I am going to miss the E9X M3

[RealStig]

The sad moment is near. In 3-4 months time I'll be either in a F10 M5 CP or a F80 M3. I'm #1 in my dealer's list for the M3, but I am having second thoughts regarding the car (my kid is getting older and wife is complaining too much about the ride and size of the 3 series) so I am also looking into the M5.

That being said, the past 3 years have been just so amazing. I don't think either of the car is going to give me the satisfaction this bad boy has given every single day. I still remember the first time I sat in this M3 and to this date I still feel the same way. There is something about this car, it's hard to describe. It's raw, forgiving, and complex character makes it a perfect gentlemen's car. I'd hold on to it if it weren't for the high residual and expensive warranty costs. It just does not make financial sense. I don't want to pay $1000/month for 5 more years for this car.

Even though my car was lease, I have done so much work on it. I detailed it with a clay bar 3-4 times a year, polished the exhaust tips, changed oil, cleaned all of my wheels by taking them off the car every time, and did my own fluids. It will be sad to let it go.

[fuddman]

Originally Posted by RealStig

Even though my car was lease, I have done so much work on it. I detailed it with a clay bar 3-4 times a year, polished the exhaust tips, changed oil, cleaned all of my wheels by taking them off the car every time, and did my own fluids. It will be sad to let it go.

Wow! You're a better man than me. My hat's off to your dedication.
That M5 looks like a hell'ava car. Good luck, whatever you choose.

[VCP]

You will not be alone here. I had to let my company buy a second E92 so I will still have one when the M4 arrives. My accountant did not agree tho. I have a new one of those as well

[track_warrior]

Dude the new 3 series is the size of a 7 series of the early 90's. Its a boat, my wife drives the 328d and it is way bigger than the e9x. Go with the M3, i dont think space will be a problem. If you are worried about the ride just get the adjustable oem suspension.

[Mr. ///M3 RD]

I know the feeling my friend, I too gave up my M3 to keep the piece with my wife. In the end as they say "Happy Wife Happy Life"

I drove four (4) ///M3's during the period of 10 years as my toys. Traded the last one in last October for a Benz E350 4Matic Coupe. Guess what it too has paddles and an AMG package. I picked a 2013 at a great price. It is a great and comfortable daily driver. Yes I do miss the E92 then family values do come first. I might still purchase the e46 (my first ///M3) back when the fellow I sold it to is done with it and add it to my garage toys.

Good luck in your search for a suitable replacement ...

[RealStig]

Originally Posted by track_warrior

Dude the new 3 series is the size of a 7 series of the early 90's. Its a boat, my wife drives the 328d and it is way bigger than the e9x. Go with the M3, i dont think space will be a problem. If you are worried about the ride just get the adjustable oem suspension.

Possibly true, but I test drove an M5 (so did my wife) and we both sat in the new F80 M3 in Philly auto show and found the F80 to be not much of an upgrade over E90 in terms of space and comfort. F80 is typical 3 series and that is really expected. It's plastic this and plastic that and you can't really reach your back pocket without getting out of the car while sitting (I weigh 165 pounds and I'm 5'11", so I'm not fat all). You guys know how it is, I mean we are all driving the same car right now

M5 is really something else, the seats are about 10 notches above the M3 seats. M3 seats really have very little padding and have a lot of plastic in them. In addition, the ride in M5 was just simply superb. A lot more comfortable, yet still rocket ship fast and aggressive. Lastly, the sound is simply unbelievable in M5. The car we drove was competition package and the exhaust note was very impressive, I'd say even better than the E90 M3 stock exhaust.

I'll be honest with you, after driving the M5, I felt like the first day in college. Going from M3 to M5 is like graduating from high school and going to college

That's all good about the M5, but what's going against is the size. M3 is a much more fun and manageable car. M5 is like a tank. So it's a trade off. I don't know what to do

[klammer]

I found the steering and overall "race car" feel to be lacking in the f10 M5....it's very fast though. Great GT car.

[RealStig]

Originally Posted by klammer

I found the steering and overall "race car" feel to be lacking in the f10 M5....it's very fast though. Great GT car.

Yes I totally agree. But at some point, if you are in my position, you do get tired of the race car feeling. Wife, kids, family, shopping, etc. M3 becomes a bit too much. It's too rough on your back and too much road noise. The rattles in this car also don't help the matters (I hope F80 is better but if 335 is any indication, it is not). It just becomes too much. Sometimes luxury and comfort are better and there are only a handful of cars where you get those with good performance figures.

[Jay-K]

respect, good luck with your decision

[thekurgan]

Originally Posted by RealStig

Yes I totally agree. But at some point, if you are in my position, you do get tired of the race car feeling. Wife, kids, family, shopping, etc. M3 becomes a bit too much. It's too rough on your back and too much road noise. The rattles in this car also don't help the matters (I hope F80 is better but if 335 is any indication, it is not). It just becomes too much. Sometimes luxury and comfort are better and there are only a handful of cars where you get those with good performance figures.

All BMWs rattle. Anyone who says otherwise is deaf. The M5 will rattle too, in one form or another, it's the cheap interior plastics and shitty clips used throughout.

Good luck on either choice, family first, the M5 is a beast and I give you credit for going with any of the F/I BMWs, I'm not that brave.

[Petros]

Originally Posted by track_warrior

Dude the new 3 series is the size of a 7 series of the early 90's. Its a boat, my wife drives the 328d and it is way bigger than the e9x. Go with the M3, i dont think space will be a problem. If you are worried about the ride just get the adjustable oem suspension.

Man, you took the words right out of my mouth! You're right, the new 3 series is about as big as a 20 year old 7 series, and would have been a behemoth back in the day! But in 2014 this is considered a "compact" sedan

I really wonder about all those people complaining about modern cars not being big enough and needing more space. How did our ancestors ever survive? Their cars back in the day were like sardine cans compared to what passes for a small car in the modern era.

To the OP I really recommend the M3over the M5. It's gonna be almost as fast in a straight line, and far better handling in the corners than the obese land yacht M5.

[brio]

I'd go with the F10 M5. The upgrade is unquestionable. It is tank but a hell of a fast one. You may have to suffer a loss in handling/nimbleness but overall, its worth it if you can do it. I'd love to have your dilemna

[MrStinky]

Why would someone go to e350m makes sense to get e63 or e550. 350 would be painful

[radiantm3]

Originally Posted by RealStig

Yes I totally agree. But at some point, if you are in my position, you do get tired of the race car feeling. Wife, kids, family, shopping, etc. M3 becomes a bit too much. It's too rough on your back and too much road noise. The rattles in this car also don't help the matters (I hope F80 is better but if 335 is any indication, it is not). It just becomes too much. Sometimes luxury and comfort are better and there are only a handful of cars where you get those with good performance figures.

We'll apparently you aren't the real stig.

[RealStig]

I test drove the competition package and I really drove it hard and I didn't really feel any difference in terms of handling between the M3 and the M5. In fact, M5's handling was more direct and provided more feedback. M3 is like a roller coaster (comparatively speaking). Too much road noise and you feel like you are in a go cart when you are driving over small bumps. Again, this is comparatively speaking. M3's ride is not bad at all, but once you are in an M5, you feel like wtf was I driving all this time. There is also way too much shake/looseness in the M3 steering rack. M5 feels more together and stable.

That being said, while I drove the car hard, I didn't take it to the track or didn't do donuts in the parking lot. I don't know how it handles under extreme cases, I'm sure it is worse than any other M3 out there including the E46. It's a big car. However, ask me how many times I tracked my M3 (or any car)? 0, nada, zip. I don't do any of that stuff so I'm not sure if any of that applies to me.

Number one thing that bothers me with my car is the road noise/feeling every single bump on the road, the stiffness of the front suspension, etc. My car also rattles like crazy. It has started the door squeak/rattle beginning 500 miles 3 years and it still goes on. I tried taking my car to the dealership and they applied the BMW recommended fix which is the teflon tape on door seals, but it doesn't do jack.

Now I am saying all this about the M5, but I know M3 is going to be faster than the M5. They are saying 3.9 seconds to 60, that means that's actually 3.6-3.7s or less which is just unreal. M3 also has the same 0-1000m number as the M5, which is pretty impressive if you ask me. It's about 1000 lighter and has 3-4 year newer technology. So my heart says go with the M3, get the fastest, more tossable car, but my mind says stop with this M3 shit, grow up, get a family car and go with the M5. Maybe I should spare the back pain to my friends and family now!

[track_warrior]

Originally Posted by radiantm3

We'll apparently you aren't the real stig.

[fuddman]

If price matters, I've read you can get an M5 at or below dealer invoice right now. You might even be able to do an ED invoice deal on an M5.
It would be interesting to compare M5 cost to expected cost of the M3/M4.

[RealStig]

Originally Posted by fuddman

If price matters, I've read you can get an M5 at or below dealer invoice right now. You might even be able to do an ED invoice deal on an M5.
It would be interesting to compare M5 cost to expected cost of the M3/M4.

That is what I am getting as well with the incentives below invoice.

M3 residuals are going to be terrible, a fully loaded will cost more than a base M5.

[ss134]

Sold my second E90 M3 last year- miss it every day! The new F80 M3 I have on order has big boots to fill.

[LarThaL]

Originally Posted by RealStig

Possibly true, but I test drove an M5 (so did my wife) and we both sat in the new F80 M3 in Philly auto show and found the F80 to be not much of an upgrade over E90 in terms of space and comfort. F80 is typical 3 series and that is really expected. It's plastic this and plastic that and you can't really reach your back pocket without getting out of the car while sitting (I weigh 165 pounds and I'm 5'11", so I'm not fat all). You guys know how it is, I mean we are all driving the same car right now

M5 is really something else, the seats are about 10 notches above the M3 seats. M3 seats really have very little padding and have a lot of plastic in them. In addition, the ride in M5 was just simply superb. A lot more comfortable, yet still rocket ship fast and aggressive. Lastly, the sound is simply unbelievable in M5. The car we drove was competition package and the exhaust note was very impressive, I'd say even better than the E90 M3 stock exhaust.

I'll be honest with you, after driving the M5, I felt like the first day in college. Going from M3 to M5 is like graduating from high school and going to college

That's all good about the M5, but what's going against is the size. M3 is a much more fun and manageable car. M5 is like a tank. So it's a trade off. I don't know what to do

Here's my issue with the M5.....It needs all wheel drive to properly get that much power and torque to the ground. At the same time, it is really too big a tank to take advantage of the dynamics of rear wheel drive.

That said, I am very happy with my S6, but no way in hell I would give up my M3 for it. The M3 just has such a perfect combination of objective and subjective factors, at least for me.

[deletedelete]

Get rid of the wife and kids and keep the m3. Jk but yeah I'm going to be sad also the day I have to give mine up. I feel for you.

[Petros]

Originally Posted by LarThaL

Here's my issue with the M5.....It needs all wheel drive to properly get that much power and torque to the ground. At the same time, it is really too big a tank to take advantage of the dynamics of rear wheel drive.
.

Agreed. To me the 550xi seems like the better car to buy. The extra straight line performance of an M5 isn't something that will be noticed or missed on a regular daily drive. And handling in the corners probably won't matter much since neither car will be nimble or tossable anyway.