Okay, so had to pop into Chandlers this morning as my steering's not straight after KDS and need it sorting.
As luck would have it, M3 was there just been nicely warmed up and was offered a drive! Chris, the salesman, went first as he hadn't even driven it yet (which is fair enough).
So impressions from passenger seat. It's quiet when you start it and very refined. The seats are incredibly comfortable. Other than that standard fare except to add as a side note, road noise from the tyres is way way less that my Pirellis!!
So we kept in Comfort first and ride very pleasant and sound okay. Chris set the M1 button up to full Sport on everything. Press of that button, foot down and it picks up very nicely and the sound? Well the noise is just fine - take it from me, you won't be too upset!
So up the road we switch over. I head off down a twisty lane and the immediate thoughts are -
Steering - in another league, there's feel rather than just weight there.
Brakes - they have an initial bite that mine just don't have, not overservoed just feel.
Handling/Ride - in a different league to even mine. The thing that shocked us was just how good the ride is even in Sport mode on a crappy surface - you could drive in that mode all the time if you wanted.
Gearbox - Upshifts in Sport + are quite forceful - downshifts have a wonderful blip! I am sure we could have changed settings but didn't have time.
HUD - When you go into Sport + mode, up comes the rev counter. If you're ordering one, GET THE HUD!!!
So onto the bypass. We tried from 2.5k and up to 4.5k my car's quicker. Then the M3 just keeps going. Surely that's the way it should be. Onto other side of roundabout and floor it. Car had only done 20 miles so tyres still slippy but traction on in 3rd! DSC was set to nanny mode which is fair enough - car's only been there for 5 mins and I was the 3rd person to drive it in total.
We then got back in my car. Before we'd even got round the first roundabout you could tell the difference. Mine just feels sloppy (even with the springs).
Thing is in isolation after another 10 mins on way back from dealership, I'd got used to mine again and do you know what, it's not bad.
BUT the M3 is in a different league. Honestly the performance in the real world is not hugely different and throw in some wet roads and M3 would be fighting for traction (that much is clear on totally dry roads this morning) whereas mine wouldn't so much.
The handling is why I would buy this car in a shot - it's simply astonishingly good (and really what I always wanted in a 3 series and I suspected the M3 would be only one to truly offer it).
So would I buy one? I will replace my car with one, no question. Am I in a hurry to do so? Nope, I'll wait until BMW start throwing daft offers at them (as that will happen). Until then, I'm happy with my car - for what I need at the moment it is near perfect.
But to M3 and M4 future owners, I can tell you that you WON'T be disappointed. It truly is an excellent car and I am very jealous! My drive was only brief (15 mins) but in that time I got a reason first impression. M cars are supposed to be special and I think this still is - the fact that it also doubles as a decent daily driver is a huge bonus.
Last thing - they had both M4 and M3 there in black. If you're getting an M4, don't get it in black - doesn't do justice to the shape. The M3 however looks just wonderful in black. Had to rush back to take boys swimming but will pop back later to add some photos.
ENORMOUS thanks to Chris Rooney at Chandlers for letting me have first play. Really appreciated.
As luck would have it, M3 was there just been nicely warmed up and was offered a drive! Chris, the salesman, went first as he hadn't even driven it yet (which is fair enough).
So impressions from passenger seat. It's quiet when you start it and very refined. The seats are incredibly comfortable. Other than that standard fare except to add as a side note, road noise from the tyres is way way less that my Pirellis!!
So we kept in Comfort first and ride very pleasant and sound okay. Chris set the M1 button up to full Sport on everything. Press of that button, foot down and it picks up very nicely and the sound? Well the noise is just fine - take it from me, you won't be too upset!
So up the road we switch over. I head off down a twisty lane and the immediate thoughts are -
Steering - in another league, there's feel rather than just weight there.
Brakes - they have an initial bite that mine just don't have, not overservoed just feel.
Handling/Ride - in a different league to even mine. The thing that shocked us was just how good the ride is even in Sport mode on a crappy surface - you could drive in that mode all the time if you wanted.
Gearbox - Upshifts in Sport + are quite forceful - downshifts have a wonderful blip! I am sure we could have changed settings but didn't have time.
HUD - When you go into Sport + mode, up comes the rev counter. If you're ordering one, GET THE HUD!!!
So onto the bypass. We tried from 2.5k and up to 4.5k my car's quicker. Then the M3 just keeps going. Surely that's the way it should be. Onto other side of roundabout and floor it. Car had only done 20 miles so tyres still slippy but traction on in 3rd! DSC was set to nanny mode which is fair enough - car's only been there for 5 mins and I was the 3rd person to drive it in total.
We then got back in my car. Before we'd even got round the first roundabout you could tell the difference. Mine just feels sloppy (even with the springs).
Thing is in isolation after another 10 mins on way back from dealership, I'd got used to mine again and do you know what, it's not bad.
BUT the M3 is in a different league. Honestly the performance in the real world is not hugely different and throw in some wet roads and M3 would be fighting for traction (that much is clear on totally dry roads this morning) whereas mine wouldn't so much.
The handling is why I would buy this car in a shot - it's simply astonishingly good (and really what I always wanted in a 3 series and I suspected the M3 would be only one to truly offer it).
So would I buy one? I will replace my car with one, no question. Am I in a hurry to do so? Nope, I'll wait until BMW start throwing daft offers at them (as that will happen). Until then, I'm happy with my car - for what I need at the moment it is near perfect.
But to M3 and M4 future owners, I can tell you that you WON'T be disappointed. It truly is an excellent car and I am very jealous! My drive was only brief (15 mins) but in that time I got a reason first impression. M cars are supposed to be special and I think this still is - the fact that it also doubles as a decent daily driver is a huge bonus.
Last thing - they had both M4 and M3 there in black. If you're getting an M4, don't get it in black - doesn't do justice to the shape. The M3 however looks just wonderful in black. Had to rush back to take boys swimming but will pop back later to add some photos.
ENORMOUS thanks to Chris Rooney at Chandlers for letting me have first play. Really appreciated.
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