[solstice]

Originally Posted by OF Hero

The AWD version will probably be like a 4 door GTR.

Also makes you wonder how much of a premium they'll charge.

I suspect you are right and even more important than the 4 doors is that it will be a pleasant day to day street car. The GTR is a roughneck.

[OSee]

Originally Posted by OF Hero

The AWD version will probably be like a 4 door GTR.

Also makes you wonder how much of a premium they'll charge.

My CA who I’ve bought quite a few cars from said his GM wants (and is getting) a $10k premium for their initial xdrive allocations. He says once inventory settles he can work out a deal.

Maybe it’s because he knew I would be reaching out to kick tires after getting rid of my M2. But I tend to believe him though since this is SoCal. Where the majority of people are walk ins who overpay.

[Young04]

Originally Posted by Silber

When picking up a car at one of my local dealerships, my contacts offered me a chance to be one of the first non-employees to take the M3 out for around an hour.

For context, I drove my M2 CS down to the dealer, and we have a 2015 F82 M4, 2019 i8, 2020 228i, 2018 X2, and 2010 135i between my partner and I.

My initial impressions are as follows:

1. The car feels quite a decent chunk bigger than the F8X, and it definitely shows in the space for the ear passengers.
   
2. The S58 sounds completely different than any other BMW engine I can remember. Not anything like an S55, and it did not remind me of the B58, N55, or N54 - if anything it sounds much closer to what you'd experience with a Porsche flat six like the one in the 718 GT4, which was a very pleasant surprise.
   
3. I really appreciated the addition of an Exhaust button in the configuration, and overall there setup is even more flexible than it was in the F8X generation. I was surprised that you could even adjust the brake-by-wire feel between Comfort and Sport.
   
4. I was surprised that BMW developed the manual for this car to feel quite a bit different than the previous generation. The shift feel is quite a bit shorter and feels more direct - not quite the same rubberyness you got with the F8X and E9X cars. The clutch itself has a different feel too, one that I didn't really like because it was much less of a linear progression than the previous car.
   
5. It's very quick, except at first it feels slow because of how quickly the computers kill your torque especially in cold temperatures. It's also much less obvious when your inputs are being dampened than it was in the F8X, to the point where I was completely blown away when we turned all the safeties off.
   
6. I hate the electronic parking brake and it took me a hot second to figure out where it even was.
   
7. Black is a very safe color on this car, but its also very difficult to photograph the styling on this one. I think that any highly reflective color or colors that really help cast shadows around the different geometry (like the frozen colors) are going to work really well.\
   
8. I personally don't care for the new shape of the carbon fibre roof. There's a weird transition between being flat in the front to these two fins/creases towards the rear, and I think the previous generation did this better.
   
9. The interior is next-level compared to what came before it. Much closer to what you'd expect in and M5 than what you'd see in M3s of days past.
   
10. I especially love the M version of Live Cockpit and all of the sensors integrated in the car. We were already exposed to this with our 228i GC, and this just has more of everything as you'd expect.
    
    

I didn't bring my normal gear with me because I didn't expect to get a shot at driving this car until sometime next week, but here is a short video with some of my initial impressions from the drive:

First, thank you very much for posting your thoughts.

Second, that video brought back good memories as I went to law school at BU (and also lived in Allston/Brookline my first few years after law school).

Have you driven an X3M? I have one and am wondering how similar the sound/power delivery characteristics are.

[frankiebones]

Very interesting feedback on the manual. Thanks OP.

[M3PGH]

agree with your reference about clutch feel. I have been driving MT cars for 40 years , and this one felt harder to adjust to quickly but I think once you drive the car for some time it will not be an issue . I only drove the car for 15-20 min
I was also surprised about brake setting adjustment which is a new feature , but i did not bother to play with it

[sabrina]

and this right here is why you never buy the dealership demos. holy break-in period, batman.

great vid, tho! I'm stopping by the local dealer wednesday for a closer look.

[Silber]

Originally Posted by Young04

Have you driven an X3M? I have one and am wondering how similar the sound/power delivery characteristics are.

I have not, so unfortunately I’m missing that bit of reference, but based on everything I’ve heard about the S58 over performing in that chassis I’d say that it’s the same case here.

[Silber]

Originally Posted by sabrina

and this right here is why you never buy the dealership demos. holy break-in period, batman.

And also why demos are the best leases - massive hit on the payment and you don’t have to worry about the warranty or maintenance.

[m20e3087]

Great feedback OP, surprised on your comments for the sound. I was planning on turning ASD off right away but may have to reconsider once I take delivery. Also it's good to here that BMW finally did some R&D for the manual transmission, I was expecting it to be copy and paste from F8x. This gen will be my first auto M car, so let's see how it goes.

[SYT_Shadow]

The video looks like Boston

[AndroidRobot]

can't wait to order mine if my M5 CS allocation falls through

[GOLFFRR]

sounds good!

[ellipsis212]

Is there a break in period on these motors?

[oz555]

Maybe todays best car overall. Black sapphire looks awesome with M3.

[art unique]

Originally Posted by ellipsis212

Is there a break in period on these motors?

Havn't seen a car without one but they are getting shorter throughout the years. What used to be 2k miles is now 500 miles

[DocWeatherington]

Originally Posted by art unique

Havn't seen a car without one but they are getting shorter throughout the years. What used to be 2k miles is now 500 miles

ellipsis212

If history repeats itself normally on M cars it's 1200 miles, with recommended speeds and service around the 1200 mark.

[frankiebones]

Looks horrible, someone make sure to post this in the "How to Kill the Manual Transmission Once and For All" thread.

[IB M]

6MT is mint.

Is there active sound or not on the G80?

[frankiebones]

Originally Posted by IB M

6MT is mint.

Is there active sound or not on the G80?

There is, but the driver can disable it in iDrive (rather than pulling a few fuses in the trunk or coding it out).

[kyleb350]

Originally Posted by ellipsis212

Is there a break in period on these motors?

Always. One reason not to buy a dealer demo.

[Groganrocket]

Simply ugly car!

[i128]

Originally Posted by SYT_Shadow

The video looks like Boston

Does Boston have these streetcars? Looks like they blurred the logos....