sparkster

Its been a while since ive been on here as i had to sell my scooby a few years back!

Since then ive had the "pleasure" of driving a 05 plate BMW M3 for three days. This was always a dream for me ever since the car came out. Oh how my dream was shattered! The word that comes to mind is

"OVERRATED"

I was expecting to be overwhelmed by a feeling of accelaration. On flooring it through first second and third i seriously thought there was something wrong with the car!! Wheres the torque? Theres none. The car is just not that quick. I try to think back to my scooby. It was an old jap import with mods putting out about 280bhp and i'm sure it could have given this car a run for its money. If anything the M3 would be fumbling for gears whilst the scoobys torque left it for dead. Amazing i was just so unimpressed. Who pays the money for these cars?

Ok it was a bit of a pose and the sound of it was something else but it wasnt for me!

Ive also recently driven a Mitsubishi Evo FQ340. Its not even funny how much that car would p*ss over an M3. In fact i'm sure the Evo 260 i drove felt quicker.

Sorry i'm being really harsh here but when you get the chance to live a childhood dream and get this experience, i need to write something!

Anyone else had the same experience?

Mark

RS Grant

Mark, I fear you may be told to use the Search function as this has been covered at length since... well, since the M3 was brought out.

I would agree that a Scooby feels faster than an M3, purely because there will be a big fookin kick from the turbo..... where as the M3 is n/a and IMO, it has a really smooth power delivery.

Be prepared for Transmission Loss/Heat Soak/Estimated Percentage of Driver Commitment comments when people talk about "When I raced an M3 and pissed all over it in a..." situations!!


Cheers,
Grant

flat4_ire

thank you! i recently made a comment on a site that i reckon the sti type r wud take an m3 in 1/4 mile drag, and i got abused for it!! i dont rate bmws at all to be honest, maybe the e46 m3 is a better monster than e36??

sparkster

Yeah, i know i will be told to go search but i so had to say something!!

So unimpressed. Turbos rock

CSLMan

Mark,

About the only bit of your observations that is accurate is that the other cars (Scoob, EVO) FEEL faster. Feeling faster is not the same as being faster.
The torque curve of the M3 is totally flat - there's no "nothing-nothing-nothing-EVERYTHING OH MY GOD-change gear"
I'm surprised you didn't realise this to be honest.
The M3 is basically as fast as most Scooby's / EVOs in a straight line drag - assuming the odd tenth of a second represents very little visible difference on the road.

SimonH

Having gone from a My00 turbo to a P1 to an 02 M3 I can assure you that the M3 is quicker than the scoobies. That said, it is a different "quicker".... The P1's (Tek3, decat etc) acceleration was brutal but it would run out of puff as the speed went up. The M3 doesn't give the same impression of speed but it just pulls and pulls - I've had it up to daft speeds (private runways etc) and you just know that it just wants to keep going.

That said, all these things are perhaps all personal impressions; if you felt that you couldn't rate it against the scoob then one can't argue with that Personally, I think it's leagues apart, in so many ways.

flat4_ire

in marks defense, i think u have to be in the passenger seat of both cars to make judgement, when ur in the passenger seat u can feel that suck of power in ur stomach, when ur drivin u think 400bhp aint enough! is this just me?

sparkster

I think my dissapointment has maybe taken a little off the M3's performnace but it still wasnt anything spectacular. Sorry

Your right it does pull and pull and pull. I do remember my scooby just seeming to go flat beyond 6000rpm.

I think also having been used to driving turbos for such a long time may have meant that i didnt make the most out of the revs. It just seemed an effort to get it to do anything. Nothing just happened - felt like i was driving a Nissan Micra and needed to think about overtaking. Do you know what i'm saying?

flat4_ire

i know what ur sayin, completely different car to scooby, they do look lovely but they are mad money for what u get..no turbo kick out of it, more progressive power, than VRRROOOM STSSSSHHHH!! lovely subaru impersonation there

CSLMan

No ... LOL

50mph.... pop it into 3rd and nail it - within a few seconds you'll be into three figure territory. Not really Micra territory!! hehe

The M3 does benefit from all the revs being used though - it's just a different approach to using a turbo'd engine.

sparkster

LOL - i'm thinking a total lack of knowledge on how to drive a powerfull NA car!!

CSLMan

Dr CSLMan recommends a further course of M3 driving for you

Mmmmm

Max power in the M3 is 7900rpm max torque is around 4900 rpm

You've got to whip it to get the proper pace, if you've got an smg keep your foot plannted till the change lights come on



it also suffers the extra weight of the much larger fanny magnet over the Mitsi or Scoob

sparkster

I wish! That was a one off three day driving experience unfortunately. Maybe again in the future if i can pull some strings

GCollier

My thoughts exactly when I tested one. Although the acceleration is deceptive and it is quicker that most subarus and evos, too many aspects of the car (engine note, build quality, steering, brakes) were disappointing. I was comparing it to a porsche 996, but after reading all the M3 hype in the magazines it just didn't live up to expectations.

Gary.

scoobyjimbo

I have had a go in a mates at work M3 rag top and to be honest i was seriously underwhelemed, it cost him 40k and to be fair i dont think it is worth that sort of money, I gave him a bit of a roasting in it with my sti (340bhp) and he was rather pi**ed off.. :-)

J

Deep Singh

I d'ont agree. I think the M3 I test drove was a fine car. For £20k less than a 996 even better. SMG box was great fun. Steering, handling etc very good.
Acceleration was good, its not meant to compete with Caterhams etc after all.

Only downside for me was the engine noise. Sounded like someone rattling nails in a jar(on acid!)

Also means you d'ont have to drive around with a comedy exhaust and spoiler!!

john banks

That is impressive. After two seconds in 3rd gear from 50 mph I'd only be at about 75 mph in my Scooby.

Need to go and try one

scoobyjimbo

Agree about the engine noise, not to my liking. I just think that there are better ways to spend 40k that would get you a better all round performance car. I do think though that if you are doing lot of miles and want a quick tourer then the m3 is a good bet, give me 40k to spend in a TVR dealer anyday.. opinions opinions hey!!
J

scoobyboy1

iTrader: (16)

Been in a E46 M3 cab and didnt think it was that quick either, and the bloke who owned it had loads of problems with it I think the diff broke and his hard top kept rattling and loads of other things and cost around £6k in repairs, lucky it was covered by warranty, but kind of put me off, as Ive loved these cars when they 1st come out, hope the new shape will be better when it comes out.

Still prefer a E36 dakar yellow M3.

Floyd

iTrader: (9)

I drove one and it felt fast but not a fast as I'd imagined. A dissapointment for sure.

The irony is that there's probably the same thread on a saxo site about std scoobs

F

Fuchsrohre

Its bliss, isn't it ?

"I have had a go in a mates at work M3 rag top and to be honest i was seriously underwhelemed, it cost him 40k and to be fair i dont think it is worth that sort of money, I gave him a bit of a roasting in it with my sti (340bhp) and he was rather pi**ed off.. :-)"

then your car overheated, and you limped home with the sound of your big exhaust ringing in your ears?

Dirty Bus

I can honestly say I did an experimant with an m3. my 2005 sti ppp with bro in m3, did a few tests and pulling onto main roads he honestly had enough power to real me in and make to pass me before i got to 80 mph.
Do not underestimate the m3

Dirty Bus

I think the m3 may feel slower because its built a little better

Dirty Bus

dont underestimate my bad spelling either

flat4_ire

that woman is gorgeous! wouldnt mind some of that

CSLMan

Inferior you see

Well I did say "a few" - and a few is a bit more than two. Or at least that's what I meant

john banks

Since when was "8" a few LOL

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

IMO the M3 is for the posers...has been and always will be. Which is why the better Beamers actually get ignored because they lack the image.


The bigs boys have the M5 - that is the king of fast beamers...it always has been. With the recent exception of the CSL which I haven't driven (yet...not likely either ). the m3 has always been left gasping by its big brother in both handling, performance, brakes, and even weight! 3 series of late have got rather lardy, whilst the 5 has managed to keep trim. Thus the weight difference between most 3's and 5's is the same as having your mate in the passenger seat.

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Yup they are a bit over rated, though nice cars, ive not come across one (e46) yet that can keep up with my "standard" scoob (ok i do have a panel filter )
But like any NA engine, your not going to have the same sort of power delivery that a turbocharged engine does, though most scoobs will be left for dust (i had an SMG leave me standing in my last 260bhp scoob) some will do the opposite

Tony