My M3 story. A bit lengthy, sorry!
After 4 years of ownership of my 335i DCT, by far the best car I've owned, I part ex-ed her for an M3.
I have to blame Dan from M3 cutters for that. He drove me a few laps around Silverstone on a BMW track day over a year ago and I was hooked after that.
A couple of days later I saw a top gear episode where the Stig took the C63, RS5 and M3 around the track and the M3 wiped the floor with them by 5 seconds! This made me want one even more.
I used to think "what's the point in buying a car that costs twice as much to run, when I can make my 335i faster (in a straight line - 12.8 at the pod, but that's another story) than an M3, after all it's just another 3 series".
Oh how wrong I was, after that day I realised that these were 2 completely different cars, one was a bloody quick 3 series and the other was a sports car.
Anyway, I went around and test drove all of the competition first, so that I didn't make a mistake.
I drove:
C63 AMG
Jaguar XK-RS coupe
Audi RS4
Audi RS5
Porsche Cayman-S
even a 2008 Aston Martin V8 Vantage that had dropped into the price range.
They were all very good cars in different ways.
After all of that, an M3 with the spec I was looking for (2012 Lci, EDC, DCT, carbon trim, 3000 miles) came up and I went for a test drive.
I could have waited for the new M4, but I wanted an NA engine and have always wanted a V8, so in my mind I wanted a later one with low mileage that I can keep hold of (the value will probably fall off a cliff, but I'll worry about that in several years time)
I'd shown the wife the photos, and on the way there she was saying what all wives would. "I can hardly see the difference between this and the one we're in now", "so what are you getting for another £25k on top of yours?"
I then started to have my doubts :(. Maybe she was right!
She never liked going out in the 335i, especially once I put the JB4 in. The power delivery was quite brutal. A short pause then you got everything all in one go. Yep, very exciting for me as I knew it was coming. She got thrown around a bit. Especially on differing road surfaces, the power was quite difficult to lay down without an LSD, so this would make the ride quite jerky.
Still a brilliant car though.
When we arrived and saw it, the wife started to warm up a bit. "In the flesh it does look a lot nicer than yours". haha, she's starting to melt. :) Although I felt a little bit offended :rolleyes:
We then went for a test drive down an A-road, nothing over 5000 rpm. It was at this point I asked if there were any country roads we could take a spirited drive around, I pointed out that I wasn't interested if I couldn't do that. Ok, next left he said. I turned left, M button pushed, throttle right up and away we go.
Now at this point I looked at the wife, her face was a picture. "Blimey" she said, followed by several more blimeys, it's the only thing she seemed able to say! (she's never normally lost for words :lol:) - (was this a good thing, I was thinking :confused2). The roar of the engine at 6000-8300 rpm is sublime, but for me the blips on the DCT downshifts are the best thing about it, the V8 just roars. "That's a nice noise" she said. At this point, I'd forgotten about the other test drives and I want it.
We get back to dealership and I play it cool. The dealer leaves us alone to look around the car. The wife says, it's up to you, buy it if you want it, I'm convinced. Music to my ears!! :happyanim:
All that's left now is the part ex. He'd asked me for the keys and I said I'd rather walk around the car with him, so he waited.
We went to look around it and he couldn't believe how well I'd looked after it. As we walked around it I pointed out all of mods I would be removing, there were a lot, which made me think, all of the mods I bought, I could have probably bought an M3 in the first place. At the time I bought the 335i though, I had the attitude that the M3 was a waste of money.
We reached a bit of a sticking point over the non run flats. It looked like it was going to be a deal breaker, I pointed out that whoever buys this car will see this as a plus point. His boss agreed and we reached an amicable agreement.
Anyway, I collected the car last Thursday and drove it gingerly into work on the Friday. I parked it up in the corner before all of the bosses arrived in there 320d and 520d's. Once they arrived, nobody would believe it was mine.
Here it is:
I didn't go anywhere on the Saturday as I was waiting in for people that had bought some of my mods.
I took it over to one of my mates on Sunday, who also owns an M3 (LE 500 in Imola red/black wheels).
We went for a drive and basically tooling around country roads. We got a lot of admiring glances from people outside pubs, a thumbs up from some garyboys at the lights and when I drove past some cyclists I blipped the DCT down to 2nd and I heard a bloke shout "WHOOOAA, F*cking sweet" which made me laugh.
We stopped at the side of A5D in Milton Keynes and another E92 M3 drove past us at WOT, it sounded like a fighter plane going past. Nice! :)
I woke up the next day and couldn't lift my head off of the pillow, I had completely f*cked my neck. I must have jarred it on the Sunday.
I have been off work since! Things are improving so I should be back in it for Easter.
One down side is that although it has the top media package, it has the most basic speakers I've ever had in a car since my Escort MK1. (It was originally a £64K motor!) I've just bought an Alpine upgrade kit from a forum member and I am looking for some logic 7 subs.
Got some subtle mods in mind:
Black performance grilles - DONE
Black side grilles
Spacers - Got these ready to fit.
Drop - Not really sure about altering the geometry on this car though.
Wheels and tyres for winter use (not black)
I'll get some more pics up later.
Thanks for reading :)
After 4 years of ownership of my 335i DCT, by far the best car I've owned, I part ex-ed her for an M3.
I have to blame Dan from M3 cutters for that. He drove me a few laps around Silverstone on a BMW track day over a year ago and I was hooked after that.
A couple of days later I saw a top gear episode where the Stig took the C63, RS5 and M3 around the track and the M3 wiped the floor with them by 5 seconds! This made me want one even more.
I used to think "what's the point in buying a car that costs twice as much to run, when I can make my 335i faster (in a straight line - 12.8 at the pod, but that's another story) than an M3, after all it's just another 3 series".
Oh how wrong I was, after that day I realised that these were 2 completely different cars, one was a bloody quick 3 series and the other was a sports car.
Anyway, I went around and test drove all of the competition first, so that I didn't make a mistake.
I drove:
C63 AMG
Jaguar XK-RS coupe
Audi RS4
Audi RS5
Porsche Cayman-S
even a 2008 Aston Martin V8 Vantage that had dropped into the price range.
They were all very good cars in different ways.
After all of that, an M3 with the spec I was looking for (2012 Lci, EDC, DCT, carbon trim, 3000 miles) came up and I went for a test drive.
I could have waited for the new M4, but I wanted an NA engine and have always wanted a V8, so in my mind I wanted a later one with low mileage that I can keep hold of (the value will probably fall off a cliff, but I'll worry about that in several years time)
I'd shown the wife the photos, and on the way there she was saying what all wives would. "I can hardly see the difference between this and the one we're in now", "so what are you getting for another £25k on top of yours?"
I then started to have my doubts :(. Maybe she was right!
She never liked going out in the 335i, especially once I put the JB4 in. The power delivery was quite brutal. A short pause then you got everything all in one go. Yep, very exciting for me as I knew it was coming. She got thrown around a bit. Especially on differing road surfaces, the power was quite difficult to lay down without an LSD, so this would make the ride quite jerky.
Still a brilliant car though.
When we arrived and saw it, the wife started to warm up a bit. "In the flesh it does look a lot nicer than yours". haha, she's starting to melt. :) Although I felt a little bit offended :rolleyes:
We then went for a test drive down an A-road, nothing over 5000 rpm. It was at this point I asked if there were any country roads we could take a spirited drive around, I pointed out that I wasn't interested if I couldn't do that. Ok, next left he said. I turned left, M button pushed, throttle right up and away we go.
Now at this point I looked at the wife, her face was a picture. "Blimey" she said, followed by several more blimeys, it's the only thing she seemed able to say! (she's never normally lost for words :lol:) - (was this a good thing, I was thinking :confused2). The roar of the engine at 6000-8300 rpm is sublime, but for me the blips on the DCT downshifts are the best thing about it, the V8 just roars. "That's a nice noise" she said. At this point, I'd forgotten about the other test drives and I want it.
We get back to dealership and I play it cool. The dealer leaves us alone to look around the car. The wife says, it's up to you, buy it if you want it, I'm convinced. Music to my ears!! :happyanim:
All that's left now is the part ex. He'd asked me for the keys and I said I'd rather walk around the car with him, so he waited.
We went to look around it and he couldn't believe how well I'd looked after it. As we walked around it I pointed out all of mods I would be removing, there were a lot, which made me think, all of the mods I bought, I could have probably bought an M3 in the first place. At the time I bought the 335i though, I had the attitude that the M3 was a waste of money.
We reached a bit of a sticking point over the non run flats. It looked like it was going to be a deal breaker, I pointed out that whoever buys this car will see this as a plus point. His boss agreed and we reached an amicable agreement.
Anyway, I collected the car last Thursday and drove it gingerly into work on the Friday. I parked it up in the corner before all of the bosses arrived in there 320d and 520d's. Once they arrived, nobody would believe it was mine.
Here it is:
I didn't go anywhere on the Saturday as I was waiting in for people that had bought some of my mods.
I took it over to one of my mates on Sunday, who also owns an M3 (LE 500 in Imola red/black wheels).
We went for a drive and basically tooling around country roads. We got a lot of admiring glances from people outside pubs, a thumbs up from some garyboys at the lights and when I drove past some cyclists I blipped the DCT down to 2nd and I heard a bloke shout "WHOOOAA, F*cking sweet" which made me laugh.
We stopped at the side of A5D in Milton Keynes and another E92 M3 drove past us at WOT, it sounded like a fighter plane going past. Nice! :)
I woke up the next day and couldn't lift my head off of the pillow, I had completely f*cked my neck. I must have jarred it on the Sunday.
I have been off work since! Things are improving so I should be back in it for Easter.
One down side is that although it has the top media package, it has the most basic speakers I've ever had in a car since my Escort MK1. (It was originally a £64K motor!) I've just bought an Alpine upgrade kit from a forum member and I am looking for some logic 7 subs.
Got some subtle mods in mind:
Black performance grilles - DONE
Black side grilles
Spacers - Got these ready to fit.
Drop - Not really sure about altering the geometry on this car though.
Wheels and tyres for winter use (not black)
I'll get some more pics up later.
Thanks for reading :)
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