase of induction noise generated by the Carbon Fibre Plenum is apparently quite something. I'm in a Whatsapp group chat with Ryan who owns the car in this video below and he has helped develop this plenum and said that the noise difference is amazing... along the lines of an E46 CSL-esque howl from the V8, which is something I could definitely get on board with!! I'll throw up a couple of pictures of the plenum and stick a link to the video that Evolve made: YouTube E92 'CSL' Vibes.

carbon by Grant F, on Flickr
40728581313_5956b4f06a_h by Grant F, on Flickr
40728580913_c22906469e_h by Grant F, on Flickr

I've got an EP3 Type R just now which has a shorter final drive, which is what led me to start looking into Option 3. There have been a few threads that I've managed to find regarding E46 M3 which have switched to a shorter final drive, with all owners reporting a real difference in urgency and increase in acceleration. It's not that I find the E92 M3 slow; but the manual gear ratios seem to be really quite long, motorway speed limit at the top of 2nd gear and into 3 figures at the limiter in 3rd gear... so I was wondering if reducing that may be a nice way to keep the car behaving how I like it, but with a little extra zing. The estimated costs include a replacement diff (I'd want to keep my original part OEM) and I included a replacement LSD in the cost because it makes (man math-ish) sense to get that switched out at the same time that I did the FD.

The big issue with Option 4 is obviously the eye watering expense that it brings with it!! I'd worry about using it hard for an extended period given it's running ~200bhp more than it was designed to use, because getting stung for an engine rebuild post-supercharging would really stretch my man maths and temper. I'm not totally sure that I'd want the car having c600-620bhp either, it sounds like a BIG jump from the currently power level to me and I wouldn't want to ruin the way that the car behaves or drives... on the flip side, I wouldn't want to spend all that money and not feel a big difference, so I'm kinda snookered either way!!

Obviously the easiest path to take would be Option 5 and I'm led to believe that BMW are quite sensible (although would 100% double check/get confirmation in writing) and wouldn't reject a claim for an issue which wasn't directly related to my current modifications to brakes and seats and planned suspension kit. Therefore I would be covering myself for any future throttle actuator issues, rod bearing failures etc and continue to enjoy the car as-is. The slight downside with a BMW Warranty for me is the fact that they won't replace the rod bearings as a preventative measure, instead waiting until they've failed and quite possibly requiring an entirely brand new engine.

I'd be keen to hear from anyone who has considered/waded into any of these options and can give me some feedback about how their car is, how they feel about value for money and any downsides they might see?

Anyway, there we have it... lots of words and very few pictures but hopefully a decent update to bring us up to present day after a quiet winter hibernation!!

[RS Grant]

st33ly said:

Lovely! M3 Comp Manual. However, I'm relieved to see you pulled out and have kept the E92. Loving the continued modding plans. They look fantastic.

Yeah it's quite a rare beast, apparently only ~40 F80 M3 Competitions were built... although not quite as exclusive as the 22 manual E92 M3 Competition Pack cars.

I'm looking forward to taking the E92 a wee bit further and depending on how I get on with the new place and if I can make my mind up about which way to go, then I would ideally like it done prior to this years Ring/Spa trip in September/October... but we'll see how it goes.

[RS Grant]

Court_S said:

That M3 Comp did look stunning in that colour. I think they look great but they sound horrible to my ears.

Your current M3 looks stunning and has a stonking engine that they’ll never build again.

Definitely agree on the sounds, the F80 (standard or Competition) sound broken on cold start.. and pretty average when driving. Although on the inside (with a bit of electronic/speaker trickery) they sound great, so it's just the people you're driving past who are offended.

I agree, the E92 is a 'last of the..' car with it's dirty, high emission, high revving N/A V8 engine.

[RS Grant]

Zarco said:

I like the bit in that Evolve vid where they demonstrate how the new LSD makes the car so controllable by oversteering it into the verge.

Hahaha, loved that bit too.. I assume that it was the lethal combination of cold Cup 2s and the excitement of being filmed.

Here is a shortcut for anyone who doesn't have the time to watch the entire video: Click Here

[RS Grant]

MikeGoodwin said:

Drove my mates F30 comp this weekend. DCT, H&Rs and a geo, aftermarket exhaust, lots of carbon.

Fast and big numbers when I was looking at the hud as I was hammering it down some Yorkshire b-roads, but fk me it lacks that top end fizz the S65 has (and even the K20 my Integra DC5). But I was surprised and pleased with how well the turn in felt and the overall dynamics of the car. Not what I expected at all and actually much better than the E92

Dont know how you can even consider an F30 when you have that V8 though, not joking either, I can only assume its a status or looks thing. Also whats with MDM in the comp it was so restrictive.

The E92s need some modification I think, Id have another but base spec model with:

Full Bushing refresh
Carbon Intake
Primary Cats removed
Recaro Pole Positions (to replace the heavy seats)
Removal of unnecessary interior leather and rear seats
Some nice Bilsteins (Adjustable damping)
18's - the M perf wheels with some non premium tyres that allowed the wallet to utilise MDM for many smiles

Mind you... driving the F30 and then getting back into the Integra reminded me why I want a lotus so much.

Glad you're putting money into the E92 and keeping it. Buy a st car to run about in if you get bored, a week in a Ford Fiesta will soon make you realise how good it is

Yeah, you won't hear me disagree with the top end NA fizz of an S65 vs the boosty torquey power delivery of the S55.. I actually think that the S65 makes the better B-road car because you've got to work harder to get the best from it and the power delivery is nice and linear. My mums F80 LCI (manual too) is without doubt the faster car, but it's almost too quick/easy to access the power and therefore I find it more difficult to make fast and smooth progress. I'm sure that given time you could get used to the slightly spikey F80 power delivery (fixed with a BMW software update I believe) and be almost as smooth as the E92, but the E92 is easier to drive quickly I think.

Haha I wouldn't say it was a status thing... I don't give a toss about things like that really and will bounce around in anything that takes my fancy; to give you an example of this, I didn't go to a car auction at the weekend there because there was a very real chance that I'd have come away with a Vauxhall Omega Estate which was due to go through.

I do love the looks of the F80 M3 though, I think they look fantastic and far more impressive/pumped up than the F82 M4 do.

That's a good list of modifications to an E92 and would transform the way the car drove, performed and handled. I'm unsure about whether to go with the KW Clubsport or possibly go for Ohlins Road & Track or Bilstein B16 which could be a slightly milder compromise given the car spends >90-95% of its life on the road, but I'll do some reading and ask some more questions to try and reach a decision.

[RS Grant]

I’m unsure why I didn’t get the thread notifications again, but I appreciate the comments.

By way of an update, the M3 is a couple of hundred miles shy of turning 40k miles and was in for a service, removal of the M Performance steering wheel and general inspection/health check at BMW last week. I dropped it off today at the specialist I use for the AP brakes and Recaro CS’ to be removed too.



The reason for this being that I’ve ordered a new M2 Competition which will be due within the next few weeks, so the E92 will be going up for sale in the very near future.

I’ll be doing an advert over the weekend but if you, or anyone you know may be interested then feel free to fire me a PM to discuss further... I really valued the modifications I made to the car so they will be offered to the buyer of the car first before they’re offered on their own.

[RS Grant]

custardkid said:

Hi Grant
The M2 is popular at the moment, but may be worth waiting for the CS ?

If the buyer doesnt have the APs, drop me a note as looking for a set for my E92

Thanks
Paul

PS if anyone needs a set of E46 APs... I know where there are some...

I did think about waiting for a CS (even more so after seeing the ‘leaked’ images today!) rather than going for a Competition model... however, given the CS is likely to cost over £70k (judging by the crazy F80/82 CS pricing) it’s going to be a whole heap of change more than the M2C is costing to buy and I can’t justify/comfortably afford buying into anything at that level.. otherwise a Cayman GT4 would probably be where I’d be aiming.

Re: the brakes, I’ll give you a shout regarding the APs should the buyer of the car not want them.

[RS Grant]

MikeGoodwin said:

Look forward to reading the M2 comparison to this. I am guessing the size of the M2 is what drew you to it from the M3?

Shame to see it sell, enjoyed the thread.

Thanks Mike, it’s been great to own the E92 and I’ve really enjoyed the feedback that I’ve had from this thread too.

Reason I’m going for the M2 is that I like the size, I like the S55 running gear (exhaust note aside!), the technology, the warranty and I’ve always really liked the look of an M2.. the wee tweaks on the Competition model have only made it better to my eye too.

Fingers crossed that the engagement with the M2 thread is as high, otherwise it’ll just be a bloke speaking to himself and posting random pictures.

[RS Grant]

fido said:

That’s a good looking E92. Shame it has to go but an M2 Competition would get me out of my coupe - good choice. I have recently run in a new S65 engine and getting some fun out of it before deciding what to do after winter.

Yep, in an ideal world the E92 would be staying put and be getting tucked up on trickle charge in my storage unit.. but I’ve not had that illusive lottery win yet, so funds aren’t limitless unfortunately! It’s going to be bloody hard watching it driving away though?!

Good luck with your decision, hopefully you manage to get a bit of use and enjoyment out of your fresh S65 in the meantime.

[RS Grant]

Sooo, I'll pick things up with the announcement of the M2 CS and the knock on effect that M2C deals started to pop up left, right and centre.. making my initial deal where I achieved £10k discount on list price look less attractive than it had done when I placed my order. Now I could have swallowed this and continued with the order but around the same time I came to a glaring realisation that my M3 had covered less than 1000 miles in a year; so the thought of sticking so much cash into a (depreciating) car to do a similar amount of mileage started to feel a bit ludicrous. After talking to the supplying dealership and explaining my concerns, they were happy to transfer my order onto another customer and unwind my deal; which I really appreciated and wouldn't hesitate to contact them in future if myself, friends or family were looking for a BMW.

In regards to the M3; I decided to keep the car up for sale and took a deposit on the car. However after a short period of time the buyer had to pull out for financial reasons so the car was back up for sale and here is a brief timeline of what I've dealt with so far...

- Half a dozen or so people asking me questions about the car and then vanishing into thin air.

- Quite a few traders offering many thousands less than I was asking for the car.

- After this, I had a guy contact me via email and then after exchanging numbers via Whatsapp, saying he wanted to buy the car and export it to Hong Kong. He went on to say that he had transferred his buying agent the deposit money and the agent would be in touch with me to organise an inspection of the vehicle at a BMW dealership... two weeks went past and nothing... quelle surprise!! Being bored one evening, I thought I'd push the 'buyer' on what was happening and he got in touch saying a lot of his business was based in Wuhan and with the Covid outbreak his business interests were struggling so he couldn't complete on the sale. I am fairly sure it was a timewaster and/or scam but I guess you never know?!

- Few more picture hunters/timewasters.

- Contacted by a really nice bloke in late January, who left a deposit on the car in mid-February and I've been speaking to on a weekly basis, sometimes twice a week since then. Unfortunately with the travel restrictions (he is based in South England and I'm in East Scotland) and the Covid issues, the deal was to be completed once restrictions were lifted enough to allow travel/viewing/collection of the car. Sadly during this time, personal reasons (which I was told about from the very start) meant that as of a few days ago the car purchase has been put on the back burner for him and unlikely to be something he can come back to for a while.

So there you have it, I still have the car....

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr

....they are the most recent pictures I took of it for the last buyer, including a picture of the history file/book pack because I don't think I've put on of those up on the thread yet and a chronologically organised history folder is something I'm quite anal about making sure each of my cars has done.

However given that I am able to use it again (I stopped using it once a deposit was left) then I'll be bringing it out for the occasional drive to keep everything moving and therefore I wouldn't bet against a few more essential travel photos appearing on here until the next buyer comes along.

[RS Grant]

RhysH said:

Fantastic looking car, but I am totally biased!

Did you sell all the bits you toke of the car, or might you put some back on?

Haha yeah I can understand the bias!!

I've still got everything I took off the car sitting in the garage with no plans to put any of it back on really because I am still of a mind to sell the car just now; however when I start driving it again that may change.

[RS Grant]

SiT said:

Just thought I would let you know I have finally bought one!!!!!!!!

Space Grey with Fox Red, collecting tomorrow - your thread was true inspiration, hope to enjoy my journey as much as you.

Luckily working tonight otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to sleep!!!!!!

Si

Fantastic news Si... great to hear that you got there in the end mate, look forward to hearing/seeing more about it! You've chosen a great colour combination; in my completely unbiased opinion.