OP
OP
Palmball
MB Enthusiast
Later today...I promise
Mmm...tell you about the M3?
Well, it's so similar to what you drive now in so many ways that you can just tell they were designed and developed to compete with each other.
Differences are like hairs breadths apart in so many areas but the key things that stand out as exceptional in the M3 are the following:
- Gearbox - fast, smooth and effective. It feels great and does what a gearbox is supposed to do very very well. I can imagine the car can eek out performance advantages against other cars just on the basis of how quick the change is.
- The handling - this latter point is to be expected given all the press reviews but I had forgotten just how sharp this thing is to drive. Bobbersmill described it as twitchy and it is definitely more 'wired' than the C63, but it's just has really sharp turn-in and bags of front-end grip...this in particular never seems to run out. It doesn't roll though, especially when you have the adaptive damping set in it's hardest of its three settings. Let's put it this way, I put all that work into my C63's suspension by fitting KW's V3 coilovers and even after that I still reckon the M3 has better body control (in particular, it has less roll) and is just the more competent car at flowing over the blacktop. I certainly won't be changing a single thing on my cars' standard suspension.
- iDrive - it has the latest iDrive and it's fabulous. The Nav is full postcode input, it has a very high-def and huge widescreen, it works fast and is very well 'connected' with the outside world and other devices (iPhone and Google integration is particularly impressive). As a tool for helping assist you in 'life' when you spend a lot of time in the car, it's very effective. The Harman Kardon stereo is also very loud and of good quality...BMW know how to engineer good stereo's in their cars (as long as you don't have a basic system and pay extra for one of the various upgrade options)
- Engine? Well, it's not a car that feels particularly fast in comparison to other things I've owned but as with the Maserati, I'm getting less and less bothered by needing to have the fastest thing out there (nothing this side of a new GT-R would be as quick as my 911 Turbo anyway, so if that was my main priority, I'd have just kept that car). The M3 needs to be revved VERY hard but the 'box makes that so easy to do and it's at higher revs that the engine feels and sounds best....it likes to be revved and it's nature encourage it. The C63 sounds better in everyday driving but from say up to 6k rpm, it starts to sound more 'normal' whereas the M3 takes on a hardcore rasp at higher revs right up to it's 8.5k limit. Like I said about the handling, it's more of a 'wired' car which is much less relaxing and therefore harder to drive fast than the C63.
Where the C63 trumps the M3 and makes a case for itself as a better everyday car is in the following areas:
- Refinement - the M3 is a lot noisier in terms of road and wind noise which was immediately obvious the minute I got it on the motorway (the Maserati was also very refined in this respect so that made it seem worse no doubt).
- Sound - the M3 has a unique sound which is very modern and high-tech in tone (when moving), and at higher speeds it probably has the edge in aural quality too. But, at idle it sounds like a pig and during everyday driving, the C63 simply sounds better for more of the time.
- Build quality - contrary to Bobbersmill comments on the plastics, I actually think the 3-series plastics are better than in the C-Class - they're less shiny, softer and more plush feeling. However, whilst my M3 doesn't rattle (yet!), it doesn't feel quite as well assembled as the C63 and can imagine that after a few years hard graft it would probably not hold up as well as the Merc. Ideal world would be having the Merc's construction with the BMW's materials.
- Power - the C63 is simply a faster car....perceptibly so too. Side by side, I actually think that you'd not notice any difference because the gearbox in the M3 is so much quicker and as such, it counters the lack of comparative power. But, for in-gear acceleration and feeling of sheer grunt, the C63 whoops it.
- Image - it's an M3 and has the associated image of one....which isn't necessarily good. The C63 is much more special (exotic even?), unique and doesn't have so many traits associated with it. Looks are subjective but if I was pushed, I'd say the C63 looks better in 4-door format and the M3 better in coupe format (for instance, I'd never have had a 4-door M3 over a C63, no matter how good the deal was!)
There, I hope that gives a fairly objective opinion of the M3 and whilst I have compared it a lot to the C63, thats inevitable given I've owned both of them, how similar they are and the fact that it's a subject of constant contention!
Perfectly said benzedUP - despite the cars I've had before, it was the test drive that made me actually decide on the M3. It certainly wasn't for the way it sounded or the way it looked (I did have the Maserati after all!) so it was entirely down to the way it drove (and a little bit to do with cost
)hello palmball,
what have you done you will have dhard telling us i told you so
did you not have a look at the e63 amg again i remember you saying last time you really enjoyed the e63 drive.
the way prices are at the moment on these you would have got a good deal.
i think sometimes we dont really appreciate the comfort in the amgs or the m3s for every day use which makes them so good.
dhard can p!ss off. I'll listen to him when he's owned both cars and actually has the experience to make an objective and informed opinion!
1-2 year old E63 deals were good yes, but it still came down to one of the reasons I pulled out last time....looks and image! I'm just a bit too young for the E and whilst it's undoubtedly one of the most competent cars I've ever driven (if not the very best one overall!), there is a bit of me which is shallow enough to have a decision swayed on 'how I look in it'!
