First Drive - 2010 BMW M3 Edition
 

Friday I picked up a 2010 BMW M3 Edition, 420HP 4.0L V8, 6spd manual, Monte Carlo blue on black, 51kms.

Thought I would do a first impressions review. It should be noted this is my first time driving a BMW. Ever.

Coles notes:

Pros

- Power and torque! Plenty of it. Get up in the RPMs and hold on!
- Special touches everywhere. Blue stich, carbon roof and spoiler, supportive seats, wide fenders and awesome OEM 19" wheels. It's obvious this is not your average 3 series.
- The rumble. Equipped with the Eisenmann exhaust ($3k USD) it feels and sounds like a german muscle car. Great sounds to back up the power and looks!

Cons

- Gas mileage. OMG. With just a few short drives around town I could see the gas gauge dropping in a hurry.
- When you drive a E92 M3 you have to drive like a douche. You just do. When in Rome right?
- Speeding tickets at best or impound at worst. This car is so damn fun at speed that I could see myself getting to know the local authorities in a hurry.

Impressions

I fired it up and immediately noticed the rumble from the exhaust, the bulging hood and the strange mechanism handing me the seat belt. The start button is not something I am used to. After getting used to the short clutch engagement and taking a corner I noticed the comfortable seats and great positioning of the steering wheel and shifter. Throws are short but not quite as easy as my ITR.

My three year old daughter wanted to see the car and I let her sit in the driver seat as she climbed in she said and I quote "ohhh fancy"

There are lots of reviews out there so I won’t go into more detail. Here is a link that shows details on the “Edition” model.

https://www.topspeed.com/cars/bmw/20...s-ar74941.html

Summary

I see why the M3 is such a great car. It has the whole package. It balances being a weekend only sports car versus being an everyday usable car. Like many have said the maintenance (and fuel) costs can be higher than other cars but it is worth it.

Thanks to jasonturbo for letting me drive his M3 until he is ready to pick it up here in Victoria. Congrats on the new ride!

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Former 2010 M3 Edition owner reporting in :lawl:



https://scontent.fyvr2-1.fna.fbcdn.n...f4&oe=5B5A72FD

Gorgeous car, loving that blue!

Just had to log in for this, but the E92 is a great car. Speaking from experience from the NSX and a bunch of other Porsches GT and M cars.

The 4 door will probably be the best all rounder, one garage car. Well unless they make an SUV X3M with the S65B40 in it. :fullofwin:

Edit: (A member messaged me about buying one but his inbox is full so I'll reply here and for those who are interested in a E92 as well)


I think it depends on what you are looking for in the car. As a daily driver the 335i is 75% as good as the M3. Even if you make the change from a 335i to a M3 I think the difference is drastic enough so you don't need to worry about getting two of the same thing because it really isnt. The character of the two car is totally different. The M3 is the keeper and its better built despite sharing many parts. The M3 is actually more relaxing around town, its less torquey and more melodious going about. The engine is a real gem at the time and even more so now.

Performance wise, M3 is the better car no doubt, even I had a modded 335i compare to my now stock M3. When my M3 was modded full bolt on, its no comparison. The handling is a step above, the response and frankly the engine above 6k pulls so hard you will forget about the lack of torque down low. Remember the 335i dies off around 6500rpm, but the M3 is just getting started.

I think you will be happy with both, but the M3 you will be happy for a long time to come. I know its a long email, but if you want to know more I can tell you the rest. I had many chance to replace the M3 for either another car, was thinking X3/Macan/Panamera/997.1 C2S or take over my friends 987 S, BUT none of them does EVERYTHING as well in a single package, they can do certain roles much better though.

nice
I like it.
Time to take lots of photos!

Beautiful car, I can't believe its 8 years old!

Nice spec

Nice M3, love the colour and the 6 speed!

gorgeous car - all praise the 3rd pedal.

i thought jasonturbo would go lime rock this time around tho :seriously:

Someone remind me - Did this generation come in a sedan version? Or were they all coupes?

Sedan, Coupe & Convertible.

If I were to pick again, I would go for the Sedan + 7M-DCT + FULLY LOAD the options. Its just the perfect package. Especially more so when all 3 of my cars are 2 doors and giving my back a killing. Poor choices!

e92 aged so well. Damn they look great

Had a coupe in DCT and sedan in 6MT. If I buy a third it’d for sure be a DCT sedan. Loved the 4 doors but didn’t get a good feel for the 6MT and high reving V8, the DCT was more enjoyable in my opinion.

Thanks for the insight @JW

this car loves to rev, upkeep can be expensive though i find.

Enjoy the manual! But i didn't particularly like BMW's shift feel, and the lack of torque from this v8

No Lime Rock's for Canada, the "cross border" tax for a LRP edition would be too high for my taste. Plenty of Canadian fire orange cars around, not many with 6MT though.

I was searching for a Santorini Blue E92 M3 6MT for about two years, one came up in the fall of 2017 but the seller was one of those greasy "budget" car lots... I couldn't bring myself to take the chance on it.

MCB E92's are very rare, I think there was < 30 sold to North American market, and of those 30 I know of approximately 10 DCT cars and only 2 6MT cars.

Having said all that, about two weeks after buying the M3 in January I ended up ordering another car... so not entirely sure what will come of this one. I have already purchased wheels, suspension, lip, LCI lights, interior M performance parts etc.. so I'll put the car together and then figure out what to do with it.

What would be a rough dollar amount of what you would spend to upkeep an E92? Like roughly $1000 a year for maintenance?

I would suggest that 1K would be safe number, however, BMW's are IMO quite fragile, it's difficult to accurately predict reliability.

Consider that there are 200,000 mile E92 M3's on original rod bearings and throttle actuators and 30,000 mile E92 M3's that have gone through a set of actuators and have also thrown a rod bearing.

seen rear diff issues as well on a few.



but to be frank, one of the better BMW cars of that generation when it comes to reliability.

Re: Rear diff, my car had the rear diff and trans replaced @ 48000km or something, right before warranty expired.

I'd be more worried about the gas situation with the prices now LOL

Did jason ever end up getting the RS3? Can't keep up with all the cars

I didn't take the RS3.

- Too much hard plastic, not enough leather wrapping
- Styling was a bit dull in person
- Couldn't get Nogaro Blue
- No pano roof
- Scared I would miss the manual
- Shit ain't cheap

We passed on the RS3 in favour of another Golf R, two months later my GF accepted a new position that included a company car.. got rid of the golf R lol. (Only after spending a small fortune on PPF and nano coatings etc.)

Current situation:
2017 Toyota Corolla LE (GF's work car)
2016 Ford F150 King Ranch (My work truck)
2010 BMW M3 (This thread)
2007 Porsche GT3 RS

I do have another car on order that is set to arrive in the next 2-3 weeks, really just trying to determine whether or not the car will depreciate like a bastard before I fully commit and drive it off the lot.

Love this car. Perfect spec, in a car that depends so much on it IMO.