Just drove the new M3:
 

6-speed, 4-door sedan. Sweet car, it was blocking my car at a friend's place so the owner just threw me the keys and said, "why don't you take my car". (Cute Asian girl, sorry I didn't get a picture). :(

It drove really well of course but did not have the torque in normal driving that I would expect from a V-8, it was OK but not that snappy. When I got back, she asked if I hit the "M" button, I never saw that. She said that it bumps it 100 hp, I was driving around with 315 instead of 415, (or something).

Hot car, none-the-less. :cool:

I thought the whoe "m" button thing only worked like that on the M5 but i could be wrong. It makes most of its power in the upper RPM's (much like the E46). I do know that the "sport" button on the e46 only changes the throttle positioning (ie you push it 25% but it reads it as 50% of pedal travel) and does nothing to actually change the performance.

Sweet...the redline is 8400 (!!!) so I suspect you have to zing it pretty good to get into the meat of the powerband, although I haven't driven one yet.

I did see the "sport button", right next to shifter. It makes it more responsive. It's a cool car but has a lot of gadgetry/technology in it. I did not even try to play w/ the idrive knob on my short drive. It's the kind of car that you need to spend a little time with, familiarising yourself with it. I'm sure that it's just the cat's ass once you get acquainted.

I'll get to drive it again some time, next time with her in the passenger seat so she can give me the briefing. This chick is real car nut, as is the friend we were both visiting. He's from England and has a Lancia back in UK that is some rally champ car, really bad-ass.

Yeah, it's a real high-revving engine but I still thought it would have gobs of low-end torque being a n/a V-8. It just feels like a normal, everyday car in city driving. :cool:

torque: that's what the 335d is for. SmileWavy

Nah, she's mistaken. The button does that on the M5 and M6, but on the M3 you get the entire 415hp all the time. On the M3, it can change the suspension mode and throttle maps, that's about it.

Correct.

I am also hugely impressed by the new M3, as I posted here sometime last year. In fact driving it in Europe prompted me to sell my 911. It's a perfect car really—particularly the four door.

Car & Driver tested the M3 against a 997 last month, and gave the M3 the edge. Heresy I know, but it is a very, very impressive machine.

Could it be that the car is very new? I have heard they are very tight until they are properly broken in.

I know that it's an incredible car and I thought of your glowing review of it when I drove it. I don't think that Porsche has anything to be ashamed of competing head-to-head with cars like that, I mean it won LeMans and dominated sports car racing for a while, did it not? It's gotten really competitive and I'd still rather have a 997S if both were free. If I had to buy it, the M3 would win out, it's ~$60k vs. $100k+. (New vs. new).

What surprised me was that it was nothing special to drive around the city. Ferry Porsche, who was famous for his great quotes, once said quite correctly that "a great car should be fun to drive around the block". (Paraphrasing). He was answering the frequent, ignorant comment from non-car people that a Porsche is basically worthless because the speed limit in the U.S. is 65 mph or something. And a good 911 is absolutely fun to drive to the convenience store for some ice. I took the M3 on a 1/2 mile errand in traffic and found it slow and not very responsive in the low range. The low range is where a city car lives, period. When I drive an unfamiliar car, or someone else's car, I drive very conservatively at first so I was not going to start winding the snot out of this thing in traffic, testing the brakes, etc... I expected it to be a little head-snapper off the line, (like a new 911), it sure wasn't. In fact, the 335 I drove felt quicker around town.

My other complaint, not limited to BMW, is that these new cars have so much technological "override" in terms of safety that if you try to hang the tail out a little in a corner the power cuts off, etc. I didn't try it in the M3 but I've felt it in other cars. I'd love to drive that M3 in a canyon sometime and really fall in love, but it hasn't happened yet. :cool:

Car has 7k miles on it.

It could be that the car was in a mild mode. The M button can be programmed from mild to no computer hookup.
I was interested in this car when I was looking in 2007. I'm still interested and may pick one up in a year or two.

I was more than a little impressed with the M-3 coupe a friend gave me a ride in last Sept. I didn't drive it, so no review.

Must have been. I remember driving an older 540 w/ 6-speed once and it would take your head off in 1st gear. And that's a heavier car w/ probably under 300hp.

I hear what you're saying here. There is a bit of "heavyness" to the car around town. Probably more than in a new 997. Of course when I compare the M3 to my 1988 911, the M3 feels like a ballerina on crack and my '88 like a dump truck.

That said, put a bit of open road under the M3 and it is a different animal. Puts a huge grin on your face. And I particularly like the 4 door—as I have always found the doors on the 3 series coupe too long—particularly in Europe where you just cannot open them in a lot of tight places.

One of the things that made me a bit cynical in the 997/M3 comparo was seeing the profit figures of Porsche and BMW for these cars published in a German car mag. Porsche makes almost 40 percent profit on a moderately optioned car. BMW makes almost none on the M3's because they consider the car a "brand builder". There's your price difference right there.

But on your point about which car is the most fun to drive around town and in traffic, my vote goes hands down to the new Fiat 500. Absolutely brilliant. Haven't driven it in Arbarth trim yet, but will on the next trip across the pond.

I believe it was voted gay car of the year , 2008

And why not? It's won every other possible award in Europe.

Our friends had also rented one of these last fall, and late one night, well into the cups, the boys did an unofficial "5 laps around the Vatican" test. I came in second (out of two), but thought at the time that it was the most brilliant small city car I have ever driven.

And its coming to North America this summer.

No Fiat - 500 or Abarth - will come to The States last I heard.

But it's a great looking car (didn't drive in one), when I saw several examples in Italy last summer.

But back to the M3: four doors is definitely in advantage. But IMO, no BMW M3 since tops the very first version from around '87 up to, I guess, '92. A high-revving dohc four-cylinder in a relatively light package is to me the quintessential performance package for the M3.

I just threw out a bunch of old car magazines - one a Euro car magazine - where the first M3 was regarded as one of the most important and influential automobiles ever built. The 911 was another, as well the classic Mini Cooper.

As an aside, I was cycling up Sepulveda Blvd. not too long ago, while someone was "testing" the limits of their 135 Coupe. That car was smokin' fast, and handled, by my sight, very, very well.

Maybe the 135 is the new/old M3. But with about 110 more hp, and a more modern (i.e. better) suspension.

At the same time I saw the 135, there was also a guy messing around with an Elise. I really wanted to see both cars race - if so, my money would go on the 135, as Sepulveda has some long straights and sweepers. With that, I think the 135's 300 hp would devour the 190 hp in the Elise.

my stock 118D without the lowered or sport suspension option, handles at least as good as like my 944S
It's not as brutal, since it is a diesel, lower revs, but on the country roads around my house, when i gun it with TC completely off, it's as fast or faster then the 944S.

I can only imagine what the 135 does