Road & Track F80 M3 Track Review - The racetrack is the 2015 BMW M3's BS detector

[jbraslins]

Could not find any other threads, sorry if a repost:

The racetrack is the 2015 BMW M3's BS detector

http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-revi...?src=soc_fcbks

[DocWeatherington]

Great find

[VMRWheels]

Excellent read! Thanks for sharing

[Lynchmob6]

Thanks!

[Roadkiller]

Awesome...! Thanks Dude.

[Damasconian]

Good find and very well written.

[BCMgunner]

Thanks for posting this great read !

[JoeFromPA]

Very nice read. This is how and why i value this car: not because it's a 911 competitor, but because it's possibly the fastest stock 4-door sedan to go around a track (paraphrasing them). This is why I feel it's an e39 m5 follow-up vehicle, as that was billed as the world's fastest production sedan at the time it was built. Obviously now there are other sedans faster in a straight line - this is just BMW's follow-up to the e39 m5 (to me).

Two more things:

1. I think they hit the nail on the head as this car has gobs of raw potential. The more I drive it, the more I feel it is not a scalpel. It does not embrace extremely fine inputs yielding extremely precise results, though that can be accomplished. It is a car that rewards foolishness where you do something intense and then say "Holy crap I can't believe I pulled that off." - This is a result of everything feeling endless during an initial drive. Gobs of torque, a chassis that keeps going and going, and even steel brakes that feel unflappable.

2. I got mine for about $60k brand new. It's a stripper with a modest discount and only adaptive suspension. Back in ~2004+, Subaru and Mitsubishi came out with the STi and Evo models that were priced in the low $30k's brand new and seen as the best bang for the buck performance models on the market.

Now, 10 years later, for $60k I'm getting a BMW for a whole new level of perfomance. This is value.

Joe

P.s. My e39 m5 had a sticker, IIRC, of $74k in 2001...albeit it was more luxurious. Pretty impressive to get a car with the same basic sizing and alot more performance all these years later from BMW for less money.

[M3OW]

How in the world did you get a new m3 for 60k?

[///Mthusiast]

Talk about a positive review. Wow.

[smashhell]

Originally Posted by M3OW

How in the world did you get a new m3 for 60k?

Stripper model + European delivery I suppose.

[DrtyJrze]

Originally Posted by M3OW

How in the world did you get a new m3 for 60k?

Only option purchased was adaptive suspension.

[SOM3]

Originally Posted by M3OW

How in the world did you get a new m3 for 60k?

Well he has zero options, nobody really wants those so it's easier to negotiate down at the dealer.

[X2Board]

Originally Posted by M3OW

How in the world did you get a new m3 for 60k?

You can get one for less than that, if you don't mind a trip to Germany.

[M3OW]

Well that's one helluva deal considering my s4 costs 55k.

[JoeFromPA]

64k m3 stripper plus adaptive susp.

2.5k discount
1k incentive program
500 bmwccA rebate

60k m3.

Not exactly hard and not ED either

[M3OW]

What a deal! Hopefully I'll be able to add comfort access as a stand alone option once my lease is up on my s4. The m3 will most likely be my next sedan, but I'm also considering the new c63.

[CSBM5]

Originally Posted by JoeFromPA

P.s. My e39 m5 had a sticker, IIRC, of $74k in 2001...albeit it was more luxurious. Pretty impressive to get a car with the same basic sizing and alot more performance all these years later from BMW for less money.

It's actually a much better story than that when you consider real dollars and not devalued ones. If we deflate your 60k in today's dollars back to 2001 dollars (and this is using the BLS' "CPI calculator" which understates inflation in many ways), it comes out to $44,675 in 2001 dollars. Hence your F80 M3 is "cheaper" than an E46 M3 was in 2001 not to mention way cheaper than an E39 M5.

[RingMeister01]

Awesome. Makes the wait that much more UNBEARABLE

[stressdoc]

A bit OT here -- personally I think R&T has gone down the tubes along with most of the rest of the USA auto mag industry -- but I think the Rags are missing the case for value, in part because BMW is supplying them with loaded versions, and in part because they don't talk about the available discounts.

Joe's car (AW, 18", speed cloth, adaptive and nothing else) which IMO is a really great choice for the M3, comes in close to $55k via ED. You will spend a couple k getting there and driving around off season, but arguably that pays for itself in sheer joy. If you have to add leather, 19" and HK, then you are around 58k. In my budget that is still a lot, but a relative bargain for such a high performance car compared to anything but a vette, which for some of us has practicality issues.

[Damasconian]

Originally Posted by JoeFromPA

Very nice read. This is how and why i value this car: not because it's a 911 competitor, but because it's possibly the fastest stock 4-door sedan to go around a track (paraphrasing them). This is why I feel it's an e39 m5 follow-up vehicle, as that was billed as the world's fastest production sedan at the time it was built. Obviously now there are other sedans faster in a straight line - this is just BMW's follow-up to the e39 m5 (to me).

Two more things:

1. I think they hit the nail on the head as this car has gobs of raw potential. The more I drive it, the more I feel it is not a scalpel. It does not embrace extremely fine inputs yielding extremely precise results, though that can be accomplished. It is a car that rewards foolishness where you do something intense and then say "Holy crap I can't believe I pulled that off." - This is a result of everything feeling endless during an initial drive. Gobs of torque, a chassis that keeps going and going, and even steel brakes that feel unflappable.

2. I got mine for about $60k brand new. It's a stripper with a modest discount and only adaptive suspension. Back in ~2004+, Subaru and Mitsubishi came out with the STi and Evo models that were priced in the low $30k's brand new and seen as the best bang for the buck performance models on the market.

Now, 10 years later, for $60k I'm getting a BMW for a whole new level of perfomance. This is value.

Joe

P.s. My e39 m5 had a sticker, IIRC, of $74k in 2001...albeit it was more luxurious. Pretty impressive to get a car with the same basic sizing and alot more performance all these years later from BMW for less money.

I'm way more surprised the e39 cost $74K 13 years ago than your current 60k buy! No doubt there are deals to be had, even in this first model year.

My only discount was ED and I still feel like I'm driving a bargain every time I got in it.

[Damasconian]

Originally Posted by SOM3

Well he has zero options, nobody really wants those so it's easier to negotiate down at the dealer.

He wanted it, obviously. Did you read his post detailing why he chose what he did?

I could write 90% of your posts for you:

Start with snark, add in a sophomoric jibe and top it off with some weird anger to fellow members.