[shadowredlev]

Hey Guys!

I picked my Base M3 about a month ago, got a bunch of stuff done to it, wanted to put my experience here on how everything has been and my review of the car after everything is said and done so here it is!

From vehicle order to deliver, the car was ordered June 2023, Allocation July 2023, Started Build October 2023, Arrived at US port Mid December 2023, and arrived at my dealer Mid January 2024, Port installed options took about 3 weeks, The dealer I got it from was BMW Santa Barbara

Factory Options were they worth it?
Every single package I got from the factory was worth every penny, I love everything about every option, the only thing I wish I did not get was maybe the 826m wheels as I ended up replacing them with the 827m wheels, definitely a big upgrade the slate black in my opinion looks cleaner and more premium than the gloss black Ill run through the list of options and my opinions on them

Chalk Exterior
-Worth the 4,500, the color is gorgeous, definitely looks better in person than in pictures, and already in pictures its beautiful, it was a toss up between this and fashion gray but this was the exact “creaminess” I wanted so it worked out

826m in black
-Like I said not huge fan unfortunately, however I got lucky with the michelins so I am not too upset, saves me a couple grand in tires when I need replace them in 14k miles

Fiona Interior with Full Merino Leather
-My favorite Color is red, and this is a darker red and is literally perfect, plus the full merino dash and upper door cards with red stitching is worth it, looks amazing, not a fan of the non full leather option

Carbon Fiber Trim
-I don’t like any other trim color, this is a clear must for the carbon steering wheel trim alone

Parking Assistance Package
-Worth the 700, you get the surround view plus front camera, makes parking a breeze, you also get the option of drive recorder, and using the app you can do a 360 degree picture anytime you want, which was pretty cool

Executive Package
-Worth the 1400, saves a little money off the full merino and I can’t live without heads up display or the heated wheel, however I definitely prefer the sport HUD over the Standard one, not the biggest fan of the large blue bar

M Shadowline Lights
-Not sure what the non shadow lights look like but I am sure this is worth it

Carbon Bucket Seats
-To Be honest, these make the interior truly special, from the way they look from the back from the front from the design of the seat, everything about them is perfect, yes getting in and out is a little annoying but bearable for me, I have no issues with it, For reference I am 6 feet tall 235LB and a chubby/semi muscular build and I would say I am borderline in size, if I was any fatter it would probably be uncomfortable but with my build I have already done 4 1 hour long drives with no issues

Icon Adaptive LED Laserlights
-No need to explain this one, Worth the 1k for looks alone

Drive Recorder
-Worth the 100 dollars, Do not skip this one if you have parking assistance package

M Carbon Exterior Package
-I am a Carbon Fiber Whore, and do not like non OEM stuff, so This was a no brainer for me, but I am sure you can get all these parts Non-OEM for cheap

Extended Shadowline Trim
-Worth it for the black tale pipes

Red Brake Calipers
-Again favorite color, and matches the interior

M performance Suspension
-Definitely would get this 100% of the time, love it, port set rear height with this is perfect, but I think ill adjust the front and lower it a little more

BMW EyeCare Pro
-Now this one I am a little upset about, for one this was the reason it took an extra 2 weeks to leave the port, the next is the wire causes the headliner in the front to bend a bit, not noticeable unless you are looking for it, but still a little annoying, and the wires that were ran caused some tapping noises which I fixed with some foam tape… anyway as far as usage, whats good about this one, is it constantly records, so I could use this to record track footage and stuff, which the drive recorder can't do, it only saves 20 seconds before and after a trigger, so overall for 750 I would still say its worth it but I could live without it

Now these were the add ons I installed/got installed after delivery

M Performance Exhaust Tips
-These things were a PAIN in the ass, they aren’t just slip on tips, you need to remove the old tips then you have the metal pipes that stick out the muffler, the pin on the bottom of each of these need to be cut off, then you need to measure and cut those pipes at an angle cutting about 20 or so mm from the top and 13 from the bottom, then you need debut what was cut then those tips slip over, but they slip over offset, they need to be pushed all the way in then they rotate around the metal pin that sticks up, HOLY CRAP this was horrible, would not have been able to do this myself, had a shop do this for me, but the process was a pain, HOWEVER, they look beautiful and overall worth it, but maybe next time I would have just options it as a port install to not deal with it

M Performance Side Skirts
-Love the look, took about 15 minutes each side, not a big deal if you have the proper tools and time, worth it

M Performance Rear Winglets
-took a little bit longer as the bumper needs to be drilled maybe an hour for both sides combined, love the look and definitely would get again

M Performance Front Lip
-This one I had installed at the dealer, was definitely pricey to install but looks beautiful, though I am worried if I lower the car I will start scraping haha, but definitely would get again

M Performance Front bumper canards
-Did not drill the bumper for these, cut the tabs off and had them installed with body tape, looks great and hold strong, I like them

M Performance Rear Wing
-I personally LOVE this thing, looks super aggressive but not ricer, I removed the trunk lip because it did not look good with that on, but I love the final look, and many compliments everywhere I go, now the install process is an entirely different story, HOLY CRAP this was a pain in the ass, my brother and I took it on and it took us about 6 hours to do it, but in the end it came out perfect

M4CSL 827m Wheels
-My favorite stock wheels, worth it if you can find a set

15m Front and 12m Rear Spacers
-Work perfect with the m performance suspension, I get the tiniest rub in the rear when I have a full car but only when going over a large dip on the freeway but its so light it doesn’t cause any issues and the fitment is PERFECT

M3 CS Rear Emblem (without the “CS” sign)
M3 CS Side gill emblems + Black Grill Emblem
-These emblems look gorgeous, pics don't have the front and side emblems I will be getting those installed next week, but the red really POP on these, however keep in mind the side emblems on these are bigger and wont fit in the grill slot (the black competition side gill emblems are the perfect size for the grill emblem slot)

IND Painted Black Carbon Fiber front and Rear Emblems
IND Painted Black Carbon Fiber Floating Center Caps
-Beautifully painted looks Stock, quality is incredible, now was it worth the price its listed as, not so sure, but At this point I am already in deep

Valvetronics Mid Pipe
-Got this installed by the same guys as the tips, they did need to cut a small piece of the front cat pipe that this connects to as it did not fit all the way inside the mid pipe, but overall install was not too bad… now for sound, I would say this is definitely a decent amount louder, sometimes a bit too loud with the valves open, but I enjoy the sound, definitely get a valve controller with this one

Dahler Valve Controller
-love it, took 15 minutes to install, programmed the mirror buttons for closed and opened, sounds great!

Full Vehicle Xpel PPF
-I had this done at American Wrap Company, and when I say its perfect, I really mean its perfect, nobody could tell its PPF’d unless you look extremely close, workers were all great and they took care of the car, no issues, no joyrides either, and were able to accommodate installing all emblems I needed, they are awesome! Worth every penny
However this is a purchase so to me it was worth it

Xpel Ceramic Tints 45% windshield 30% front windows and 15% rear 3 windows
-To me this is the perfect tint percentage for the windows, I would not want to go darker for any of the windows, maybe a level up for the front two windows so it would be a bit less noticeable that the car is tinted, hopefully I do not get pulled over for this

Last thing I will do is add the BCM drop in air filters and remove the charcoal filters from the airboxes after break in service in a couple weeks

As far as the car goes, I love everything about it, it drives great, it looks sexy AF, car is fast, I do notice the power difference between the Comp and my Base but only for the first couple gears once at a roll both cars feel similar

Interior feels super premium, love everything about the screen, ID8 is great, I have no issues with it, I low-key prefer it over the ID7 system

Sorry for the Long post, I hope this info helps people with their decisions now and in the future..

Any questions let me know!

[nearwater4me]

Congrats!
Now let's see some pics of that gorgeous chalk M3!!

[FRCFED8]

what needs to be drilled on rear winglets?

[CJ421]

Great write-up.

It's good to get perspectives on each option and accessory. Agreed with you on the BMW OEM carbon fiber. Nothing beats that IMO.

Post some more photos!

Charles

[shadowredlev]

Originally Posted by nearwater4me

Congrats!
Now let's see some pics of that gorgeous chalk M3!!

I keep getting a blank screen when uploading pictures but I was able to get some up, hope they look good haha

[shadowredlev]

Originally Posted by FRCFED8

what needs to be drilled on rear winglets?

The bottom corner of the bumper closest to the wheel where the wing clips on, you need to drill a hole on the bottom to add an extra plastic expanding rivet to give it some extra strength , took extra time because I was nervous drilling into my new car 💀

[shadowredlev]

Originally Posted by CJ421

Great write-up.

It's good to get perspectives on each option and accessory. Agreed with you on the BMW OEM carbon fiber. Nothing beats that IMO.

Post some more photos!

Charles

Thanks man! I hope one day it helps someone make their decision on when they get their next car or what they end up doing with it

One of these weekends I will head up to some view spots here in Los Angeles

[RichardGM4]

Originally Posted by FRCFED8

what needs to be drilled on rear winglets?

I was thinking the same as been considering these for my next car but not if it requires drilling...?

[RichardGM4]

OP - car looks amazing in the pics and a great write-up, so thanks for posting!

It's also the first time I've seen a G80 look good with the M Performance rear spoiler, as in my view it typically doesn't suit the G80 only the G82.

[FRCFED8]

Originally Posted by shadowredlev

The bottom corner of the bumper closest to the wheel where the wing clips on, you need to drill a hole on the bottom to add an extra plastic expanding rivet to give it some extra strength , took extra time because I was nervous drilling into my new car 💀

Anyway you can take a pic of where you have to drill?

[GOLFFRR]

awesome! Congrats OP

[f30dreamin]

I did a tripple take! Wow!!! Great spec. Hope to have a M3 ordered in the next couple of months my self. Can’t seem to commit to a color.

[nearwater4me]

Originally Posted by shadowredlev

I keep getting a blank screen when uploading pictures but I was able to get some up, hope they look good haha

Beautiful ride!
I love the OEM+ look w/ all the accessories. Very nicely done!

[shadowredlev]

Originally Posted by FRCFED8

Anyway you can take a pic of where you have to drill?

If you look here where I crudely circled and pointed at, underneath that where you can’t see you drill a small hole with a 6mm drill then a plastic rivet holds the piece in place, at first I didn’t need it , but it helps keep it extremely sturdy

[FRCFED8]

Thank you!

[khanyam4]

Nice, I love me some chalk G8X M.

[kgelfen360]

Love the wheels!! Great combo!!

[Game]

Chalk is on top of my short list of individual paint for my future G80. Sadly it seems to be impossible to capture its beauty on camera. Would you say it’s identical to Porsche chalk?

Also absolutely love the wing. Gorgeous build.

[M4ROLLIN20]

Originally Posted by shadowredlev

Hey Guys!

I picked my Base M3 about a month ago, got a bunch of stuff done to it, wanted to put my experience here on how everything has been and my review of the car after everything is said and done so here it is!

From vehicle order to deliver, the car was ordered June 2023, Allocation July 2023, Started Build October 2023, Arrived at US port Mid December 2023, and arrived at my dealer Mid January 2024, Port installed options took about 3 weeks, The dealer I got it from was BMW Santa Barbara

Factory Options were they worth it?
Every single package I got from the factory was worth every penny, I love everything about every option, the only thing I wish I did not get was maybe the 826m wheels as I ended up replacing them with the 827m wheels, definitely a big upgrade the slate black in my opinion looks cleaner and more premium than the gloss black Ill run through the list of options and my opinions on them

Chalk Exterior
-Worth the 4,500, the color is gorgeous, definitely looks better in person than in pictures, and already in pictures its beautiful, it was a toss up between this and fashion gray but this was the exact “creaminess” I wanted so it worked out

826m in black
-Like I said not huge fan unfortunately, however I got lucky with the michelins so I am not too upset, saves me a couple grand in tires when I need replace them in 14k miles

Fiona Interior with Full Merino Leather
-My favorite Color is red, and this is a darker red and is literally perfect, plus the full merino dash and upper door cards with red stitching is worth it, [...]

Niceee. ENJOY 😊