[Daytona Bones]

My lease is up in May and I have had a wonderful experience with my '08 M5. The car was everything I had wanted and hoped for when I had it custom built 3 years ago. The SMG was a great transmission and highly reliable for me, despite my worries given the woes of other forum members. The M5 was my first BMW and I have been impressed enough to stay with the brand for my next car.

I thought long and hard about the M5s replacement. I considered extending the lease, but its just too long to wait for the next generation to be released in the states. I have always been interested in a convertible and decided to go with the M3 E93. I still need back seats for the kids (still relatively young at 8 and 5 years old), and the M3 does fit that bill. It won't be as comfortable for them as the M5, but thats life .

Production of my new M3 will start in March and should arrive just when my lease expires. The rates for M3 leases are excellent right now (and last until the end of February). My lease payments will go down $500 per month even though I increased my number of miles from 12K to 15K per year.

I decided to go back to a true manual in the M3. But that in no way takes away from my love of the SMG for the last 3 years. I have driven the DCT during both of my trips to M school, and I respect the technology. But, it will be nice to get back to a third pedal. Who knows, maybe after this car I will get into the new M5 or M6 with the double clutch. The timing will be very good cause I can get one in its mid life cycle, once the bugs are worked out.

Here are some of the specs of the M3 convertible that I' building.

Ingerlagos blue with extended Fox Red Interior (that be an interesting change from my current car!)
Carbon fiber leather interior trim
Comfort Access, Park distance control, Navigation
Cold weather package (a must in Florida :confused3, no really it does get cold in central Florida in the winter)
Folding mirror, garage opener
EDC control (called dynamic damper control. yeah, you actually have to pay for this on the M3)
19" wheels (how could I go to 18" wheels after the M5)
Enhanced premium sound (have it on the M5 and I really like it... but I'll be listening the engine more with the top down)
Satellite radio (a must for me)
HUD (kidding, man I wish they had this! :dunno

I'll post some pics when it gets delivered. I have appreciated this community/forum for all the info, and I'm sure I'll still be around. Thanks for reading.

DB

 

[JeffL]

sounds like a great e93 always wanted a vert but there just aren't enough top down days up here. The Ingerlagos blue with Fox Red is actually pretty rare, makes it a superman car. if you haven't seen one you'll understand when you do.

 

[Daytona Bones]

sounds like a great e93 always wanted a vert but there just aren't enough top down days up here. The Ingerlagos blue with Fox Red is actually pretty rare, makes it a superman car. if you haven't seen one you'll understand when you do.

I like the idea of having a rare color combo. There surely aren't any running around my neck of the woods. That's the benefit of a lease. If I never fall in love with the combo then thats O.K. But since I have the oportunity to be unique when building a car, I like to take advantage of that. I did that as well when I build the M5. Here are some pics I found on another forum of that color combo.
Superman colors ...maybe, but I guess I could be compared to something worse than that... :cheers:

DB

 

[verbs]

ESS Supercharger. Do it.

 

[JeffL]

never said anything was wrong with a superman car. I dig it.

 

[gniruoT]

That color combo is hot!!

 

[M5_BJ]

Nice color combo.

 

[AFC1]

Sounds like a great M3! My friend's dad has an 09 E90 in Le Mans Blue (close enough to Interlagos) with Fox Red full leather, and it is a fantastic combination. You will like it, for sure! Looking forward to seeing pics when it arrives.


afc1
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[SpinoThalamic]

Daytona Bones,

That is one great color combo! And I know exactly what you mean about the cold waves we get in Central Florida, people think Florida is warm all year long, it's not! We get 20's and 30's in the winter!

Back to the M3, aren't you a little concerned that the convertible produces about 88 ft.lb less torque than the M5 while weighing about 130 lbs more?
I mean I feel the M5 is relatively low on torque as it is already....

 

[Daytona Bones]

Back to the M3, aren't you a little concerned that the convertible produces about 88 ft.lb less torque than the M5 while weighing about 130 lbs more?
I mean I feel the M5 is relatively low on torque as it is already....

Yeah, no doubt that more torque is better, and the E93 is by no means is a torque monster. I am a bit concerned about this. However, if this was much of a factor than I would of went with a new CTS-V. . I test drove one a couple of weeks ago and the supercharger makes gobs of torque. I drove an automatic, so it's not a particularly fair comparison. With that said, the CTS-V redlines at a pitiful 6K and was very uninvolving for the way I like to drive. Switching to the M3 E93 will let me keep that great high RPM nature that I have grown to love in the M5.

When I drive around town, I find that most of my fun is entering and exiting turns. The roads around here allow me find plenty of opportunities to push the car relatively close it its dynamic limits for a very brief period of time (as speed can climb very quickly). Traffic is not bad most of the time and there are still a lot of open areas that are tree lined with very few side roads to worry about. I like pushing the car hard off the line, but thats not necessarily as fun as grabbing a good corner. I think the E93 will let me enjoy my driving experience while being very involving.

I guess I'll see once I get the car how I feel. I am sure I won't be disappointed, and I'll get a great tan with the top down.

DB

 

[joshd]

I have both an E60 M5 and an E93 M3 (6-speed) and I can tell you that the M3 does feel very slow and lacking in torque as compared to the M5. However, the glorious and throaty induction sound of the V8 under WOT, especially with the top down, almost makes up for it! The M3 is my wife's car and she thinks it's fast based on the sound alone, so I try not to spoil it for her :biggrinbounce:

Once the S65 starts turning around 7000s RPMs, it does start to move though ... :7:

Enjoy in good health and weather!

 

[Daytona Bones]

I have both an E60 M5 and an E93 M3 (6-speed) and I can tell you that the M3 does feel very slow and lacking in torque as compared to the M5. However, the glorious and throaty induction sound of the V8 under WOT, especially with the top down, almost makes up for it! The M3 is my wife's car and she thinks it's fast based on the sound alone, so I try not to spoil it for her :biggrinbounce:

Once the S65 starts turning around 7000s RPMs, it does start to move though ... :7:

Enjoy in good health and weather!

Wow, lucky wife to have that for her daily driver! So on the weekends do you guys take the M5 or the M3?

I guess I've lived without any real torque for the last 3 years, so I'm sure I can get used to the E93.... as long as I get to :M5rev: as much as possible.

DB

 

[joshd]

Wow, lucky wife to have that for her daily driver! So on the weekends do you guys take the M5 or the M3?

I guess I've lived without any real torque for the last 3 years, so I'm sure I can get used to the E93.... as long as I get to :M5rev: as much as possible.

DB

Heh, the weekends are usually spent in the MDX with the three kids, including 5 month old baby girl! Whenever the weather and kids permit however, we drive the M3. The sound really is intoxicating and it feels great to drive ... slightly more connected to the road in terms of feedback than the M5. I just wish it could go on a 600 lb diet or so ...

 

[dhoggm3]

I have the M3 vert and an M5 too. The M3 is definitely slower but feels and sounds great. Lots of fun!

 

[Daytona Bones]

I have the M3 vert and an M5 too. The M3 is definitely slower but feels and sounds great. Lots of fun!

Your avatar looks just like the car I ordered??? What are the specs?

I have driven the M3 multiple times and a 335si vert once. So what are the dynamics like in the M3 vert give the extra weight compared to what I am used to in the M5?

I now have a production number from BMW for the M3.... and the wait begins. At least this time the wait will be much easier than it was when I built the M5. It is easy the be patient while I still get to drive my current M5 every day.

DB

 

[gniruoT]

Wow, lucky wife to have that for her daily driver! So on the weekends do you guys take the M5 or the M3?

I guess I've lived without any real torque for the last 3 years, so I'm sure I can get used to the E93.... as long as I get to :M5rev: as much as possible.

DB

My wifes daily driver is the M5 and mine is the M3 also. She says she needs it because of the kids but I don't know.....:Thumbdown:

 

[Daytona Bones]

My wifes daily driver is the M5 and mine is the M3 also. She says she needs it because of the kids but I don't know.....:Thumbdown:

The back seat of the M5 is definitely comfy for the kids... but your wife probably just likes the V-10. :wroom:

Whats funny is that I have a friend who has an M5, but never gets to drive it because his wife needs it to take the kids to school.... But, she hates driving it! ouich

I had no idea there were that many people around with both an M5 and an M3.

DB

 

[dhoggm3]

My E93 M3 is Interlagos Blue with the tan full leather interior, 6MT, pretty much all other possible opitons except the upgrade wheels. I wanted the ride comfort and light weight of the stock sized wheels, which I replaced with Fikse's with spacers using the stock PS2's. Other aftermarket parts are AA Signature exhaust (highly recommended), Powerchip tune (excellent), AA pulley, Macht Schnell filter. It feels much lighter than it is, and it's just a pure kick to drive. And the E93 looks awesome in Interlagos.

 

[///Mike M]

DB, you will be returning it to the lot of Fields Daytona? Or somewhere else? Lemme know :M5thumbs:

 

[Daytona Bones]

DB, you will be returning it to the lot of Fields Daytona? Or somewhere else? Lemme know :M5thumbs:

Yeah. As soon as my new car is built and delivered I'll be retuning my M5 back to Fields of Daytona. Probably some time in late April/early May.

DB