M3 test drive impressions

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DuncS3

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Joined
Sep 26, 2012
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771
Location
Surrey, UK
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2017 C63S Coupe, 2005 E46 M3, 1988 Audi quattro
Took a Yas Marina Blue (colour) M3 out for a good test drive today. Looks wise, for the interior and exterior I think the M3 looks fantastic – absolutely no doubts there for me. I also seem to prefer the M3 over the M4 for now although I typically would look to get the coupe. These were my thoughts:

Noise - there I will say it - it actually sounds 'ok' – not fantastic but it does sound sporty and noisy although there is something synthetic or artificial about it that I couldn’t put my finger on (no not the supposed acoustic interior noise) but rather compared to the C63 - but I could live with it no problem. Another thing with the noise is that this wouldn’t be my first M3 (E46/E92 in my past) but it is a very unusual sound for a 'M' car – I thought it sounded a bit Japanese – i.e I could hear dump valve type whooshing and so on. Like I said, I could live with it and it is okay.

Traction – I have read on Pistonheads people complaining about lack of traction on the new M3/4 and I always thought what are they talking about (wtf) – I mean what were they expecting? The C63 will lose traction in the dry with the traction fully on but what do you expect with a lot of torque in a RWD car BUT – I think I can see their complaint a bit. Basically with traction control on it did cut in a fair bit and do that annoying loss of power you normally see on some cars. There were stretches of road in a straight line where the C63 might lose traction a bit but it actually doesn’t cut in like this so the TC must be calibrated completely differently as it keeps going and doesn’t put you in this no mans land of lost power and flashing traction light. So I put it in MDM mode (equivalent to Sport Handling mode) and that helps a bit but as someone coming from another RWD high power car it was noticeably annoying at first but I’m sure I could drive around it. Also big thump changing up which I think could be slightly unsettling on the car but is also quite exciting.

Power – yes obviously very quick – not quite as quick as my car imo but still easily quick enough.

Steering – I put the car in Sport Plus on Engine and comfort on dampers and steering as I found the steering really heavy in sport plus – my impression was that there is pretty much no steering feel in the F8x compared to the AMG .

Overall, I liked it a lot and I’m going to continue to look into it as a potential next car, so I’m not slating it with my comments above – I am a M and AMG fan and it’s a fantastic effort. Shame they couldn’t have put more power into the old e92 V8 and dropped that in there, as that would have been epic ☺

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MB need to get the C63 Coupe released quick or at least some C63 demo cars out there for comparison.

Dunc
 
M3/M4 not a sales success .. loads around in showrooms new and unsold. plus used ones galore.

bi turbo V8 over a bi turbo 6 any time, any place
 
Having owned an M3 (E36 Evo) in the past and 6 BMWs in total (i.e. I am not BMW hater), I do not like the styling at all on these new M4s.

...and it still upsets my OCD to have the M3 as the 4 door.

I would rather the C63 than the M4/M3.
 
Actually the sales guys will say its a success (when you talk to them) but literally there are 6 including the demonstrators in my BMW dealer - that doesn't say to me they are selling like hotcakes - I could buy one tomorrow based on that.

I am not too keen on the new C63 looks BUT I have not seen one in the flesh of course so will reserve judgement until then. Cant wait to test drive one after the Chris Harris video.
 
The lack of traction feeling people are experiencing is due to the m-variable diff fitted to these cars, it can be slow to react and was a step backwards from the old e46 m3 imo. Quaife can help out with that problem though.
 

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