My new m3 and my thoughts

[deletedelete]

So after 2 years with the 335 I traded to an e93 m3. The lease deal was outrageously good. My security deposit was waived since im a returning bmw customer and cost me exactly 30 cents more per month. Yup, 30 cents extra per month to upgrade to a loaded e93 m3.

I bought it at northwest bmw, where I also bought my 335. I used David the online guy and got no hassle invoice pricing and the finance guys had me approved an hour later. I highly recommend David for invoice pricing and northwest bmw in general, probably not their service department though.


My review:

The first thing I noticed was that I had no idea how to put the car into drive. With the dct you have to push the lever to the right twice, which is odd, and so I had to drive home in manual mode. I like the black center console area more than the wood ones from the 335. I felt confident in the few turns I took and when the engine starts to rev that sound is fantastic. The trunk is weird because its a vert, but the car is gorgeous, and the m seats are better then the 335 sport seats. I kinda like the brushed aluminum trim since it almost matches the silver interior. Not sure if im going to change that or not. And the m button and drivelogic settings are still confusing to me at this point.

Compared to my tuned 335, the exhaust is quieter during low speed so no drone, and has a very good sound when high revving, even better then the 335 with exhaust. The slight lose of torque isnt noticeable but those unfamiliar with dct transmission might feel like it has less torque. The dct takes a longer pedal press to start out then the 335 does. It was the same in my gti with dsg and clutchless manuals feel odd until you get used to them, at least mine have. I never felt like I was slower or less capable then my jb3 335 and the high revving and exhaust note is fantastic. The steering felt tighter and it felt like a rwd whereas the 335 felt like a awd. However the rwd feeling on the m3 felt much better then on my g35, where the front always felt like it was waving around whereas on the m3 the front felt planted, almost as planted as the awd 335. Mpg is horrible right now and due to the fact that I want to rev high to hear the exhaust, makes me believe im going to get extremely bad mpg from this point on. Im too scared to call to get my new insurance premiums.

Overall having now owned both, I dont think a comparison of the 335 and m3 is valid. They are just to different. I could go onto the ice and snow with the 335, better mpg, different driving feeling and just a different car. The 335 is meant to be good at many things, while the m3 is meant to be great at just one. They are both fantastic cars and Id recommend either of them.


e93 interlagos blue, silver interior
tech, premium, heated seats, dct

It looks very similar to the coupe to me which is a great thing


Putting the hardtop down is easily the most impressive feature for non enthusiasts.

[quality_sound]

Originally Posted by Prowess Symphony

So after 2 years with the 335 I traded to an e93 m3. The lease deal was outrageously good. My security deposit was waived since im a returning bmw customer and cost me exactly 30c more per month. Yup, 30c extra per month to upgrade to a loaded e93 m3.

I bought it at northwest bmw, where I also bought my 335. I used David the online guy and got no hassle invoice pricing and the finance guys had me approved an hour later. I highly recommend David for invoice pricing and northwest bmw in general, probably not their service department though.


My review:

The first thing I noticed was that I had no idea how to put the car into drive. With the dct you have to push the lever to the right twice, which is odd, and so I had to drive home in manual mode. I like the black center console area more than the wood ones from the 335. I felt confident in the few turns I took and when the engine starts to rev that sound is fantastic. The trunk is weird because its a convert, but the car is gorgeous, and the seats are much better then the 335 sport seats. I kinda like the brushed aluminum trim since it almost matches the silver interior. Not sure if im going to change that or not. And the m button and drivelogic settings are still confusing to me at this point.

Compared to my tuned 335, the exhaust is quieter during low speed so no drone, and has a very good sound when high revving, even better then the 335 with exhaust. The slight lose of torque isnt noticeable but those unfamiliar with dct transmission might feel like it has less torque. The dct takes a longer pedal press to start out then the 335 does. It was the same in my gti with dsg and clutchless manuals feel odd until you get used to them, at least mine have. I never felt like I was slower or less capable then my jb3 335 and the high revving and exhaust note is better to me then tenths of a second on paper for a dragrace. The steering felt tighter and it felt like a rwd whereas the 335 felt like a awd. However the rwd feeling on the m3 felt much better then on my g35, where the front always felt like it was waving around whereas on the m3 the front felt planted, almost as planted as the awd 335. Mpg is horrible right now and due to the fact that I want to rev high to hear the exhaust, makes me believe im going to get extremely bad mpg from this point on. Im too scared to call to get my new insurance premiums.

Overall having now owned both, I dont think a comparison of the 335 and m3 is valid. They are just to different. I could go onto the ice and snow with the 335, better mpg, different driving feeling and just a different car. The 335 is meant to be good at many things, while the m3 is meant to be great at just one. I think if you cant afford a m3, or need a more family oriented car that can still be fun get the 335, but for more performance oriented driving I think the m3 is needed. They are both fantastic cars and Id recommend either of them.


e93 interlagos blue, silver interior
tech, premium, heated seats, dct

It looks very similar to the coupe to me which is a great thing

Issues:
- I thought it had an alarm but it doesnt and I think that the prewiring ended which means I cant get an alarm, or can I?

- it also doesnt have a usb in the armrest. so i dont believe I can use my usb stick to play music like in the 335. I need to figure out how to connect my iphone and play music

- it did not come with shadowline trim, maybe because its the convert, but i was the black trim

- it came with the led tails but not the new headlights

- im hoping that my black kidneys grills, and angel eyes from my 335 will transfer right over

Why do you think you can't drive an M3 in the snow and ice? I do, as do many others here.

No, you can't add the alarm.

You should still be able to use the USB port in the glovebox.

E93s don't get shadowline, only the E90 and E92.

M3s didn't get the LCI front end, only the rear.

Your kidneys grills will not work, I'm not sure about the angel eyes.

[DadzM4]

Very nice car. Enjoy it. Love the color. I don't understand why they don't come with the new angel eyes. my Wife's e93 335 did. I believe your grills will switch over without issue, not sure about the angel eyes though.

[frenchM3dreamer]

you need to update your "drives:.." below your avatar
congrats on the E93 !

[deletedelete]

Originally Posted by DadzM3

Very nice car. Enjoy it. Love the color. I don't understand why they don't come with the new angel eyes. my Wife's e93 335 did. I believe your grills will switch over without issue, not sure about the angel eyes though.

Really, I saw a 335 with the new angels too and was so disappointed that I didnt get them

Originally Posted by quality_sound

Why do you think you can't drive an M3 in the snow and ice? I do, as do many others here.

No, you can't add the alarm.

You should still be able to use the USB port in the glovebox.

E93s don't get shadowline, only the E90 and E92.

M3s didn't get the LCI front end, only the rear.

Your kidneys grills will not work, I'm not sure about the angel eyes.

Yeah I can use the m3 in the snow with snow tires, but its not the same as my awd. I wouldnt feel as safe in the mountains like I did with my 335. Oh there is a usb drive in the glovebox, I thought that was only for uploading music, not playing, ill have to check.

And its weird that I bought the silver m3 speaker grills for my 335, yet the m3 came with the same black ones like my 335.

[deletedelete]

Originally Posted by frenchM3dreamer

you need to update your "drives:.." below your avatar
congrats on the E93 !

oh forgot about that thanks.

[DadzM4]

The silver speaker grills only come on the M3's with the upgraded sound system.

[deletedelete]

Originally Posted by DadzM3

The silver speaker grills only come on the M3's with the upgraded sound system.

Oh yeah I assumed that I had logic7 but I dont think I do, same as in my 335 I think, hopefully it didnt lose the amp like the '11 335's did.

And at least I have the m3 speaker grilles to transfer over

[deletedelete]

Anybody else think the gear shifter is a little bit small. Kinda looks odd to me..... not that im complaining.

[Gkap]

love the colour

[mkoesel]

Nice color combo.

[JulieDriving]

Great looking color combo, and it's an M.

But I don't get it. How can the difference in leasing between a 335i x-drive and an M3 convertible be only 30 cents or 30 dollars per month? (not sure what your 'c' meant). Aren't these cars separated by many thousands of dollars? Did you get a longer lease this time, did you put down a downpayment, etc.?

[bobbyd1961]

wow what a car! no comparison between 335 and M3 different universe i know i had the 335 too.

[sheepboy]

Love the color, but i'm a little biased ;-)

[ersin]

Originally Posted by JulieDriving

Great looking color combo, and it's an M.

But I don't get it. How can the difference in leasing between a 335i x-drive and an M3 convertible be only 30 cents or 30 dollars per month? (not sure what your 'c' meant). Aren't these cars separated by many thousands of dollars? Did you get a longer lease this time, did you put down a downpayment, etc.?

Maybe he meant $300.

Cheers.

[deletedelete]

I did not mean $300. I meant 30 cents, $0.30. The residual on the lease is so good that the payment is less than a dollar different compared to my 335 which was financed. 5 year financed on the 335 compared to the 3 year lease on the m3 is a dollar difference. No money down on the lease. The deal was unbelievable and I of course had to take it.

[Dice13]

I would think there are many differences. The residuals, the MF, options in 335 to less Options in the M. It seems you came out of a 2 year lease. Are you in a 3 year lease, how many miles on lease has a lot to do with it.

[Go Autobahn]

Just drive it with the Sport button on. You'll be much happier with the throttle response. When I first got my M3 (upgraded from a 335i), I also noticed how I had to press the gas pedal down a lot further to get the car to go... until I found the Sport button.

[Dice13]

Originally Posted by Prowess Symphony

I did not mean $300. I meant 30 cents, $0.30. The residual on the lease is so good that the payment is less than a dollar different compared to my 335 which was financed. 5 year financed on the 335 compared to the 3 year lease on the m3 is a dollar difference. No money down on the lease. The deal was unbelievable and I of course had to take it.

That explains it better. Something did not seem right. Good luck, Enjoy. Btw nice car.I think there is no comparisons between the two as stock cars. But you had mods on 335,with same mods on M night and day.

[signes]

Nice car, congrats. Makes me miss my vert. Don't think you can't drive it in the mountains in the winter, I do my mine even during storms.

Side note, you might want to dial down the color saturation in your pics...

[Powerbeast]

Congrats looks very nice.

[bobbyd1961]

Originally Posted by Go Autobahn

Just drive it with the Sport button on. You'll be much happier with the throttle response. When I first got my M3 (upgraded from a 335i), I also noticed how I had to press the gas pedal down a lot further to get the car to go... until I found the Sport button.

the power button?