Test drove E92 M3, M4, M235i and Mustang. Found my next car!
 

Hello all,

As you may know, I have been searching for a replacement for my Z (new job in high traffic area and must get rid of the 6MT). For awhile I was considering that I should have a 4 door car, but now is the time I can be purely impractical since I am not anticipating children for another 4 years (wife is in vet school). However accidents happen, so it needed to at least be a 2+2 for car seat in the back, but the wifey has her little SUV so it would work out.

So the cars I drove, lets start with the worst and go towards the best:

2015 Mustang EcoBoost Premium with Performance Pack
I almost fell asleep behind the wheel it was so boring. I mean WOW this car will put anyone with insomnia to sleep. After about 45 seconds of test driving I asked the dealer the quickest way to make a u turn back to the dealership. The 2013 base Boxster I drove for a week last month felt sooo much faster and more exhilarating. I wouldn't touch this car with a 10 ft pole.

2015 Mustang GT Premium
Who knew 430hp could feel so slow! There was nothing eventful about this car. The auto trans was so slow, felt like the paddles were using dial up connection to communicate with the trans. There was no smile or 'oh ****' exhilaration when flooring it on a long sweeping turn. I'm sure its very capable, but it just wasn't a joyful occasion. I also don't like the oversized hood and overall ergonomics of the car, although it is a league above the last gen. I'm just personally not a fan of any Ford interiors. Even if I got an even trade on my Z, I know I would be far happier in my Z. If you are a true Z fan but want to step away from the Z I do not think this is the car for you. If you're a mustang guy then you couldn't be happier.

2015 BMW M235i xDrive
They didn't have RWD available. This car is such a treat to drive! Very tossable and entertaining. Everything about it, the sounds (you really will not be bothered by the electronic sound enhancement), the handling, oh man just everything about it. I went for an extended test drive for about 30 minutes, and it was just a hoot. If you like Z's, you will love this car. This is an evolution of what the ideal Z (with the right mods) feels like. Its sublime and cannot imagine an owner who is not satisfied, until the M2 comes out.

2015 BMW M4
Of course I would wait to buy this used, I wanted to see if I should hold off on a car purchase until more of these used ones came out. This car is great, but not all I hoped it to be. It is very capable, but some part of me feels like it is not a coherent package. Idk what to say about this car really, I need to drive it more. The sounds are interesting, not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Very confidence inspiring, you never feel like you have to tame it. It is very livable and would make for a great DD, I just don't know its as special as a certain other M car...

2012 BMW M3 Competition Package
Second time test driving an M3, but first time in a coupe and with competition package. **** I love this car. It just feels so special, that V8 is hand built from God himself. You really feel like you have to tame this car, and give it a lot of respect. It does not give you a lot of confidence and is a bit of a white knuckle experience, which is why I absolutely love it. Not many cars are built like this anymore. It feels like you're horseback riding a lion, whereas the M4 feels like a stallion and the M235i is a baby stallion, the Mustang GT is a donkey and the Ecoboost is a little pony. When I test drove the M3 last time against the GLA 45 and Audi S4, only the M3 kept replaying in my head. Same thing this time around. I just cannot get it out of my head!

So now a different search begins. Finding a pristine 2012/2013 E92 M3 with competition, sound and premium package with a DCT. And boy am I excited.

Oh and comparing the E92 M3 to the 911. I cannot imagine such different approaches to creating such amazing sports cars. They are SOOO different. The 911 is of course far more capable. In fact when I drive it, I honestly sometimes feel like I have some sort of invincibility mode activated. Its that amazing and composed, it will simply do what you ask it and you can just put your faith in the car and it will take you through a magical journey around a turn. The M3 is huge change from this, and frankly a change I wouldn't mind. Of course it cannot substitute the 911, which I plan on keeping forever, unless I can one day get a GT3... But its a huge change of pace. The M4 is more along the same line as the 911, but worse. It would be like a sports team investing all their assets to have two amazing players who have the same position. Better to expand your portfolio and have an entirely different car.

Sometimes I don't want to feel like I have invincibility mode engaged (although the feeling of putting your faith in a car and just holding on - on closed roads - is quite adrenaline inducing). Also, from how I see it, an E92 M3 seems a lot less douchy than a 911. I would never want to show up to work in a 911, but an M3 is a different story.

Well done and thanks for the great report! You need your own magazine :) Enjoy the search for the M3. Sometimes thats more fun than the owning part lol!

Fun reading this

I would flip that, here in DC all the douches seem to drive a M3 or some variant of the 3 Series. The 911 (which I also have 07 C4S) is driven by more mature older guys like me. Go try my previous car a 2Gen CTS-V, it can and will easily kill an M3 (did it many times...same for a S4) and easily run with a 911 turbo. It has 4 doors too. The tech is a bit 2009 or so though. Decent one can be had for 38K or so....and they seem to be rising in value too. Go try one just for fun.

I definitely know the CTS V is more than capable. Unfortunately, I do not like the style..

After more than a month of searching like crazy (back when I did my first round of test drives) I think I found the one.

2012 BMW M3 Coupe For Sale in Riverside, CA - CarGurus

Attached is the spec sheet. Unfortunately it has a moon roof.. But I think I can live with that since I love the interior. No wear on the seats at all!

Dealer was going to sell it to a sister company in Newport for the list price at the end of the month, and were not willing to negotiate at all unless I financed with them, all I got them down to was $45,500. Car has a year left on bumper to bumper warranty and unlimited maintenance until 100K miles or 2018.

Going to put in a refundable deposit tomorrow and sell the Z over the weekend. I'm getting both excited and nervous, and honestly I just cannot wait!

Would love to know your thoughts on the car guys.

The e92 M3 CP is an excellent choice! What a car!

One thing to note about the Mustang... the automatic (which you drove) is not available with the Performance Package which includes all of the necessary performance features outside of the engine like dampers, tires, steering/traction/stability calibration, etc. What you drove is basically the "cruiser" version of the car.

There is a massive difference between the non PP and PP Mustangs, much like with the previous generation. I would certainly not be happy with a non-PP car.

Nice reviews....I would get a c7 vette over any of those but thats just me

Dang I love the M3 always been my dream car.

I absolutely know what you mean. The main thing for me with the PP is the better gearing. The poor gearing in the non PP was the reason for that 430hp feeling slow. Also, Ford is not known for their auto trans so that took away from some of the feeling as well. The mustang was a very comfortable place to be in though. Seats were great and cooled my butt to sub zero temperatures lol. Apple Carplay and new sync system next year will certainly be a welcome addition too.

Your '16 is gonna be amazing. Premier trim, sync 3, PP manual. I know you're gonna love it!

Man oh man i love M3s, especially in white! If i was to trade in my Z, this would be a solid replacement. I know very little about these cars, so the only thing i would be looking into would be reliability, altough i assume you might have done that already. :tiphat:

Ya I was very concerned about reliability. Fortunately the S65 engine is truly amazing. Got international engine of the year award consecutively from 2008-2012 for V8's. I'm also gonna take it in to a indie BMW shop to check everything and get anything fixed under bumper to bumper warranty. Not to mention sending in oil for analysis.

Have you looked at the GLA 45 AMG? The reviews are pretty great!!

45,500 is not a bad price for that car at all. honestly i'd jump if it's what you want and condition is good. clean retail on that is about 50k. at the auction they are right around the 45k mark give or take which is the price I would go for.

this was the figures for that or close to the same: last 2 weeks.

Prices High: $48,000
Low: $37,000
Average: $41,999


Average Odometer: 35,269
# of Vehicles: 14

there's 3 up soon with your choice in options all going for 43-47 based on mileage.

again if that's it i'd jump for 45k
as for the moon roof I wouldn't worry. the E46 I just sold a few months back had one and it's actually nice when just cruising around.

I have indeed! I posted my very positive impressions here when I test drove it:
http://www.the370z.com/other-vehicle...-macan-s4.html

It was very fun to drive and really thought it was going to be my next car. It really was a toss up between the M3 and GLA, but with the options I wanted on the GLA, I felt like it wasn't that good of a buy. I do see myself getting a used GLA after the M3 though, especially since at that time I will probably have a kid.

Kids=mini van bro. :rofl2:

Sounds like a plan then :tiphat:

Hope you enjoy her :tup:

Lol over my dead body! I wouldn't even let the wife have one :rofl2:

Part out for some useful parts is up in the for sale section!
http://www.the370z.com/parts-sale-pr...ml#post3150767

The e92/e90 M3 is an awesome car; I nearly sold my Z for one, but the deal fell through. Two of my buddies have ESS Tuning VT625 supercharger kits on theirs and they feel great. The M3 is a benchmark car for a reason - it does so many things well. And please get the DCT - that tranny is great, probably just behind the Porsche PDK.

Plan for bearing replacements on these motors before the crank/rods get damaged. Seems to be a hit or miss problem, but its good peace of mind.

SS>5.0 anyday imho especially when comparing the 1LE and the competition pack from the 5.0 wish the OP test drove the SS.

Can't lose with any M3. Can you post some pics of your 991, I love those dam cars!!!

Ah the file won't upload. Maybe the size is too big? Check out my album I'll upload a couple recent pics I just took. And the 991 is a dream car! I'm going to keep it for a VERY long time. Its really the perfect ride. Honestly though I wish I waited off on it for a bit until I could comfortably buy a GT3.

Yup I got the DCT! Something cool about the M3 that the 911 doesn't do is that I can make the shifts very aggressive and violent. Kind of a pointless novelty feature as the car is more composed with slightly slower shifts, but fun for shenanigans!

Ignoring whatever your personal preference on Ford vs. Chevy might be, I think it all depends on perspective. To me the GT PP is the far better street and daily driving car. Its got more stuff, it's nicer inside, and the suspension is set up very well for the street. It's a bit soft on track.

The 1LE is basically the track day car of the pair. Its got a serious track oriented shock and tire package right off the showroom floor, which the Mustang doesn't have. I'd rather drive the stock 1LE on track and daily drive the GT.

Its obvious to me Ford is leaving some room on the table to be filled by future variants. If you simply upgrade the shocks and tires the GTPP will be running with or out running the 1LE on track. The GT350 will take care of this (and then some), but the GT is still a really good everyday sports car.

So yes, the 1LE definitely outperforms the GTPP on track, but in my view it is not as nice of a car to live with on the day to day.

Despite what your preferences are toward Ford. Until it's done? It's not fact. And you're talking modded vs stock, two different entities... Also,It's just opinion. The C6 is coming and the advantages are already there...
Theres a possible turbo6 camaro coming as well as the new gen v8 Just the fact that the 1LE can do what it does for about $38k STOCK cant be argued with.
That said, I'm sure ford doesn't want to put out anything too aggressive in light of them not having seen what the next gen camaro will do. 2017 will be ford's year to really show what this new platform can do. The new mustang is an attractive package in the right color and configuration. Though i expected more in terms of styling and weight. I think they did a decent job of giving mustang fans what they want. The eco-boost needs more umph though and the price is astronomically expensive whenloaded. Ford needs to repackage the ecoboost to top out at $33,000 and add another 40hp to offset the stangs bloated weight.

I think you're missing my point. I'm not comparing modded vs. stock, per se, I'm just pointing out that the 1LE is a much more track focused package than the GT's Performance Package, which is really a street setup. Almost everyone that takes the GT PP on track says it's a little soft, but on the street it feels just right. On the other hand, the 1LE feels just right on track and is a little rough on the street. That's all.

If the GT had a 1LE package it would not be using the shocks or tires that the PP gives it.

As far as a personal preference towards Ford? I don't have one. I have absolutely no brand allegiance. I buy what I like. If the next generation Camaro appeals to me maybe I'll buy it? All I know is whatever you get from me is as unbiased as I can make it.

Understood, but what it is though, if Ford brands a performance package, it's going to be paired up against the competitors comparably priced equivalent. So for a large portion of the market. There instinct is going to say, performance pack vs pp, the 1LE wins. The 1LE is livable on the street, less harsh than a pre 11 Nismo. It's no Z28 in terms of dedication. I think it's fair to say the 1LE is a superior performance package. Because the mustang should have had a street performance package stock.
Its like in 09 when we all felt the sport pkg on the Z fell short of it's named intention. Trust me, my opinions come from a totally unbiased place as well. The i'm not a Ford fan in terms of purchase, I think cars like the 302, Fiesta st and focus ST are amazing machines. Though the 302 eventually fell short to the 1LE as well. Pre-1LE, it was a masterpiece for the price.

I absolutely agree with you that it's going to (and should be) compared to the 1LE, and I absolutely agree with you that it is the superior performance package. If my priorities were different (and if I liked the styling inside and out), I'd prefer the 1LE to the GT PP assuming I had to keep both cars stock.

Inside the Camaro is an eyesore to some degree, though they smoothed out some of the really disgusting attributes of the 2010 interior like the passenger side dash and adding a 21st century touch screen. The interior is less attractive than the mustangs new interior. I'm in love with the mustang manual shifter design and placement.

I tried and tried to hate the new one but I couldn't. It's such a nice place to be now.

I'm hoping Chevy gives the new Camaro the C7 treatment on the interior. It needs a revamp!

The camaro interior will be ALL NEW. If i had to speculate? I'd say the camaro's new interior will probably be stellar. GM has really stepped up to all interiors minus the camaro.

I hope so. I still don't care much for the exterior design of the Camaro, but at least if they fix the interior I know I'll have a nice rental when I go to Disney World.

I have a habit of getting convertible V6 Camaro rentals everywhere I go. :icon17:

See i think the camaro exterior is SICK... There's just so many on the road that it just gets borring. But when I see the rarer, 1LE, ZL1, Z28... It brings me back to when the camaro was brand new.

Personally I am not a fan of the camaro's exterior, but I do know that its performance is just crazy. Reviews are stellar for that machine. And of course the new interior will certainly be a step up, but none of those pluses can make up for my (subjective) view of the car. Also outright track performance is not what I'm into (which is why I've never looked into getting a C7, which I know is an amazing car), and I am somewhat unfairly biased against the mustang/camaro. Maybe that's because the wife likes the mustang so much and its apparently a rule that we can never agree on anything relating to cars.

The one American car I would buy though is the Ford Focus RS. Which is built in Germany :rofl2:

Focus RS going to be the sickest hot hatch in America.

Unless the A45 AMG gets imported to the U.S.?

Haha I wish! A45 is amazing. Imagine a true M car 1 series hatch though. Similar to a M2. Now THAT would be sick.

The Focus is a fun car. We had a ST for a while, but at times you realize you're still in a Focus. The RS is going to be a lot of money for what is basically an economy car.

I'm sure it will be a blast, though.

Wow so had my wife go check out the M3 in person (with a 35 item checklist of things to look for) and the car is essentially brand new. No wear on seats or dents on the doors. The car is also fitted with a BMW M Performance Exhaust ($3.5K) that the dealer was not aware of! Only issue was a couple paint chips and a scrape on the front bumper. I called and complained about it and asked for them to touch it up before I pick it up. Guy calls back and says they wouldn't be able to guarantee paintwork if it was a touch up job, so they're just gonna repaint the entire front bumper!

It's at a BMW dealership, right?

BMW has absolutely blown my mind with their level of customer service. These guys bend over backwards for me at every chance they get. Never experienced anything like it.