Quote:
Originally Posted by solstice
So you think the E90 M3 is going to be more similar to the F80 than the F30 335i in size, materials, construction, electronics and really everything? Sorry but it's obvious that for example the size, interior and engine is much more like the F30 335i than the E90. It seems like a much better reference point and much more likely to be F80's starting point when designing it than the E90 M3's older platform.
As a reference the F10 M5 is within 20 lbs of the 550i while it's almost 300 lbs between it and the E60 M5. It seems obvious that the platform plays a more significant role than it's predecessor.
Therefore I think it's better to forget about the E90 as a comparison for weight and instead look at the F30 335i and analyze what need to be added for strength, power, width, traction/LSD etc and what can be reduced with lightweight materials to get a better idea of what we can reasonably expect when M makes weight reduction a focus and it's main design objective. How good are they? We'll see.
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I mostly agree with this. In addition I've also posted just above apples to apples indications that the base model cars are also increasing in weight relative to their predecessors. And of course what matters in the end is the M4 weight vs. the outgoing E92 M3 weight. This increase is so bad (obviously) because making an M car from a base car always requires many components being stronger and hence heavier (engine, drive train, diff, wheels brakes, tires, suspension, etc.). With the base car itself being heavier it is all the more ground (i.e. COST) that needs to be made up for with materials that range from more expensive to MUCH more expensive.
And yes, we all know that right now at BMW and at BMW M, COST is KING. I've mentioned and argued it here (perhaps in excess...) but this is the primary reason for the major change in M engine architecture.
Cheers.