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M3 Update

EightySix Four

EightySix Four

Diamond Member
So I thought I would give you guys some updates on my M3 after owning it for nearly 8 months and 11k miles.

Road/DD
The suspension is fine 90% of the time, but about 2-3 hours in on a road trip it begins to really wear on your back at times. We drove up to Colorado and I enjoyed the drive there but once we started to get on less quality pavement I needed a serious break.

The DCT is really annoying when maneuvering at low speed, unfortunately where I live I hit the "sweet spot" of jerkiness basically every day coming out of the lot. It's annoying and almost a bit embarrassing when it happens if you have a passenger. As time has gone on I've been able to modulate the throttle better to minimize it, but it still isn't a good feeling.

The rest of the car has been fantastic. The seats are sporty but comfortable (and took me nearly a month to get just right, so many adjustments), I like this version of iDrive quite a bit, the steering wheel is absolutely perfect, and despite my aggressive driving the tires last me a bit longer than I thought they would.

15.7mpg

HPDE
My first HPDE I was actually pretty disappointed. It was fun to drive, but failed to really do anything to make me love it. The DCT/V8 combo meant the motor was right where you wanted it, the suspension did a great job of keeping the car poised and level, but I could not seem to do anything to make me love it. Driven at 8/10 the car was boring and overly-predictable and at 9/10 something wasn't quite right, enough so that I never became confident in the car. The transition from 8/10 to 9/10 was unsettling every time I started to push harder. There never seemed to be a middle ground and driving the car that hard just didn't feel right, and I normally like driving cars that are very edgy (Viper, C63, etc).

Between my first and second HPDE I changed the tires.

Holy shit. This is what an M car is supposed to feel like. All the control at 9/10 that seemed to missing was there in spades. The confidence the car gave you was unbelievable and it just drove magnificently. I learned that day that what I had thought was 8/10 and 9/10 before was in reality closer to 6/10 and 7/10. You could just keep pushing and pushing and the car kept eating up everything you threw at it. I honestly can say that I can't get near the car's limits now.

tl;dr - I like my M3, it's a solid DD, an okay road trip car, and a fantastic HPDE car.
 
How would you compare the M3 ride harshness to a Viper, since you've driven both?

I can't imagine ever finding the Viper harsh, so I'm curious how it compares.

Viper GTS
 
Viper GTS said:
How would you compare the M3 ride harshness to a Viper, since you've driven both?

I can't imagine ever finding the Viper harsh, so I'm curious how it compares.

Viper GTS
Click to expand...

It's been awhile since I drove the Viper so I couldn't give you a fair comparison, but I remember being a bit surprised at the suspension being as floaty as it was in such a hard-nosed car. I mainly remember how violent it was. I'm also older and physically bigger than I was when I drove the Viper, so that may have a lot to do with it.

Part of my complaint comes from how often I hit the M button which tightens up the suspension, but how could you not hit it?
 
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As a fellow E92 M3 owner, I'd like to chime in.

I think the suspension is quite amazing. As a DD I have the DCT set at 4. When I take road trips and I'm just cruising on the highway, I keep it in 1. For passing I always have Sport Ultra mode.

In a 4.5 hour journey to Vegas, my wife and I arrived comfortably without any back pain.

I too have issues with jerkiness at low speeds, but usually it is in the morning. It's not every day and it's not temperature dependent. I just force the DCT into 2nd and then it's fine. Once I leave my neighborhood and it's warmed up a little the problem is gone. I don't know if it's because I have the DCT set at 4, but it's completely fine in 'automatic' mode at slow speeds.

I average about 16.5 mpg.

It truly is an amazing automobile.
 
dirtboy said:
As a fellow E92 M3 owner, I'd like to chime in.

I think the suspension is quite amazing. As a DD I have the DCT set at 4. When I take road trips and I'm just cruising on the highway, I keep it in 1. For passing I always have Sport Ultra mode.

In a 4.5 hour journey to Vegas, my wife and I arrived comfortably without any back pain.

I too have issues with jerkiness at low speeds, but usually it is in the morning. It's not every day and it's not temperature dependent. I just force the DCT into 2nd and then it's fine. Once I leave my neighborhood and it's warmed up a little the problem is gone. I don't know if it's because I have the DCT set at 4, but it's completely fine in 'automatic' mode at slow speeds.

I average about 16.5 mpg.

It truly is an amazing automobile.
Click to expand...

I have slight lower back problems (6'5, 230) so the stiffer suspension exacerbates it no matter what, but I'll admit that on the long drives it was normally through some nice twisties with everything set to sport.

The jerkiness doesn't exist in auto because the car starts out in 2nd unless you're in M mode or launch control. I pretty habitually have it in manual mode which is part of the problem. A shift into second would be okay except there's a few starts/stops to get out of my driveway and I tend to forget it, they're not deal breakers by any means, and the car is amazing.
 
What years are your E92s?

My '11 E90 with DCT doesn't exhibit any issues at low speeds at all. I'm almost at 15K miles now.
 
dirtboy said:
As a fellow E92 M3 owner, I'd like to chime in.

I think the suspension is quite amazing. As a DD I have the DCT set at 4. When I take road trips and I'm just cruising on the highway, I keep it in 1. For passing I always have Sport Ultra mode.

In a 4.5 hour journey to Vegas, my wife and I arrived comfortably without any back pain.
Click to expand...

Where were you driving from?

Road quality varies widely, Colorado is pretty brutal given the low highway maintenance budget and frequent freeze/thaw cycles.
 
ajskydiver said:
What years are your E92s?

My '11 E90 with DCT doesn't exhibit any issues at low speeds at all. I'm almost at 15K miles now.
Click to expand...

'12

Put it in manual, 1st gear, and try and cruise around slowly, the clutch isn't sure whether to engage or disengage and it will jerk a bit. It's not a big deal, but I figured I would mention it.
 
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