igratton

Arron, and other M3 Coupe Owners.

Today I had the strangest of thoughts....I thought I may like to attempt M3 ownership for a while .

I went to my local B'mer dealership today to find out their demonstrator has been sold....with no hope of any UK cars in the immediate future. They also mentioned approx 18 month wait for a new car

Euro spec imports are also taking 14months to arrive

All I need is a test drive right now.

If anyone knows a midlands dealer with a demo car give me a shout.

Any details of driving experiences after P1 ownership would be useful to (Birdy - start slagging m8 )

How will somebody like me who feels flattered by the 'the car does all the driving' P1 cope with a RWD monster ????

Looking forward to your constructive comments.

regards

Ian

I think I am just bored - early mid life crisis or something. I think it may be time to try something different after 4 years of scoobies. Its not all decided - just assessing my options.

[Edited by igratton - 3/3/2002 10:06:03 PM]

Chins

Ian

A good place to ask the same question would be at www.bm3w.co.uk A few ex P1 owners on there.

In the same way a Scooby flatters your AWD, so will
an M3, at least with DSC switched on.
The main thing I would say is that unlike a Scooby, where
you feel at one with the car within minutes, its taken
a whole lot longer to appreciate the ability of my M3.
So even if you get a test drive, you might not reach the
correct conclusion.

For me the main negative thing is its license losing ability.
Sure all performance cars can reach highly illegal speeds, but
some give you lot of smiles before 3 figures are reached.
Been out in mine today, and realised I need to get shot of
it before I get shot of my license. Full on accleration
is addictive, esp with the engine/exhaust note. Just dont look
at the speedo.

Jonathan

igratton

Good starter.

The P1 is all 'in your face' - noisy, bumpy, you feel the spool of the turbo and its pretty convincing power wise. But it feels that way at any speed so its easy to get your kicks up to 70(ish). I imagine the M3 feels a bit 'sleepy' if thats the correct word...power is more constant delivery from the big six....and 100+ comes in a slient/stealthy manor.

You know when your being naughty in the P1....I guess the M3 does it in style with no rattles, noise or fuss.

I can't understand the way I feel about the P1 right now - I love it to bits - its a fantastic car dont get me wrong. I think the big thing is I have a 2 week trip to southern france in the summer. My wife can't imagine the journey in the P1 - but she imagines the M3 would be comfortable.

The other 2 *big* things that did it for me is there is a brand spanker sat on a drive near where I walk chester (the chocolate lab)....he had a schnitzer (excuse my spelling) M3 before that - its lovely - black - 19s etc.

oh dear - this is going to cost money - I can see it now

Blow Dog

http://www.blowdog.com/hall_of_fame.html

There is a quite write up on the bottom of the page about Murketts BMW. Give them a call.

Cem

Blow Dog

http://www.blowdog.com/html/m3.html
And the car itself.

Cem

P1Fanatic

Damn if BlowDogs mrs is anything to go by, having a fast car more than pays for itself schwiiiiing!

igratton

Cheers Cem,

I'll check it out.

You may be interested to know an R34 skyline is also on the shortlist

Ian.

Blow Dog

Well, you know which I went for

Cem

igratton

I have issues with the majority of BMW owners - I ain't saying they are bad people. But it seems some are elitist snobs - unlike scoobynet

Ian.

ARRON BIRD

Fine if you want to drive around in a depreciating Datsun
Ian call me on 07889 904990 sometime and I`ll tell you all about it. I may well be able to get you in a car much quicker than 18 months mate as Murketts ahve one hell of an allocation for this year.

Yex

Ian,

I'm in the same position re an M3. My local dealer is trying like mad to get me a car to test drive and is currently scouring the country for a used one for me He reckons he'll have a test car for me in a couple of days but it may take a few weeks after that to get the right colour, interior, accessories match for me if the test car is not to my liking. I have already agreed a trade in value on my RB5WR and have the finance in place but cannot go any further until a car is available, and people say there is a recession on

He says he can give me a factory build slot for September if I wanted a new one but I only want one that is 1 year old, or slightly newer if possible.

Regards

Yex

ps: perhaps me, you and Birdmeister should visit an official scooby meet in the near future

MattOz

Just had my 330d serviced at Godfrey Hall BMW in Coventry. They have a Silver M3 for sale. It's got 18's and black leather. Price is £41995. Give them a call on 02476 600600.

Matt

ARRON BIRD

Matt went out on the Mille yesterday mate.
****. Its megga. Taking a little getting used to after 5 years on a GSXR
Fourth gear mingers first time out tho so dont think it`ll take too long to get it sorted

GaryC

My local BMW dealer (Bowker) has three 2nd hand ones. 1 ex-mgt car, 1 ex-demo, 1 ex-customer who has traded up to a soft-top. All £42-44k.

igratton

Making for interesting reading.

I really need a good testdrive to help me decide. Its not something thats a huge hurry - the P1 more than ok right now.

I hope a < 2hours testdrive is enough to start to at least understand the beasts handling. RWD is a big change for me - the only rear drivers I've played in have been 7 Superlights.

Arron - how safe is the car with the DSC/Traction switched in ? and how much fun is it without ?

Its a shame its been moved from general to here - but it seems like the thread has the attention of those it needs.

Cheers folks.

Ian.

MattOz

Ian,

The M3 is fantastic, even in the wet. I've heard of several owners who are flabberghasted by the level of grip available to them in damp comditions. Of course, it's probably going to break traction earlier than an Impreza, but it is only RWD. In the dry, it'd leave any Impreza, UK, P1, STI7 for dead. No question.

ASC+T and/or DSC does work, but if you're a real hooligan, it'll still kick the **** end round. This happens quite a bit with my 330d, but then it does have more torque than the M3!

Basically, give one a try, and see if it suits you. You might find that the rawness of the P1 just does it for you. It's horses for courses. Personally I'd have an M3, but then it is about £10-£15K more than the Subaru. This is surely a big factor to consider.

I suppose that to sum up, I'd swap my 330d and my R33 GTR V-Spec Skyline for an M3. I just haven't found anyone out there to trade with! LOL

Matt

igratton

Took a trip back to my local B'mer dealers yesterday.

Still no news of their demonstrator (one is supposedly coming). They reckon on 11-12months delivery now and not 18 - which is better.

It doesn't really count for anything until I get my grubby mitts on their demo car for a play of course

I'm gonna keep doing my research for the time being me thinks.

I wondered if people would just give you grief over the BMW and M3 badges - the general public seem to believe that all BMW drivers are likely to cut them up or be daft on the roads - that is also a deciding factor - I hate being judged LOL

Ian.

cheeseboy

"all performance cars can reach highly illegal speeds, but
some give you lot of smiles"

That is definetly true! Having now moved to Germany, it has allowed me the privilege of driving some of the fastest cars around and legally! Of course just as test drives... But, if you are really eager to have a test drive, get yourself on a cheap flight to munich, spend the weekend and try several of the models -and perhaps a porche while you´re here ;-)

Neal

ARRON BIRD

I have to say I get a lot more attention in the M3 than I ever did in my P1.
Much less of a boy racer image. Get a lot of admiring glances and no hate mail. Sorry Cem I must be more popular than you. Mind you I would never have thought of putting someone`s demo car on a set of rollers hey
Ian stop whincing about and order one.If you dont want it somebody else will.
Welcome to the real world of quality motoring mate.

Blow Dog

Let's not get into a debate about whether a car is subject to abuse on a rolling road, shall we.

Besides, it would have been cool if some little birdy didn't tell him

Cem

ARRON BIRD

No Cem it would have been far cooler for some other clever cloggs not to post the pictures on his free to everyone web page

Blow Dog

The address of which miraculously appeared on his lap

Cem

igratton

speaking from a purely scientific angle - if an M3 happened to be strapped to a rolling road what power would it hypothetically make ?

Ian

Blow Dog

Hmm,
As a hypothetical question, based on my calculations I should imagine the car would only reach 285 BHP because it's traction control system would, hypothetically, limit power based on assumed slip.

Hypothetically speaking.

Cem

cheeseboy

Common as muck these things here in germany... But not many scoobs though :-(




V nice auto. Goes like the clappers too...

igratton

So Cem,

Good answer - based upon estimations as to what may happen if an M3 was seated firmly on a set of rollers

your site mentioned you handed over a deposit...or has that changed since living with the R34 ?

I spec'ed the car I'd want on the B'mer site last night - its in my virtual garage - and mrs hippy likes it


regards

Ian

Blow Dog

I drove the M3 and put a deposit down on it straight away.
I then drove an R34 and realised I could have all this fin and save 10k too.

Cem

ARRON BIRD

Cem you`ll need that dosh mate when you go to get rid of the R34.
Think depreciation is an issue especially on an import.

Blow Dog

Compared to an M3? Time will tell.

ARRON BIRD

Ian my car is up for grabs if you want it call me 07889904990