Bmw m3 e92 to Bmw M4
Discussion
Thinking of going from the m3 e92 to the m4 (used, rather than brand new). As far as I see, the m4 is faster, has more road presence, has better mpg and the resale value should be almost as good? Correct me if I’m wrong as I’d like to know your opinions and if the m4 isn’t a good choice, what other car would you suggest I should consider. Maximum budget is £32,000 here on the car.
If that’s one of the older M4’s there was a lot of criticism initially until the CP came out in that the handling wasn’t great (read up any Autocar or Evo article for verification on this).
The V8 is a last of its kind a lovely car - but today it can be easily beaten by hot hatches but that’s progress.
M4’s’s look much more aggressive but do lack on the noise front but frankly deliver the business in performance terms.
Cabin kit clearly will be vastly superior.
Depends what you want out of a car TBH. Old one is perfectly fine but a thirsty girl new one isn’t. I’d wager you never track a car so it’s handling on the limit is frankly utterly irrelevant.
Nice problem to have OP
The V8 is a last of its kind a lovely car - but today it can be easily beaten by hot hatches but that’s progress.
M4’s’s look much more aggressive but do lack on the noise front but frankly deliver the business in performance terms.
Cabin kit clearly will be vastly superior.
Depends what you want out of a car TBH. Old one is perfectly fine but a thirsty girl new one isn’t. I’d wager you never track a car so it’s handling on the limit is frankly utterly irrelevant.
Nice problem to have OP
From reading the M3cutter forum M4's still have a fair bit of depreciating to do. Might be worth popping over there for a read.
As far as real world performance goes, the E92 M3 is by no means a slow car at all. There are no current hot hatches that can outrun them, even the A45 AMG struggles to keep up (my mate has one of these and it stays close up to about 70 but after i shift in to 3rd he goes backwards rapidly) . DCT makes a big difference in terms of performance on the M3 but you still have to rev it hard to get the best performance out of it as you prob know. For me, this is one of the most appealing attributes of the car and i would highly recommend taking it on track. It is in it's element here, both in terms of power and handling, which is sublime on the limit!
One of my neighbours has an M4 and yes.. they do sound a bit.. "farty" for want of a better description.. mind you, still a million miles better sounding than the current crop of DSG fartboxes like the Golfs and Mercs. Performance wise, they have all of the top end power of the V8 but with the added bonus of Torque from low down. This does lend itself to being the better 'everyday' car and certainly so if you are commuting in it. That being said, i do 30 miles a day in my E92 and love it! Whenever i'm away, on the trains or driving another car for a week i miss that V8 like no other car i've ever owned or driven.
MPG wise, well yes.. no arguing here, the V8 is almost comical in it's fuel consumption. I've not run an M4 so i have no idea how it fairs but am going to assume it would comfortably beat the V8 and return a decent MPG average even for a straight 6 twin turbo.
Looks subjective but my M3 in Space Grey looks a lot meaner and more purposeful than my neighbours M4 which is in Black (i think this hides alot of the aggressive body lines though)
Heart M3
Head M4
As far as real world performance goes, the E92 M3 is by no means a slow car at all. There are no current hot hatches that can outrun them, even the A45 AMG struggles to keep up (my mate has one of these and it stays close up to about 70 but after i shift in to 3rd he goes backwards rapidly) . DCT makes a big difference in terms of performance on the M3 but you still have to rev it hard to get the best performance out of it as you prob know. For me, this is one of the most appealing attributes of the car and i would highly recommend taking it on track. It is in it's element here, both in terms of power and handling, which is sublime on the limit!
One of my neighbours has an M4 and yes.. they do sound a bit.. "farty" for want of a better description.. mind you, still a million miles better sounding than the current crop of DSG fartboxes like the Golfs and Mercs. Performance wise, they have all of the top end power of the V8 but with the added bonus of Torque from low down. This does lend itself to being the better 'everyday' car and certainly so if you are commuting in it. That being said, i do 30 miles a day in my E92 and love it! Whenever i'm away, on the trains or driving another car for a week i miss that V8 like no other car i've ever owned or driven.
MPG wise, well yes.. no arguing here, the V8 is almost comical in it's fuel consumption. I've not run an M4 so i have no idea how it fairs but am going to assume it would comfortably beat the V8 and return a decent MPG average even for a straight 6 twin turbo.
Looks subjective but my M3 in Space Grey looks a lot meaner and more purposeful than my neighbours M4 which is in Black (i think this hides alot of the aggressive body lines though)
Heart M3
Head M4
Jez m said:
From reading the M3cutter forum M4's still have a fair bit of depreciating to do. Might be worth popping over there for a read.
As far as real world performance goes, the E92 M3 is by no means a slow car at all. There are no current hot hatches that can outrun them, even the A45 AMG struggles to keep up (my mate has one of these and it stays close up to about 70 but after i shift in to 3rd he goes backwards rapidly) . DCT makes a big difference in terms of performance on the M3 but you still have to rev it hard to get the best performance out of it as you prob know. For me, this is one of the most appealing attributes of the car and i would highly recommend taking it on track. It is in it's element here, both in terms of power and handling, which is sublime on the limit!
One of my neighbours has an M4 and yes.. they do sound a bit.. "farty" for want of a better description.. mind you, still a million miles better sounding than the current crop of DSG fartboxes like the Golfs and Mercs. Performance wise, they have all of the top end power of the V8 but with the added bonus of Torque from low down. This does lend itself to being the better 'everyday' car and certainly so if you are commuting in it. That being said, i do 30 miles a day in my E92 and love it! Whenever i'm away, on the trains or driving another car for a week i miss that V8 like no other car i've ever owned or driven.
MPG wise, well yes.. no arguing here, the V8 is almost comical in it's fuel consumption. I've not run an M4 so i have no idea how it fairs but am going to assume it would comfortably beat the V8 and return a decent MPG average even for a straight 6 twin turbo.
Looks subjective but my M3 in Space Grey looks a lot meaner and more purposeful than my neighbours M4 which is in Black (i think this hides alot of the aggressive body lines though)
Heart M3
Head M4
Glad to hear you're still enjoying it Jez!As far as real world performance goes, the E92 M3 is by no means a slow car at all. There are no current hot hatches that can outrun them, even the A45 AMG struggles to keep up (my mate has one of these and it stays close up to about 70 but after i shift in to 3rd he goes backwards rapidly) . DCT makes a big difference in terms of performance on the M3 but you still have to rev it hard to get the best performance out of it as you prob know. For me, this is one of the most appealing attributes of the car and i would highly recommend taking it on track. It is in it's element here, both in terms of power and handling, which is sublime on the limit!
One of my neighbours has an M4 and yes.. they do sound a bit.. "farty" for want of a better description.. mind you, still a million miles better sounding than the current crop of DSG fartboxes like the Golfs and Mercs. Performance wise, they have all of the top end power of the V8 but with the added bonus of Torque from low down. This does lend itself to being the better 'everyday' car and certainly so if you are commuting in it. That being said, i do 30 miles a day in my E92 and love it! Whenever i'm away, on the trains or driving another car for a week i miss that V8 like no other car i've ever owned or driven.
MPG wise, well yes.. no arguing here, the V8 is almost comical in it's fuel consumption. I've not run an M4 so i have no idea how it fairs but am going to assume it would comfortably beat the V8 and return a decent MPG average even for a straight 6 twin turbo.
Looks subjective but my M3 in Space Grey looks a lot meaner and more purposeful than my neighbours M4 which is in Black (i think this hides alot of the aggressive body lines though)
Heart M3
Head M4
I'd love a M4 because I prefer a torque strong engine, the E92 M3 feels weedy low down for a V8 for me. The noise the M4 makes is poor(was at Donington park listening to them on track recently)in comparison to the V8 though. Looks wise I think the M3 is ageing well, I do like the aggressive styling of the M4 whenever I see one out on the road though.
Welshbeef said:
If that’s one of the older M4’s there was a lot of criticism initially until the CP came out in that the handling wasn’t great (read up any Autocar or Evo article for verification on this).
The V8 is a last of its kind a lovely car - but today it can be easily beaten by hot hatches but that’s progress.
M4’s’s look much more aggressive but do lack on the noise front but frankly deliver the business in performance terms.
Cabin kit clearly will be vastly superior.
Depends what you want out of a car TBH. Old one is perfectly fine but a thirsty girl new one isn’t. I’d wager you never track a car so it’s handling on the limit is frankly utterly irrelevant.
Nice problem to have OP
They don't get beaten by hot hatches, its just that there isn't quite the massive gap in performance it used to be, an M140i with a tuning box will be on par, possibly quicker but its only one measure, it isnt beaten, its possibly slightly more accelerative in a straight line.The V8 is a last of its kind a lovely car - but today it can be easily beaten by hot hatches but that’s progress.
M4’s’s look much more aggressive but do lack on the noise front but frankly deliver the business in performance terms.
Cabin kit clearly will be vastly superior.
Depends what you want out of a car TBH. Old one is perfectly fine but a thirsty girl new one isn’t. I’d wager you never track a car so it’s handling on the limit is frankly utterly irrelevant.
Nice problem to have OP
The V8 M3 was an anomaly anyway, I remember people moaning as they no longer had a straight six, previous to that it was that it had lost its edge and got too smooth with a six.
J4CKO said:
The V8 M3 was an anomaly anyway, I remember people moaning as they no longer had a straight six, previous to that it was that it had lost its edge and got too smooth with a six.
Quite a fickle bunch car enthusiasts are! We're never happy! 
The V8 M3 has always been a very divisive car and the majority much preferred the E46 M3. The V8 M3 was very grown up and it felt more like a 5 series to drive than a 3 series to me, and it took the M3 in a different direction.
Mate has an M4 and it did sound a bit weedy . Now has a full Miltek system on it and it now sounds so much better. Much deeper sounding and less 'farty' . Also had a stage one remap for it to 510 bhp , I believe. It also had a gearbox software change. Not been in it, but others who have said its a total monster now and it wasnt slow as standard.
My boss has a V8 M3 and its nice, but looks a bit dated now and has never really made me think I must have one. Another mate also had one and it wasnt that reliable a car either and was so pleased to keep renewing the BMW warranty every year as got more than his monies worth from it.
My boss has a V8 M3 and its nice, but looks a bit dated now and has never really made me think I must have one. Another mate also had one and it wasnt that reliable a car either and was so pleased to keep renewing the BMW warranty every year as got more than his monies worth from it.
I went from 4 years in an E60 M5 V10 to F80 M3. Had the M3 over a year and it’s brilliant. 64 plate so early one and it handles fine. So similar comparison going from a high revving na V10 to twin turbo.
Go test drive an M4. Got to say I much prefer the F80 M3 looks over the M4 myself.
Go test drive an M4. Got to say I much prefer the F80 M3 looks over the M4 myself.
cosworth330 said:
I went from 4 years in an E60 M5 V10 to F80 M3. Had the M3 over a year and it’s brilliant. 64 plate so early one and it handles fine. So similar comparison going from a high revving na V10 to twin turbo.
Go test drive an M4. Got to say I much prefer the F80 M3 looks over the M4 myself.
So what kind of miles per gallon are you realistically looking at on this type of car? I do more around town driving than motorway. Everynow and then I do like to boot it if I get the chance too and within reason. In the m3 e92 I get about 13 mpg which is really not good is it! Went up to 15.5mpg on a slightly longer run once.Go test drive an M4. Got to say I much prefer the F80 M3 looks over the M4 myself.
J4CKO said:
Welshbeef said:
If that’s one of the older M4’s there was a lot of criticism initially until the CP came out in that the handling wasn’t great (read up any Autocar or Evo article for verification on this).
The V8 is a last of its kind a lovely car - but today it can be easily beaten by hot hatches but that’s progress.
M4’s’s look much more aggressive but do lack on the noise front but frankly deliver the business in performance terms.
Cabin kit clearly will be vastly superior.
Depends what you want out of a car TBH. Old one is perfectly fine but a thirsty girl new one isn’t. I’d wager you never track a car so it’s handling on the limit is frankly utterly irrelevant.
Nice problem to have OP
They don't get beaten by hot hatches, its just that there isn't quite the massive gap in performance it used to be, an M140i with a tuning box will be on par, possibly quicker but its only one measure, it isnt beaten, its possibly slightly more accelerative in a straight line.The V8 is a last of its kind a lovely car - but today it can be easily beaten by hot hatches but that’s progress.
M4’s’s look much more aggressive but do lack on the noise front but frankly deliver the business in performance terms.
Cabin kit clearly will be vastly superior.
Depends what you want out of a car TBH. Old one is perfectly fine but a thirsty girl new one isn’t. I’d wager you never track a car so it’s handling on the limit is frankly utterly irrelevant.
Nice problem to have OP
The V8 M3 was an anomaly anyway, I remember people moaning as they no longer had a straight six, previous to that it was that it had lost its edge and got too smooth with a six.
aaron_2000 said:
alpinab3 said:
They sound s
t and they really are a bruv chariot farting about Ilford.
I'd love to know what experience you have with one to give us such a deep insight into them. t and they really are a bruv chariot farting about Ilford. Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff