I drove the 2015 F80 M3 today! Yup it pulls like an M5. (F10 M5 owner perspective)

[RPiM5]

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Yo yo, what up?! It's yo favorite car reviewah here, Pkilla617.

Yo, got to drive the new ass M3 today boy. This ride is dope ya'll. The one I drove didn't have the cocaine white interior, but the car was a beast. Top of the line son. Ya'll need to get a handle on this new M3, car felt like a beast in all modes, even just drivin' it around in da' parking lot. This M3 didn't have the Shakur leather either, but it was nasty fo'sho. Loved stocks on the car too dog.

And now back to your regular scheduled programming...


Ok, after my good friend Pkilla drove the car, it was my turn. RPiM5, aka Mr. JetBlue himself.

I got a secret communique through back channel BMW protocols that provided the intelligence necessary for me to hunt down my first F80 M3 and drive it. Got to the dealership this afternoon after I got off of work and parked Ms. Mika outside in the front of the dealership. The receptionist girl was funny and gave me the best compliment I think I've ever gotten on my car she said that "my M5 looked like it belonged in California, like in Hollywood." Ha!

After a short chat with the receptionist girl the CA came out and helped to arrange the test drive with him. I think I may the first F10 M5 owner to drive an F80 M3 or at least report on it here on Bimmerpost. If I'm not then at least I'm the first one to report how Pkilla617 himself liked the car. What a guy he is.

THE GOOD:

After a long chat with the CA, about cool M3 stuff, we were off! I took it easy on Mika's little sister at first, just puttered about in D1 mode everything efficient and comfort, just to get a feel for her. The steering feel just driving around at slow and normal speeds felt less communicative than M5's steering. This is just my perception. Later when I went to Sport and Sport+ on the steering, it did get a lot heavier, but no extra feel was felt really, although I will say that the EPS is very very responsive and accurate. Halfway through the test drive I put the M3 in Sport+ throttle, Sport+ Suspension, and Sport+ Steering, D3 mode and gave more and more throttle input. What happened next surprised the hell out of me...

THE FANTASTIC:

As soon as the engine revolutions passed EXACTLY 4,000RPM, the car literally and shockingly CAME ALIVE!!!! It was like I awoke a BEAST lurking beneath the hood of the car! I was like GOOD GOD, where the hell did you come from little M3?! When I mean CAME ALIVE, I mean the sound in the cabin COMPLETELY changed from sounding like I was driving a 335i around town to sounding like I was driving a bonefide ///M car on the Nurburging! The sound we heard is the sound of the induction noise of the engine and the exhaust of the car seemingly mixed together. I soon switched to S3 mode on the DCT, and began upshifting and downshifting to get the revs below and above 4,000rpm. When I upshifted to 3rd gear from 2nd and the revs went below 4,000rpm the car went quiet, I would slow down downshift to 2nd gear then give the engine some throttle and would accelerate past 4,000rpm and every single time the car came alive! I did like 10 times in a row, because I was having a hard time believing just how F$CK(NG FANTASTIC the car sounded! I did several more pulls like this with the windows rolled down just to determine if I could hear the exhaust change note with the valves opening up. The answer is yes you can hear a definite change to the exhaust note when the valves open up and it sounds pretty good!

It was a pretty extended test drive and we took it on the highway for a few minutes too. We hit this super long on ramp, like at least a 1/4 mile and I gave it a good long acceleration. This is where I felt the real PULL of the new F80 M3. I'm telling you guys the car pulls like an M5, I'm not exaggerating. I got the same feeling of acceleration. Whether the new M3 is faster in any kind of straightline performance I can't say, the CA would not let me race my M5 against it. Lol! Then again my M5 is modded to over 700hp at the moment. The new M3 sure did feel fast though, and that's what counts.

The NOT SO GOOD:

As for the other things, it was about the same as you would expect riding in a nicely equipped 335i. The interior sound in the cabin was pretty dang quiet, dare I say even less road noise than an F10 M5? I conducted the entire test drive with the radio in the OFF position, as I wanted to hear every last sound from the car that I could.

After a little while of driving the M3 around, I did start to notice a lot of little things that reminded me I was driving an M3 and not an M5. The one that I test drove did not have the full leather, but that didn't bother me. One of the most noticeable things I took note of, and I know this might be weird, was the look of the digital display for the temperature controls. On the F3x/F8x chassis, the display for the temperature controls looks like it's displayed in 32bit graphics. On the M5 and M6, the temperature digital display looks like it's in 1056bit. No alcantara headliner, no soft close doors, no power close trunk, no ventilated front seats (which by the way it is stinking hot around here today, 99 degrees and b#tch ain't one), the instrument display doesn't look as nice, yada, yada, yada... Yeah I know it's like a $30,000 dollar cheaper car than an M5, but I was reminded of that almost everywhere I looked around inside the cabin. Overall though, just by the look at the seats I felt like I was in a more sporty car, especially by the interior sound of the engine too!

THE BAD:

After the test drive I parked the Mika's little sister next to her for a quick photoshoot afterwards. While doing that though, I asked the CA if he could rev the engine for me while I stood behind the M3. I just wanted to hear finally for once and for all, what the heck this thing sounded like while revving from a stand still. Unfortunately all the reports are true. The exhaust sounds like shiite! I know it's because the valves are closed and I even had the CA put all the car's setting in Sport+ to see if the valves would open but it didn't really help when revving from a stand still. The exhaust sounds much much better when you're driving it around. I know for a fact, once some legit aftermarket exhausts get installed and eliminate those valves, it'll sound much better in all regimes.

I had initially thought of getting an M3/M4 one day because I wanted to have a car that can do it all in a cheaper way. I.E. track time, daily driver, utility, comfort, luxury, technology, and looks. But, I walked away from the F80 M3 today feeling thankful that when I got back into my M5, I could use the ventilated seats because it was so hot out today. I even gave the CA a ride in my M5 after we finished in the M3. He giggled a lot more when I drove my M5 than when I drove the M3 today, if that tells you anything. Then again my M5 is straightpiped, with a tune, and with upgraded suspension. So not really a fair comparison.

One thing that I found annoying on the M3 right away is the display that tells you which mode you are currently in for Throttle, Suspension, and Steering. On the M5, the modes are always displayed below the Tacometer. On the M3, the mode selection display is a Pop-Up menu that only comes up when you are changing the modes then goes away. So you can't see straight away which mode you are in for the various settings. This combined with the fact that they took away the lights on the buttons themselves on the lower center console near the gear shift knob, is annoying. This I would have to say is my biggest peeve about the new M3/M4.

I will now bring a little heuristics into this review.

Scale from 1-10.

Steering: 8. Not horrible, but not OMG I love the steering feel either.

Ride Quality - 10. Felt just as comfortable driving around as the M5 did

Ride Comfort - 7. Much better seats than the E92 M3, but when I got back into my M5, I felt like I was sitting on a lazyboy, compared to the F80 M3's love seat.

Technology - 10. It's a BMW, I expect nothing less.

Performance - 10. Not only did it feel fast, but the car made sounded like I was driving an ///M car, from the inside that is.

Brakes - 8. The standard steel brakes felt just fine, but I know they will experience fade when driven on the track.

Size - 10. Absolutely love the size of the F80 M3. It's perfect!

Weight - 10. You can just feel that the car is a lot lighter.

Overall ///M Character - 8. I rated this an 8 because overall, the new M3 does feel like an ///M car. It handles like an M, it drives like an M, and feels like an M for sure. Honestly compared to a stock M5, it feels more of an ///M car than an M5 does. The M5 is much more luxury and the extra luxuriousness does take away some of that ///M special feeling to it. Like induction sound of the engine. But there's a little to be desired on the new M3 still. Like the (ahem) exhaust note. Oh and I also feel that the hood bulge adds A LOT of character to the new M3/M4. I loved it, and I'm usually not a fan of hood bulges.

Personally, my two biggest concerns about the new F80 M3 were the steering feel and the exhaust note. As I found out today, I have nothing to worry about with those things and neither should anyone else. I'm glad that I finally got to test drive one as it answered my biggest question for me. Is worth it to trade in the M5 for a new M3? That answer for me today was no. My primary reason for considering the M3 was that it's a more track worthy car. And living around where I live now, hitting the racetrack is more prudent than seeking great public roads to drive where there is little risk. The sad fact is that where I live there is great risk to going full throttle on an F10 M5 within a 100 mile radius. Therefore, I wish to track more. The F10 M5 may be a heavy bitch, but she can still "Dance With the Stars" on the track too. I'll be keeping her for a while longer still. Her and all 4,400lbs of her. The new M3 and M4 are fanastic cars though and if I didn't already own the M5, I'd get an M3 or M4. In some respects I like the looks of them better than M5/M6, in other respects I don't. It's all subjective.

But seriously, just wait until you drive the new M3 and M4 and surpass 4,000rpm on that S55 engine. I wish I could be there to witness the look on your faces and I wish the stock M5 and M6 had that kind of character. Honestly.

It's been fun typing this all out and sharing, but now enjoy a few pictures.

Oh yeah and Pkilla says peace out bi$ches.

And for those of you who don't know of the infamous Mr. Pkilla. Let me show you.

[Sedan_Clan]

Ooooo yeah! Life is sweet. I can't wait to read the comments in this thread. MG looks good. I'm going the engineer's route. I need some of that Tupac Shakur leather that you speak of too. Thug Passion!

[Liberation]

Looks like BMW of Silver Spring.

Did they just get that in? I was there last week and none had come in yet.

Dying to drive one...

[mkoesel]

Nice review. F80 in MG looks great.

Need photoshoot with your car and YMB M3.

[boogie1]

thats yas marina blue and mineral grey?? if so that blue really grew on me and the perfect pic i needed to see as were the two colors i were hung on

[///M ARMY]

I know a lot of people were worried about the exhaust note but it actually sounds really good under throttle. The DCT is great in that car. You have to mess with the settings to really feel for what the car is giving you.

[RPiM5]

Originally Posted by boogie1

thats yas marina blue and mineral grey?? if so that blue really grew on me and the perfect pic i needed to see as were the two colors i were hung on

My M5 is Riviera Blue not Yas Marina. It's brighter than Yas Marina, there's no metallic to the Riviera. I liked Mineral Grey on the M3 a lot though.

[Sedan_Clan]

Originally Posted by boogie1

thats yas marina blue and mineral grey?? if so that blue really grew on me and the perfect pic i needed to see as were the two colors i were hung on

No, that's Rivera Blue.

[ASAP]

where in dc?

[mkoesel]

Originally Posted by Sedan_Clan

No, that's Rivera Blue.

Geraldo

[RPiM5]

Originally Posted by mkoesel

Geraldo

Lol!

[botis1028]

Great review - how is the stock sound of the F10 M5 exhaust compared to the F80...before you straight piped how would you compare.

[RPiM5]

Originally Posted by botis1028

Great review - how is the stock sound of the F10 M5 exhaust compared to the F80...before you straight piped how would you compare.

Stock F10 M5 I wouldn't say is any better honestly. The stock exhaust on the F10 M5 does produce cracks though, or what a lot of people call thunderclaps, which is cool, but the M3 does sound good under load too, just pretty quiet still. I would say if you put both cars with stock exhausts in a tunnel the decibel level of the M5 exhaust would be louder though. The inside cabin sound is completely different though. F80 M3 wins hands down on the inside.

[e39>all]

Thanks for the input. I was wondering what color it was after seeing the first 2 or 3 pics, looked like some type of dark blue lol, reminded me of how carbon black looked in certain light.

[JTO24]

Thanks man! I really need to drive both.. your car looks great BTW!

[shortseller]

It wouldn't really come alive till you hit 4k on the tac, really? Most reviews claimed it pulled from 1850(or something like that) all the way up to 7300. Sounds like bad turbo lag to me, is that what you felt? Even my old N54 picked up at 3k!

[Sedan_Clan]

Originally Posted by RPiM5

Stock F10 M5 I wouldn't say is any better honestly. The stock exhaust on the F10 M5 does produce cracks though, or what a lot of people call thunderclaps, which is cool, but the M3 does sound good under load too, just pretty quiet still. I would say if you put both cars with stock exhausts in a tunnel the decibel level of the M5 exhaust would be louder though. The inside cabin sound is completely different though. F80 M3 wins hands down on the inside.

Are you considering moving to an F8X or are you going to stick w/ the F10 for now?

[M4TW]

One thing that I found annoying on the M3 right away is the display that tells you which mode you are currently in for Throttle, Suspension, and Steering. On the M5, the modes are always displayed below the Tacometer. On the M3, the mode selection display is a Pop-Up menu that only comes up when you are changing the modes then goes away. So you can't see straight away which mode you are in for the various settings. This combined with the fact that they took away the lights on the buttons themselves on the lower center console near the gear shift knob, is annoying. This I would have to say is my biggest peeve about the new M3/M4.

I sat in an M6 and noticed that feature and naturally assumed that my M4 would have it. It gives you a quick easy read of what setting you are in for each variable and allows for easy changes on-the-fly. I have a feeling that I will be relying on my M1 M2 pre-sets as fiddling on-the-fly with this system will likely lead to my car winding up in the ditch.

[IMrMark]

I actually thought this review was fake at first lol no offense. Been understanding DC dealers weren't anywhere near to getting launch cars.

What dealership was this? I've already got my car on order so I'm not stressed, but was hoping to see YMB fully in person. Also, disagree on the sound. This car sounds completely amazing. (Subjective of course)... But I come from world of WRX and GTI. So from the perspective of having had FI via turbo over many years. The sounds of those other cars... Not even a little bit close. I'm sure it's no NA V8, but credit where credit is due - BMW did a solid job I think. Again just my opinion.

But seriously, what dealer?

Thanks for the write up

[ASAP]

Originally Posted by IMrMark

I actually thought this review was fake at first lol no offense

What dealership was this? I've already got my car on order so I'm not stressed, but was hoping to see YMB fully in person. Also, disagree on the sound. This car sounds completely amazing. (Subjective of course)... But I come from world of WRX and GTI. So from the perspective of having had FI via turbo over many years. The sounds of those other cars... Not even a little bit close. I'm sure it's no NA V8, but credit where credit is due - BMW did a solid job I think. Again just my opinion.

But seriously, what dealer?

Thanks for the write up

This is obviously SS.

[IMrMark]

Originally Posted by ASAP

This is obviously SS.

Cool. Sorry I'm more familiar with Fairfax, Alexandria, Rockville..

[/// M sa]

I am so glad I got MG, that looks great.