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[catch]

Wow! This thread blew up way bigger and more judgemental then I thought it would. I just wanted to share pics of the M2 next to my M3 to show proportions as not many of us have had the opportunity to see the car in person, on the street or in a parking lot, yet.

The thread made it to the main page. Thats a first for me! Pretty cool Id say

I will say THANK YOU to everyone for the positive comments on my car. Truly appreciated! Especially from a community full of people who drive these cars daily.

A few comments regarding M4 next to the M2 being a better comparison. I agree, that would be a better comparison as they're both coupes with similar lines. While this sounds great... I don't have one! I drive an M3, thats what we get pictures of here lol

To answer a few questions:

Benzima
JAYFRAN
Its lowered on KW V3 with 12/15mm spacers (Soon to be bigger spacers)


Nantucket
Yup! Took a few pics of it the next day. Looks GREAT in white!

Mark's M
No doubt you made the right decision... but lets be real, your bank account would appreciate an M2 a lot more lol

[Benzima]

Thanks for a great post! Love it, hate it, as long as we talk about it!

This is what forums, and especially car forums are all about!

[TJS///M3]

This isn't really a comparison, is it?

I'm biased also.. M3.

[termigni]

m3 looks better.

[BDWonder]

M3 all the way! I hate the M2 rear bumper...and despise those vertical reflectors on this Toyota, I mean BMW M2. The M2 looks like a baby's shoe. Very awkward. M3 is the king, in my opinion only. M3 looks aggressive and sexy. Looks complete, whereas the M2 looks like its not done.

[sbw]

Love the looks and proportions of the M2! Stunning!

What a mean machine!

[jonsnowm3]

M3

[Falafel Combo]

Originally Posted by F80NJM3

These hips don't lie

[Porsha]

This absolutely confirmed that I'm going M4 and not M2.

[MFNATIK]

Another observation is that it appears the design team that styled the X6M also had a hand in the M2. Very similar design cues as well as the use of LBB. I wonder if anyone can confirm this?

[Cal]

Originally Posted by Bosozoku

The "hips", IMHO, are the 2nd worst design pain point of the M3.
(The worst pain point being the headlights-stuck-to-grille, which creates far too much tension.
Looks like an angry cartoon character.)

The problem with the M3's rear fenders is that BMW M is not allowed to create special "M doors."
So the standard 3-Series doors must be used. Unfortunately that leaves only 3" between door and rear wheel arch.
This causes the leading edge of the rear fender flares, to me anyway, to look like they've been pried out with a crowbar.
If special "M doors" were allowed, then the trailing edge of the doors could begin the flare, which could
continue into the rear fenders in front of the wheels. A more sophisticated and elegant solution. But no.

The 4-Series doesn't suffer from this problem because its doors end about 9 inches in front of the rear wheel arch.
So the fenders can be flared gradually. Just like the M2.
Just my $0.02.

Agreed. I'll start off by saying that in these pics, the M3 does look a tad nicer since it's lowered, so well done OP.

Having said this, I would like to make a few points...First, the M2's bulged/flared fenders (not just fender lips) work very well for what it was supposed to be: a muscular, sports coupe inspired by the e30 M3, which itself has bulged/flared fenders. In this sense, it's design is a nice evolution of the e30M3.



Second, the M2 and it's flared/bulged fenders does give it the more muscular look. Sure, the M3 with it's flared fender lips does look nice, but personally, for a sports coupe/car, I'd want the flared fenders and rest of the body. (In contrast, flared fender lips work very well on the M3 and on sedans.) It takes a lot more creativity to incorporate "flaring" not only into the fenders, but also into the rest of the car's body as well (compared to just flaring the fender lips and leaving the rest of the car's body the same as it's standard counterpart). How many exotics and high-end sports cars have flared fender lips as opposed to flared/bulged fenders? For this, I praise BMW for being more bold in the design, even though it could still have been better.










The M2, once lowered and with even bigger wheels (like the OP's M3), will look extremely muscular and menacing. It has plenty of potential, as can be seen here:



For those posting hips of girls or commenting on them, I personally want my car to look muscular and aggressive (like any owner of a sports car or exotic would want), not like a cute girl's hips. j/k

Finally, I would like to congratulate the OP for owning such a beauty of an M3, and making the front page of bimmerpost!

[M3 Number 86]

Originally Posted by W///

I'd love to see LBB offered as a standard color when the M4 gets facelifted.

The drop on your car is perfect btw!

That's too much drop!