RX-8 R3 to E90 M3

Most M3 owners I know (non enthusiasts), just take it to the dealer every 10-15K miles for service. So if this kind of oil consumption at such low miles was normal, wouldn't there be tons of M3s with blown motors from negligence?

In reply to mr2s2000elise :

They have oil level sensors, so the car will remind you to add oil when it's getting low

LanEvo said:

Several times you mention how the RX8 is super light and the E90 is a freight train. The E90 should be 3400 lbs, which is fairly light for a modern car. 

I wasn’t sure what an RX8 weighed. Just checked and it’s about 3050. Don’t get me wrong, 350 lbs is significant ... but is it really a night-and-day kind of difference? Especially with so much more torque and power under the hood?

I'm not sure where you came up with this weight, E90 M3 sedan is just over 3700lbs. 

My 135i is 3400lbs. 

In reply to z31maniac :

I just checked and you guys are right: 3400 was the weight of the E46 M3 ... not the E90

I’m getting older. It’s getting harder to keep random facts straight. 

i just got into an e90 M3 as well. My mechanic put me in touch with another client of his who was looking to "downgrade" for the time being. So I traded him my e46 330i ZHP + cash for his 2009 M3. It has 123,xxx miles on it and all of the important things (like rod bearings) have been done - by the mechanic I've used for the past ~8 years. It's fairly heavily modified, scary fast, and borderline obnoxiously loud. It's a low spec car too (slick top, cloth interior, no nav and 6 speed), which I like. It is an absolute riot to drive. Looking forward to a track day soon!

I don't think an M3 should weigh more than 3400 lbs TBH.  Anything bigger than that is an M5 IMO.

dyintorace said:

i just got into an e90 M3 as well. My mechanic put me in touch with another client of his who was looking to "downgrade" for the time being. So I traded him my e46 330i ZHP + cash for his 2009 M3. It has 123,xxx miles on it and all of the important things (like rod bearings) have been done - by the mechanic I've used for the past ~8 years. It's fairly heavily modified, scary fast, and borderline obnoxiously loud. It's a low spec car too (slick top, cloth interior, no nav and 6 speed), which I like. It is an absolute riot to drive. Looking forward to a track day soon!

Nice!

Mine has leather, PDC, cold weather package, and rear sunshades.  More options than I'd like, but at least they make sense for a family wagon.  Makes me wonder if the previous owner was using it for the same kind of duty.

Won't likely make it to the track with this car for a while yet, but I'm looking forward to it as well.  This is the first car I've ever owned that I might be able to fit in with a helmet!

IamFODI said:

I don't think an M3 should weigh more than 3400 lbs TBH.  Anything bigger than that is an M5 IMO.

Yep, and everyone here also thinks it shouldn't be a big deal for an OEM to sell a 500hp wagon that will be reliable for 743k miles, with no nannies, manual gearbox and only cost $14,500 when new. 

Just not how it is.

I have six track seasons under my belt with the E92 M3, also simultaneously tracking a 2400# 1979 3-series coupe. And the last two seasons, tracking an E36 V8 that's down to maybe 2900#.

I really got a lot out of just a set of camber plates. I didn't like the amount of understeer I was facing before that. Track pads on the stock calipers are pretty much all I need in the brake department. I can now manage to make them fade if I drive the car 9/10ths or 10/10ths for a handful of laps on 100TW tires. I also really don't like the traction control on track. Other people say the MDM setting barely does anything at all on track. I think they must have a different driving style than me. The only way I can figure out my max tireload budget is to keep nibbling up until I find the oversteer limit.

I found the car a little confusing on track at first because I felt like it was just so super-stable I wasn't exactly sure where I was on the edge of the control envelope and where I was snug inside it. The older, lighter cars really gave me immediate feedback. I think maybe, with those lighter cars, I got some intuition about weight transfer and tire load/overload that I didn't have in the early seasons. Then the M3 just "clicked" for me.

To me, I'm surprised they engineered something that's as fast on track as a Cayman or just a tick behind a C5, but works just fine as an "executive sedan" on a daily basis, and it pretty much looks like a regular-old car to other drivers. Plus I can throw my track wheels in the back seat.