[jayritchie]

My mother was due for a new car. Convinced her to go for a M3 Touring! In my opinion, one of the coolest cars on the road. Immensely fun and super practical so I think she'll love it. I hadn't driven a G series M car so I thought I'd make a few observations for anyone interested in comparing one to our M240's!

First of all, what an epic car. From the moment you sit down in the drivers seat and press the start button, you know you're unleashing a beast. The exhaust (in comparison to a stock M240) is loud and aggressive. I'm jealous already. The cabin feels extremely familiar. We share the same ID8 display, same black M Sport seats, same M steering wheel (with carbon trim in my case), the driving position feels near identical and the entire front cabin feels identical in size. There are a few more luxuries in the M3 such as a full leather dash, full leather door cards and some nice ambient lighting. I logged in with my BMW account and really enjoyed having all my settings carry across and my seat reaching an identical position to my M240. Really cool feature when swapping between modern BMW's.

This will be subjective: The ID8 M graphics are very cool. I feel like I am the target audience for ID8 as a whole and even more so the M specific UI. The rhomboid tiles are done really well and nothing is cooler than seeing your identical spec M3 touring as a widget. I appreciated the extra widgets available such as tyre pressure indicators, oil temp and boost pressure. It has so much info accessible at just a glace which I thought was very motorsport. The cluster graphics are also great however unlike the regular ID8, there isn't an option to change the overall layout using the steering wheel menu. There are more content pages for the cluster, like performance and set up, but not being able to change into the really nice focused sport display is average. The focused sport display isn't even linked to a M1 or M2 button either, rather you have to press the M Modes button on the center console. Why does this button even exist when you have M1 and M2 modes?

Onto the center console (this will be very subjective). I'm not a huge fan of the M gear shifter. It looks great, but I found it really awkward to use. My old M135 had the regular shifter that bumped forward for reverse, down for drive and side for sport. It was great. The M3 bumps left for reverse, right for drive and right for sport. If you're in S for the shifter and using the paddles in M1 mode, then go back to the default mode by pressing M1 again, the gearbox will go back into D. If I bump the gearbox into S, it should stay in S.

I don't like the glossy M center console at all. What a finger print magnet! The matte of the regular bimmers might not look as nice, but is so much more practical.

Driving. Holy steering feel. Immediately I was reminded my M240 is definitely not a real M car. You just feel more in the M3. You can basically feel the surface of the asphalt while the M240 soaks it all up. The front nose is really pointy (as it is with the M240) however you have a better understanding and feel connected to the road via the tyres. The steering didn't spring back to center anywhere near as much as the M240, I put this down to different caster set up or just wider front tyres. Comparing the M3 to my M240 with Eibach springs, the M3 felt firm. Even with the suspension in comfort it felt more planted and ready to go, like you didn't need to worry about putting it in sport. While the M3 felt great, there is no doubt the M240 is more comfortable. While it soaks up small vibrations and you lose sense of the surface you're driving on, this makes the car more comfortable. For a long drive on a highway, the M240 is just better.

Something that really surprised me was that the M3 didn't feel a single bit larger, or heavier than the M240 on the road. I was immediately comfortable with how it felt. When I moved from my M135 to my M240 I thought I was going to run into everyone. It felt so much bigger on the road and I genuinely had to adjust. I think the M3 does an amazing job at hiding its size and its weight.

The M3 hasn't had it's first service yet so it couldn't be pushed, but the engine felt good. Surprisingly not wildly more potent than the M240 but I'll reserve those thoughts till it's had an oil change. I'm sure it'll change my mind then.

I'll wrap this up with the question I asked myself when I got back in my M240 to drive home. Is the M240 great value, or is the M3 bad value? In Aus, the M240 is $100k and the M3 Touring is $200k. When I jumped back in my car I was reminded by how good the M240 is.

Now I want a new exhaust, a remap and some suspension upgrades to somewhat represent how the M3 sounds and feels!

[Aramis1919]

Not driven an M3.

However, the low down torque of the B58 in my M240i probably makes it feel more muscular then the M3 at low to medium revs.

Would I prefer an M3?.....YES.

Is it worth almost twice that of the M240i?.....Probably not.

[jayritchie]

Originally Posted by Aramis1919

Not driven an M3.

However, the low down torque of the B58 in my M240i probably makes it feel more muscular then the M3 at low to medium revs.

I don’t think I noticed the M3 being any more or any less potent down low. It was much the same as the B58, but you’re right. You must need to ring it out to get the most out of it.

My old N55 M135 made 600nm at 2500rpm. I would love to get that out of the B58!

[Aramis1919]

Originally Posted by jayritchie

I don’t think I noticed the M3 being any more or any less potent down low. It was much the same as the B58, but you’re right. You must need to ring it out to get the most out of it.

My old N55 M135 made 600nm at 2500rpm. I would love to get that out of the B58!

600nm at 2500RPM sounds impressive in isolation.

But B58 lump is happy to slog away at barely half those revolutions.

Still prefer an M3 though.....if BMW can produce one for £48,000.