First M Car - Introduction and Initial Impressions

[Slimjim8201]

I always liked reading reviews from new owners. Even when a lot the talking points at the same, slight differences in perspective lead to unique thoughts. Here are mine:

Right before Christmas, I placed an order for an F80 M3. I had been driving an 2009 SBM E92 328i for a little over 6 years and with a third kid on the way, I needed something with 4 doors and the ability to go three wide with carseats in the back. Financially, we were lucky enough to have the M3 as an option. After many years of planting seeds for the idea with my wife, I got the green-light and locked in a mid-January allocation. The build started on 1-10 and finished production on 1-20. I took delivery at my local dealer on 2-17.

The outgoing 328i was a peach. I loved this car and always thought of it as an underpowered M3 with better weight distribution. Everything just worked. Never had a problem with anything. It was sporty enough. It was comfortable enough. I even put two kids in the back…one of them rear facing. Pause and wrap your head around that for a second. Running costs were minimal. The only thing I had done out of warranty was replacement of a belt tensioner at around 70,000 miles and even that was only a few hundred bucks. The engine was so damned smooth that on more than one occasion, after some spirited driving, I found myself cruising on the highway for over half an hour in 5th gear instead of 6th. Buttery smooth. I always liked the fact that this engine was one of the last (if not the last) non-turbocharged inline sixes to be built by BMW. One of the best all-purpose vehicles I've ever driven. Fun to flog and still returned about 30 MPG on a highway trip and 24 MPG around town.





Prior to the 328i, I lived in Germany for a few years and only drove rentals. While living there was amazing, it required me to sell my first car… a 2002 Honda S2000. The one that got away…

Purchased it right out of college in the summer of 2005. It was essentially brand new. An AP1 in Sebring Silver. Amazing that there is nothing more to tell about the "car order". No packages, no options, no differentiation. You just picked the color. Everything about the car was simple, yet high strung. I'm not going to dwell on S2000s here, but if you haven't driven a stock one (good luck in that search), you need to ASAP.

Being young and stupid, I wanted to mod it on day 1. I waited about a year and had plans to go the Comptech supercharger route. I was auto-crossing every other weekend and wanted something to make the car more enjoyable, quicker, and yet retain the stock look and handling. At the eleventh hour, I decided to drive the car up to InlinePRO outside of DC instead and had the car turbocharged.

The end result was a bit absurd. I specified a custom turbine housing that put a priority on mid-range torque, not top-end power which was the norm for turbocharged S2000s at the time. Most guys were slapping GT35Rs with intricate (and fragile) tubular manifolds and reaching insane power levels at very high RPM. We are talking 500HP+ to the wheels on stock internals. Since I was into autocrossing, I ended up going the GT3076R route with a custom turbine housing and cast iron log manifold. The end result was around 300 lb-ft and 400 hp to the wheels. Increases over stock of about 2.4x and 2x, respectively. No traction control. The way the car delivered power was really unique. The swell in the mid-range could light the rears easily, but a gradual taper of torque as RPM increased functioned as a built-in traction control.











Alas, I had to sell it to move to Deutschland and the next owner proceeded to total the car. The one that got away…

Which brings me to the F80. In some ways I feel like this is a more grown up version of my 328i that has been turbocharged in a similar fashion to my S2000. But with 10-15 years newer technology.

• MY17 F80 M3
• Non-ZCP
• 6MT
• Yas marina blue
• Black extended leather
• Executive package
• Drivers assistance package
• 18" 513M wheels
• Carbon roof

Body

Stiff. Like a piece of granite stiff. This is really a standout for me as far as the F80 is concerned. Literally every aspect of driving dynamics is based on the stiffness of the chassis and this one is the stiffest I've ever driven. There isn't any flex. No better way to state it. Compared to almost any other car you can get today, this one is going to be near the top as far as rigidity.

Steering

• General observations
  • Very direct with no slop, no play. Unfortunately, also no "grit". Turning the wheel gives an impression of total smoothness. Forces are definitely fed back through the wheel, but there is none of that fine noise associated with a hydraulic system. As best as I can describe it, it's like the electric motors are not capable of transmitting the fine feedback frequencies. Bulk forces are very well transmitted, however, like cornering forces building up torque on the wheel, and loss of wheel torque during slip angle changes. All that stuff is good, but it's like taking a very detailed XY scatter plot in Excel and then applying the smoothing algorithm.
    
  • To be honest, the ratio could be quicker. I find that I have to turn the wheel more than I'd like, and I'm tall so this sucks. Elbows flying all over the place. Haven't found a good wheel to chest distance yet that I like, but I'm nearly there.
    
  • I think this steering system is destined to age poorly, and it's not really a fault of the system itself, as I think it's about as well engineering as one can be given the current technology. BMW certainly went out of their way to extol the virtues of their engineering development behind the rack. It's just that the body of this car is so fucking stiff. Leaps and bounds over any other car I have driven. I think the general lack of play in body flex, coupled with a very stiff suspension really causes the ultra-smooth and somewhat isolated steering system to stand out. Perhaps as motors and controls improve, they will do a better job of relaying the whole story.
    
  • As far as EPS systems, this is my second after the S2000 (third if you count my wife's Tucson) and there are some similarities between them all. The unnatural smoothness is present in each system and they have a tendency to feel over-boosted at times. "Feel"-wise, both the M3 and the S2000 are about on par with the edge going to the S2000.
• Comfort mode is FAR too light for normal driving. Laughably so, and feels seriously over-boosted. I end up overcorrecting or overreacting to everything. This setting makes the helm feel like a FFB gaming wheel when the power gets disconnected. I drove the car on the interstate in gusting winds two days ago and I had a time keeping the car straight in comfort mode. By far the item that I dislike the most among my initial observations. Perhaps this mode comes to life when at the limit. I'll reserve final judgement until I can really fling the car about.
  
• Sport mode. Now this is a nice weighting, feels much more appropriate. Similar to the weight of my E92. Mid corner corrections are predictable and I definitely prefer the weight.
  
• Sport plus mode. Haven't driven in this mode much at all. Initial reaction is only that it is harder to turn the wheel. Will need more seat time.

Throttle

• Efficient. Medium long travel works well for lazy driving. Doesn’t feel that linear, especially in the first bit of travel.
  
• Sport. This feels more linear than efficienct and I generally like it more for that reason. I know there are posts here and there that claim the throttle is linear in all modes with only the "damping" being different but it doesn't feel like it to me. The linearity I feel results in more throttle with less pedal travel all while being more predictable. Two plusses for me.
  
• Sport Plus. I expected balls to the wall, crazy-pants throttle based on a lot of reviews/forum members perceptions. Nope. This one feels the most natural of all. Linear, quick, "just right". In fact, I don't find that it is all that different to the sport setting.
  
• My wish. Instead of having three modes for throttle, I would have prefered one throttle setting, somewhere between sport and sport plus, and then a single toggle button that cycled between valves open and engine on full boil, and a docile valves closed mode.

Clutch

• The pedal is relatively light.
  
• Engagement is high with tons of dead space beyond. I will be adding a clutch stop as soon as it arrives in the mail.

Auto Rev Match

• Given the high clutch engagement and plethora of dead space, I actually struggle to shift smoothly in both Efficient and Sport modes. It's taken me days to figure this out. I had expectations that rev matching would make every shift buttery smooth and that just wasn't the case. After lots of experimentation, I discovered that my normal shifting technique was to blame.
  
• Upshifting. Clutch in, shift up, apply a measure of throttle to catch the revs as they fall, clutch out. Nope. This resulted in either a clunk or a slight amount of clutch slip as I accelerated. As best as I can tell, the rev match does a few things. First, it matches engine revs to where they need to be for the next gear. This I think it does pretty well. Second, it slows down the rate at which revs drop. Perhaps it leaves the throttle open just slightly on an upshift to prevent the revs from falling too fast. If I make a concerted effort to delay both the clutch coming back out and when I get on the gas after an upshift, the gear change can be quite smooth. But I really have to delay, annoyingly so. The end result is a perfect shift that would impress any passenger, but it comes as the expense of a gap in forward thrust. It is particularly evident on the 1-2 and 2-3 shifts as their spacing is greater. This delay is lessened in Sport mode, but still evident. I don't mind it for general lazy driving but I do have to get my mindset around delaying the clutch in/apply gas portion of each upshift.
  
• Downshifting. This works pretty much as advertised. Very nice execution. I do find that it doesn't like to be hurried and is smoothest when the clutch is let out with a very slight delay to when the lower gear is selected or just let out at a medium pace. I'm curious to see how this changes once I install the clutch stop.

Gearbox

• Very BMW-esque with medium throws. I always imagine that the transmission forks are like youth baseball aluminum bat handles. Really solid with a 1/8" layer of rubber around them. Overall, it is good but not great. If the S2000 were a 10 (and it was) this would be an 8.
• Illuminated shift pattern on knob is just plain cool.

Suspension

• I leave the dampers in comfort for the time being. Roads around Pittsburgh are not great and sport plus results in some unpleasant bounce. The comfort setting does a really nice job of soaking up uneven pavement and it never feels underdamped. Coupled with the stiff body, I really love the suspension setup.

Sound

• Cold start
  
  • The cold start really is as bad as most everyone says. For those 10-12 seconds, its deafeningly loud. It's loud to the point that I'm thinking about risking my warranty to go the BM3 route just to get rid of it. I've got two young kids and a third due any day and it 100% will wake them up.
  • My start up procedure is to open the garage door, put the car in reverse, start the car and immediately get the fuck out of the garage as fast I can to lessen the effect on the house. Then I let it sit there for 20 seconds to calm down before going up the driveway.
• Cabin Noise
  
  • It's loud in here. Road/tire noise is pronounced and I have the 18" 513Ms. At 80 MPH it is very hard to hear my kids talking in the back seat. If I keep it to 70 or so and it is much more civil.
• ASD
  
  • I'm torn here. I've been playing around with the Bimmerlink app to really learn how and when the augmentation takes place. ASD is MUCH louder in Sport and Sport Plus throttle modes. In fact, I'd wager that it makes up at least 30% of the total sound in those modes. The sound is hard to describe, however. At full load, it adds a sort of low frequency V8 warble to the soundtrack which actually sounds quite good, if out of place for a BMW inline-6. The sound during a throttle blip is almost entirely augmented and running without ASD, I really miss the auto-blip sounds. During partial load scenarios, the added sound is less of a warble and more of a heavy bass note. This is where I think they got it wrong. It comes across as just noise to me and it is not particularly pleasing. I'd describe it as more of a drone or a constant pressure in my ears. I haven't done any highway driving with ASD off yet and I'm anxious to see if it helps to quiet things down. In general, playing around with ASD has shown that adding forced induction to this engine really mutes engine noises. The NA motor in my 328i was clearly louder in many partial load situations. I completely understand the goal behind ASD after experiencing it first hand and reading up on why BMW added it. It is a clear effort to put back what was lost through a combination of forced induction and NVH mitigation. I come away wishing that they had put a bit more effort on reducing road and tire noise and less on engine/exhaust.
• Turbo spool
  
  • Removed the charcoal filters, spool is louder and I love it. Highly recommended.
• Windows down, exhaust flaps open. Exhaust sounds great, engine sounds great, turbo sounds great, kids love it. They especially love the extra exhaust noises in Sport Plus throttle. I'm in the "like it but don't love it" crowd.
  

Audio

• Sitting still, I'd say this system sounds very good. Not sure how I feel about the Logic 7 processing, but music sounds really nice. At speed, the car drones out the sound system to the point where I have to crank the volume to hear subtle details. This in turn drowns out my kids in the back (which is occasionally necessary, but I usually like to hear them). Summary: It's good, car drowns it out.

Seats

• Fantastic. They are more supportive than the seats in my E92 328, and man are they more comfortable. Particularly in the lower back zone, there exists a "supportive compliance" that just feels right. The rest of the seat feels stiff as it should but that particular area feels like a very expensive office chair. You know right away when you sit down that they got it right. I can also get the seating position a lot lower than with most other cars. This helps out a lot for tall guys.

Technology

• It is overwhelming coming from the previous generation. From the driver's assist package, to the heads up display, to the additional iDrive functionality and phone connectivity. I find myself distracted by everything at the moment as I'm not yet familiar with the particulars.
• The HUD is amazing. Was skeptical at first but it is so functional and looks great. Unobtrusive when you aren't looking at it as well which is a major plus.
• Parking sensors and cameras are very nice. Besides the HUD, it’s the other major technology that I use the most out of all the "new stuff".

Interior

• The leather is nice but not amazing. I expected it to be more supple after reading reviews. It's relatively hard, and feels thinner than I'd like, but I think it will be durable. It complements the sportier nature of the seats. Certainly an improvement over Dakota which tends to look and feel like plastic after ownership.

Misc

• It will baby. I've got three car seats in the back. Tight but it works. Almost 5 year old behind driver in a Diono Radian RXT, facing forward. Almost 2 year old in the middle in a Diono Radian RXT, facing rearward. Newborn will go behind passenger in a Chicco Keyfit 30.
• I'm 6'3" with 34" inseam. And I do not need to adjust my seat forward to accommodate the rear facing Radian. This is impressive if you've seen how much space those fuckers take up.

Power

• It has power in spades. It has truck-like torque. It's everything people say it is. Faster than most everything on the road. More power than you'll ever need in any gear at any speed. Period. It's not slow.
• On the turbos…once you are in the 3,000+ RPM range, they spool extremely quickly. Quick enough to say that turbo lag could be confused with throttle damping. Below that range and you are really out of the boost threshold. I don't know what BMW is saying when they claim that full torque is available at 1800RPM. Maybe on a dyno after sitting there for 15 seconds at full throttle. But not in the real world. Going WOT in 4th gear at 20 MPH easily shows where the boost starts to come in. I'm not complaining, however. As a turbo-lover, I think it's great.

Comparison to ZCP

• I drove two competition package cars before I placed my order. Although the wheels look much better in person, and have undeniable presence, I didn't care much for them and knew I wanted the 513Ms for better ride quality for our roads and for the design. The 513Ms are seriously good looking wheels. That said, the ride quality was noticeably worse with ZCP. That's right, contrary to what many reported about the ZCP, I'm not sure how anyone could consider those cars more comfortable than mine. Maybe it has to do with the updated damper settings on later model cars. Maybe it’s the low profile tires. Whatever it is, the ZCPs were positively crashing over the same bumps that my car soaks up with grace. Beyond that, the suspensions felt identical
• The only other major difference was the presence of burbles. Huge win for the ZCP here as I absolutely loved them. This is the one item that I truly miss not having in my pedestrian, base model M3.

TL;DR

The F80 M3 is awesome. Save your pennies and buy one.

[Slimjim8201]

For giggles, I grabbed a few stock dyno charts from both the N52 in the E92 328 and an S55 in the M3. Not back to back comparisons of course, but it does help to illustrate the stark contrast in power delivery and begins to explain why I'm going through so much gas.

[Schalldampfer1]

Nice review! Thanks for sharing!

[Shadopadla]

Great read! Enjoyed it

[Slimjim8201]

Would it be possible for a moderator to move this thread back to the general forum section. This is a discussion/review thread with pictures for context, not a picture thread with a review.

[F80Dreamer]

Awesome detailed review...thanks for sharing and enjoy!!

[mike@x-ph.com]

Originally Posted by F80Dreamer

Awesome detailed review...thanks for sharing and enjoy!!

+1
Congrats!!

[jzmundy]

Great review - we share many of the same feelings. Will put my thoughts together soon.

And another congrats to a fellow wk 1/2/3er!

Zach

[Tacoma]

Thanks for the review, very comprehensive and your manual transmission comments are helpful (since I'll be picking up my new F80 w/ manual soon) in terms of what to expect. Also loved your S2000 notes. Honda used to make great drivers car back in the day. Not sure if they do anymore.

[RobC2]

Nice taste in cars! I have had a few S2000s (including one currently) and also own an F80 manual. Enjoy your new ride!

[JoeyBananas]

Congrats! And I too had an S2000 and put a GT35r on it (JoeyBalls on S2ki), ran 9s and wished to god I never parted it out.

Picking up my M4 on Saturday, can't wait!

Great review and enjoy!