Detailed photos of the M3/M4 at the Chicago Auto Show

SamS · 02-09-2014, 01:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Croatian test driver

Do they really have the same coronas?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sedan_Clan

Yes!

The Full LED and Xenon/LED coronas are not the same. The Xenon/LED coronas are bottom-lit, whereas the Full LED-style coronas use a backlight LED effect.

The Full LED-style coronas have more consistent light output from off-angles.

EDIT: Bimmer4John above beat me to it while I was typing

midwesterner · 02-09-2014, 02:23 PM

Jesal,
What type of camera are you using? Great quality on the pics!!

JS919 · 02-09-2014, 02:50 PM

Nice pictures, thanks for posting.

Not sure how this became a LED vs Xenon thread, but while we are at it. The full LED headlights are worth the $1900 to me. I think the price is too high, but as a percentage of the total cost of the car it's not that bad. If it were a $20,000 car I wouldn't opt for them, on $75,000 car it's peanuts. To me, aesthetically they look better. On an M5 I see a difference in the amount of illumination and the focus of the light between the LEDs on my '14 and the Xenon on my '13. If your eyesight isn't good enough to see the difference in aesthetics and the production of light then it's probably a waste of money for you.

mister2d · 02-09-2014, 02:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Imola.ZHP

Interesting observation from an owners perspective.

I don't see what BMW's hold up is in just making all their cars all have LED headlights. The LED setup must be cheeper than xenon (no projector, less components, etc). I guess they want to rape the early adopters. I think LED will be the future "base" headlight and Laser the "upgrade" like halogen and xenon are now.

Because BMW can get away with charging $1900 for LEDs as extra.

Needsdecaf · 02-09-2014, 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LSM

The xenon and LED lights both have the same corona in LED, the only part thats different between the two is the center light on is LED and one is XENON...I have had LED's on my current car and previous they don't light "so much better" at night. Its nearly identical to my eye...I would not personally spend almost 2k for them as a stand alone option...No way just my opinion

What car did you have them on?

Art__Vandelay · 02-09-2014, 03:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bimmer4John

Aesthetically it does not look like the Coronas are the same for the LED and the Xenon lights. That is not to say that they don't both use LED as the light source for the Coronas just that they don't look identical.

Exactly, that's why I asked. They at least visually definitely don't look identical.

jonasaurus · 02-09-2014, 03:16 PM

Great pics

JS919 · 02-09-2014, 03:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Needsdecaf

What car did you have them on?

Good question!

I think he is either getting the corona rings that are LED mixed up with FULL LED or he is just full of sh!t. LED headlights have only been available for a short time and to say he "had" them on his current and previous cars seems to be a stretch. So you had them on your current car but what? You took them off?

Powaup · 02-09-2014, 03:39 PM

Would you rather have:
1. Led lighting package

Or

2. M adaptive suspension and HK sound ?

I feel like I'm gonna have to pick between the 2 at some point. I think LEDs are aesthetically beautiful but 2k is kind of steep plus I can get them later on aftermarket

Cool pics btw

jjm1970 · 02-09-2014, 03:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Powaup

Would you rather have:
1. Led lighting package

Or

2. M adaptive suspension and HK sound ?

I feel like I'm gonna have to pick between the 2 at some point. I think LEDs are aesthetically beautiful but 2k is kind of steep plus I can get them later on aftermarket

Cool pics btw

I'd take option 2, because you have the suspension upgrade bundled there.

If I were you and could stretch a little from there, I would take the M adaptive suspension with LEDs. The HK upgrade is meh to me.

Alternatively, If I could only have one of the three options, it would definitely be the M adaptive suspension. The Xenons are fine, as is the base stereo IMO.

AlpineE92M3 · 02-09-2014, 03:56 PM

I personally will opt for the LED's. The corner marker looks more aggressive and I think the corona's look way cleaner

ucla95 · 02-09-2014, 04:34 PM

I saw both of these lit up (but only from straight on) - I could not tell any difference between the coronas on the xenon car vs the LED car fwiw.

IND-Distribution · 02-09-2014, 04:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GOLFFRR

What was your thoughts on the cars Jesal?

Quote:

Originally Posted by midwesterner

Jesal,
What type of camera are you using? Great quality on the pics!!

Unfortunately I was not able to attend this year. These photos were taken by MikeM5, the owner of the Red Death M3. http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthr...ight=red+death

I did ask him his thoughts about the new F80 and he did mention that it feels much more upscale than the E90 M3. The material used and the details throughout the car are amazing.

It seems to be rare combo these days to be able to offer more refinement while shedding off weight. Sounds like BMW has a winner on their hands.

Sedan_Clan · 02-09-2014, 04:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ucla95

I saw both of these lit up (but only from straight on) - I could not tell any difference between the coronas on the xenon car vs the LED car fwiw.

This is my point. I've compared my car equipped with Xenons next to my patrol partner's 435i with LED's, and we conducted a back-to-back comparison between the two (...which we've discussed in length on the F30/32 forums). The difference between the corona rings in the two headlight assemblies is slight once lit, and the slight difference in visual presence comes from the different turn signal lighting, etc. There is no discernible difference in the light pattern/output between the two light sources either. Yes, there's a bit of a coolness factor to the LED's, but that's about it. From behind the wheel, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. If it's worth it to you, by all means opt for it.

dmboone25 · 02-09-2014, 04:52 PM

I was there today - the M4 looks a lot better in black versus the baby diarrhea color that they have been showing it in.

The M3 is hot. Really hot. Even in the limp wristed blue.

Brosef · 02-09-2014, 05:00 PM

Jesal - thanks for the pics.

I was planning on making it to the show, but after hearing about people's difficulties getting to sit in these cars, I'm less inclined to make it over there.

Tonymiabmw · 02-09-2014, 05:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jesal@IND

Quote:

Originally Posted by GOLFFRR

What was your thoughts on the cars Jesal?

Quote:

Originally Posted by midwesterner

Jesal,
What type of camera are you using? Great quality on the pics!!

Unfortunately I was not able to attend this year. These photos were taken by MikeM5, the owner of the Red Death M3. http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthr...ight=red+death

I did ask him his thoughts about the new F80 and he did mention that it feels much more upscale than the E90 M3. The material used and the details throughout the car are amazing.

It seems to be rare combo these days to be able to offer more refinement while shedding off weight. Sounds like BMW has a winner on their hands.

Jesal did he say anything about YMB if he liked it or not?

Bahn360Photo · 02-09-2014, 06:32 PM

very cool pics, nice angles

GregW / Oregon · 02-09-2014, 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bimmer4John

Aesthetically it does not look like the Coronas are the same for the LED and the Xenon lights. That is not to say that they don't both use LED as the light source for the Coronas just that they don't look identical.

Here are some pics from UCLA95, you can see that the light guides on the Full LEDs are deeper than on the Xenon:

Nice comparison - post this in the LED vs. Xenon thread, please.

Roki_014 · 02-09-2014, 07:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tonymiabmw

Jesal did he say anything about YMB if he liked it or not?

Just came back from the show and honestly color is ugly in person at least not for me , the car definitely looks like a beefier f30 , i am really surprised that they didnt put the eb2 on the new m3/m4, honestly anyone that is thinking of buying this color you must see it in person, saw the new corvette and it looks very sporty and the new zo6 is sick very sport very, looks sexy, the m4 was black so from a distance you couldnt even tell until you got closer , i wish they had different colors

mwlmd · 02-09-2014, 07:27 PM

Does anyone else think the M3 badge on the rear is to far lateral to the right? It doesn't look right.

Can someone (with good photo arranging skills) post a comparison shot of the F80 M3, F10 M5 and F30 335i and F10 550i rears so we can check badge placement? Maybe I am just crazy?

ChiTownM · 02-09-2014, 08:26 PM

I was at the show on Friday with BMWCCA and all cars were open. The interior is nice, the seats are great and the back of the seats are way cool. I also agree that the M4 in black looked extremely good and menacing, it is definitely larger looking than our e9x. However the M3 color looks better on pictures than inure al life IMHO.....

I sat in the i8 and it is definitely a one cool looking car in the flesh.....

02-09-2014, 02:23 PM	#46
midwesterner Private First Class 18 Rep 172 Posts Drives: E92 335i Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Chicago burbs iTrader: (2)	Jesal, What type of camera are you using? Great quality on the pics!!
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02-09-2014, 02:50 PM	#47
JS919 First Lieutenant 97 Rep 380 Posts Drives: M3 CS Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Henderson, NV iTrader: (0) Garage List 2018 BMW M3 CS [0.00]	Nice pictures, thanks for posting. Not sure how this became a LED vs Xenon thread, but while we are at it. The full LED headlights are worth the $1900 to me. I think the price is too high, but as a percentage of the total cost of the car it's not that bad. If it were a $20,000 car I wouldn't opt for them, on $75,000 car it's peanuts. To me, aesthetically they look better. On an M5 I see a difference in the amount of illumination and the focus of the light between the LEDs on my '14 and the Xenon on my '13. If your eyesight isn't good enough to see the difference in aesthetics and the production of light then it's probably a waste of money for you. Last edited by JS919; 02-09-2014 at 03:24 PM..
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02-09-2014, 03:16 PM	#51
jonasaurus Brigadier General 76 Rep 3,178 Posts Drives: E90 M3 [Sold] Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: NYC iTrader: (0)	Great pics __________________ ///M3 \| E90 LCI \| Space Grey \| Fox Red with CF Structure \| 6MT \| 260M \| My build
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02-09-2014, 03:39 PM	#53
Powaup Brigadier General 1253 Rep 3,688 Posts Drives: 2021 Supra 3.0 (Past: 2015 M23 Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: San Francisco, CA iTrader: (0) Garage List 2015 BMW M4 [10.00]	Would you rather have: 1. Led lighting package Or 2. M adaptive suspension and HK sound ? I feel like I'm gonna have to pick between the 2 at some point. I think LEDs are aesthetically beautiful but 2k is kind of steep plus I can get them later on aftermarket Cool pics btw __________________ Check out my YouTube Channel Powaup Instagram: @ Powaup
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02-09-2014, 03:56 PM	#55
AlpineE92M3 Currently Driving 269 Rep 1,426 Posts Drives: BPM tuned '13 AW ZCP E92 M3 Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Rochester, NY iTrader: (9) Garage List 2013 BMW E92 M3 [0.00] 2011 BMW M3 [0.00]	I personally will opt for the LED's. The corner marker looks more aggressive and I think the corona's look way cleaner
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02-09-2014, 04:34 PM	#56
ucla95 Striker 73 Rep 553 Posts Drives: Slow cars Join Date: May 2012 Location: A swing state iTrader: (0)	I saw both of these lit up (but only from straight on) - I could not tell any difference between the coronas on the xenon car vs the LED car fwiw.
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02-09-2014, 04:52 PM	#59
dmboone25 Lieutenant General 4972 Rep 10,200 Posts Drives: 2024 Golf R / 2022 718 Spyder Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Dallas, TX iTrader: (0) Garage List 2007 E92 328i [10.00] 2007 328i [10.00]	I was there today - the M4 looks a lot better in black versus the baby diarrhea color that they have been showing it in. The M3 is hot. Really hot. Even in the limp wristed blue. __________________ Past rides: 2016 981 BGTS, 2020 MINI JCW, 2017 F80, 2015 981 CS, 2014 F22 235, 2011 E82 135, 2008 E82 135, 2007 E92 328, 2007 E92 328 (My lady drives an OG M2. So does my dad)
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02-09-2014, 05:00 PM	#60
Brosef Brigadier General 875 Rep 3,450 Posts Drives: F90 M5 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Chicago iTrader: (4)	Jesal - thanks for the pics. I was planning on making it to the show, but after hearing about people's difficulties getting to sit in these cars, I'm less inclined to make it over there.
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02-09-2014, 06:32 PM	#62
Bahn360Photo Fitness Gene 1112 Rep 2,413 Posts Drives: 2018 M4 Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: SoFlo iTrader: (2) Garage List 2006 bmw m5 [10.00] 2016 bmw z4 35is [8.33] 2000 bmw m5 [10.00] 2018 BMW M4 [10.00] 1987 BMW 325 Conver ... [10.00]	very cool pics, nice angles __________________ Effective 11 Min Home Workouts????? No equipment????? 20 years of experience Spartan Race winner PROtrainer! Click the link?? https://www.youtube.com/c/FitnessGene
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02-09-2014, 07:27 PM	#65
mwlmd Lieutenant Colonel 187 Rep 1,548 Posts Drives: Porsche 991 TTS Join Date: May 2009 Location: Portland, OR iTrader: (0)	Does anyone else think the M3 badge on the rear is to far lateral to the right? It doesn't look right. Can someone (with good photo arranging skills) post a comparison shot of the F80 M3, F10 M5 and F30 335i and F10 550i rears so we can check badge placement? Maybe I am just crazy? __________________ CURRENT: His: Porsche 991 Turbo S Carrera white/Black Hers: BMW X3MC BSM/Black
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02-09-2014, 08:26 PM	#66
ChiTownM Lieutenant Colonel 1050 Rep 1,537 Posts Drives: M and i BMWs Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Chicago iTrader: (0)	I was at the show on Friday with BMWCCA and all cars were open. The interior is nice, the seats are great and the back of the seats are way cool. I also agree that the M4 in black looked extremely good and menacing, it is definitely larger looking than our e9x. However the M3 color looks better on pictures than inure al life IMHO..... I sat in the i8 and it is definitely a one cool looking car in the flesh.....
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