z4m roadster vs e92 m3

[stevo///m3]

Apart from needing a reasonable amount of maintenance, what's not to like about a lightweight free-revving n/a V8? I think they put it in the racing E89s but never anything other than the E9x for normal customers. Shame.
Stevo

[z4mroadster]

Ive decided to keep my z4mr and buy a vx220 turbo; i used to have one and they certainly put a smile on your face. Definatley not a daily driver but an awesome weekend car, superior to the z4mr.....definatley not, but easily modifiable and very fast. Plus the turbo is a different power delivery to the z4m so ill have the variation.I figured the m3's running costs would be risky if anything went wrong especially with the DCT or EDC. The m3 e92 is an amazing car though, maybe a 3rd car in the future. Ill upload some pics of the z4mr and vx220 turbo together and maybe another thread on the performance comparisons

[Jaw]

I've driven a load of cars before/after the Z4M and there isn't much that quite has the same touch. The e92 I thought left me a bit wanting. Didn't feel focused enough to be fun, didn't feel wafty enough to be a cruiser? Seemed to lack the eagerness of the Z4M and in the real world was no faster, in fact when I was out with a friend in his 92 I was glued to him. But whereas I got out of the z, looked back 6 or 7 times, smiled every time I went for a drive etc, the 92 become normal very quickly when I took one out for an hour or so's test drive. It did feel great to make the engine rumble but it just didnt' 'feel' special.

I think the z4's crashy ride adds to the drama, I loved that the ride was stiff, bumpy and twitchy, it's what made the car imho, just so full of character.

Very chalk and cheese though.

[Franzino]

Difference is your comparing a sportscar (Z4M) to a fast family car (M3). The M3 is a compromise the Z4M isn't really it does what it says on the tin its small had 2 seats and lack of practicality.

As fantastic as the M3s are the E92 is far from the best IMO its too big and too heavy and feels like driving a boat compared to Z4M or E46 M3. You can tell it was designed for the American market. On a hoon its good fun leaving it high in the rev range, but with little grunt lower in the rev range means dallying it is a bore and you will probably get burned up by little hatches if your not on it all the time. The S54 has 80% available from 2000rpm so feels a bit nippier.

The official figures are 0-60 in 4.8 but the M3 in manual unless the tyres are warm the conditions are correct will never do that the DCT with launch is a different story and more predictable. The Z4m is meant to be 5 dead but many have consistently got it quicker than that more like 4.8 so very similar.

Another issue with the M3 is it struggles to get the power on the road, the one we had went through tyres like no tomorrow and drank fuel like it was going out of fashion and the drive was... ok not spectacular.

Also being the odd ball I think the 4 door looks miles better than the coupe in the E9x. The rear end of the 4 door just looks amazing and you actually get more practicality with very little extra compromise and looks more of a sleeper.

In terms of the Manual vs DCT. The manual is great but to get the most out of that engine the DCT is the way to go. We had the manual and it was really fun to drive.

The best bit the noise, the V8 is amazing and its such a shame the E9X M3 was the only car that got it! Its basically a similar size and weight to the S54 its an engineering marvel. But you have to be careful they tend to have more half shaft bearing issues than the S54.

EDC is also not standard its an option and completely necessary IMO.

+1, I drove a e92 M3 for one week and had the same experience..