New Black Sapphire Metallic M3 Manual - Initial Thoughts

translux · 01-29-2022, 11:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IL Pete

Quote:

Originally Posted by kyleemile

Fellow black-on-black owner who's also having /some/ buyers remorse on not picking a more differentiated color and not getting the Carbon Bucket seats.

The car is so aggressive and in black it's makes it look vicious. Which I love. I often catch myself day dreaming about another color—my issue is I don't like the other colors more than black on this car, but I like the idea of having more "pop".

As for the carbon buckets, I'm 6'2 athletic build and occasionally find myself sliding in seat during spirited drives. Adjusting the bolsters to the highest setting has helped a lot. I haven't had a chance to sit in the carbon buckets yet, but as my daily I fear how annoying and uncomfortable getting in and out of them would be in a daily basis. That being said the CB's are beautiful and differentiated and that's what caused the occasional remorse.

Im leasing for 3 years. Sometimes I consider if I should swap for color and CB's. I'm really bought-in on the G8x platform and might hold out on replacing until lease is up. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they'll make the CS with a manual, despite early rumors pointing the other way.

I did put a deposit down for an allocation to get another M3 Base Manual with Carbon Buckets. I am finding the M Sport Seats to not hold me in as tightly as I like (and am used to with the 18 Way Sport Seats in the Cayman). I am pretty sure I will like the Carbon Buckets much better! (I have driven in them, in a test drive last May.)

For color I am pretty sure I am going to do Individual Donington Grey with Fiona Red Full Leather. I am very picky with regards to colors, and while there are a ton of Grey/Silver choices, I want an old school lighter silver with no green or blue, a hint of beige/gold, and a lot of metallic flake. Donington seems to fit the bill.

This time around I am also going to add the Carbon Exterior Package.

Allocation is predicted to come up in April or so. The Individual Paint selection will supposedly add 8-10 weeks to the build slot timing. Fine by me, the LCI starts with July production, it will be interesting to see what changes come with that...

In the meantime, I will enjoy the one I have!

AA Single Midpipe + Axle-Back Exhaust came in today, getting that and Spacers (15mm front, 13mm Rear) installed, hopefully this week.

Since we appear to be separated at birth-my wife also has a Dodge Durango that I don't like, to be clear I bought it, I think I'm going to replace with a used Bentayga-I'll let you forge ahead with the mods. I do have a JB4 but am waiting to break in the new transmission/clutch. Hopefully the pandemic cools off and I can buy you a drink of choice and hear the exhaust.

IL Pete · 01-30-2022, 11:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by translux

Since we appear to be separated at birth-my wife also has a Dodge Durango that I don't like, to be clear I bought it, I think I'm going to replace with a used Bentayga-I'll let you forge ahead with the mods. I do have a JB4 but am waiting to break in the new transmission/clutch. Hopefully the pandemic cools off and I can buy you a drink of choice and hear the exhaust.

Separated at birth indeed, LOL! We definitely have similar tastes.

Looking at your signature there is even more overlap in our collections and history, I also had an E39 540i Manual and an E46 M3 Manual. I considered the E39 M5 Manual, when it came in I decided that while it was amazing, it wasn't worth the huge price to upgrade my 540i Manual, which I had already sunk a bunch of money into with aesthetic mods - an AC Schnitzer full body kit and wheels/tires. I bought a Blobeye WRX (not STi) for my son last year, but the engine needed to be rebuilt so we got a Mk7.5 GTI. I initially considered the Mk Golf R for the Winter Car, but he said no way could I get a similar but better car than his. That is fine, I am super glad I got the M3!

With regards to the M Sport Seats - it is weird, with the Bolsters all the way in, it is fairly snug. Not touching my sides but close. But I think the issue is more so that the shape is weird, the center of the flat back of the seat sticks out, and then there are two vertical recessed channels between the seat back center and the bolsters. So in aggressive driving you sort of collapse into those recessed channels, and then hit the side bolsters. And the side bolsters have some give (perhaps too much) on the surface, and then are harder below that. All those things combined make for a seat that is super comfortable for cruising (GREAT Lumbar support!) but not really optimized for spirited hooligan driving in M Traction Control mode on deserted country roads. It is interesting to see the Carbon Buckets showing up on more M Cars, first the M5 CS, and then just this week the 2023 M8. No doubt they will be an option on the next-gen M2s. Good on BMW for coming out with those seats!

I am working on booking a Private Instruction with BMW at their Thermal, CA (Palm Springs) track to spend some time comparing the M3/M4 with M Sport and Carbon Buckets. I have confirmed they have both seat types, but no Manuals. (Which is fine.)

Will post an update when I get the exhaust and spacers installed.

mzcp · 02-06-2022, 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IL Pete

Separated at birth indeed, LOL! We definitely have similar tastes.

Looking at your signature there is even more overlap in our collections and history, I also had an E39 540i Manual and an E46 M3 Manual. I considered the E39 M5 Manual, when it came in I decided that while it was amazing, it wasn't worth the huge price to upgrade my 540i Manual, which I had already sunk a bunch of money into with aesthetic mods - an AC Schnitzer full body kit and wheels/tires. I bought a Blobeye WRX (not STi) for my son last year, but the engine needed to be rebuilt so we got a Mk7.5 GTI. I initially considered the Mk Golf R for the Winter Car, but he said no way could I get a similar but better car than his. That is fine, I am super glad I got the M3!

With regards to the M Sport Seats - it is weird, with the Bolsters all the way in, it is fairly snug. Not touching my sides but close. But I think the issue is more so that the shape is weird, the center of the flat back of the seat sticks out, and then there are two vertical recessed channels between the seat back center and the bolsters. So in aggressive driving you sort of collapse into those recessed channels, and then hit the side bolsters. And the side bolsters have some give (perhaps too much) on the surface, and then are harder below that. All those things combined make for a seat that is super comfortable for cruising (GREAT Lumbar support!) but not really optimized for spirited hooligan driving in M Traction Control mode on deserted country roads. It is interesting to see the Carbon Buckets showing up on more M Cars, first the M5 CS, and then just this week the 2023 M8. No doubt they will be an option on the next-gen M2s. Good on BMW for coming out with those seats!

I am working on booking a Private Instruction with BMW at their Thermal, CA (Palm Springs) track to spend some time comparing the M3/M4 with M Sport and Carbon Buckets. I have confirmed they have both seat types, but no Manuals. (Which is fine.)

Will post an update when I get the exhaust and spacers installed.

Private instruction is worth it as you get more seat time than a regular M Day class. You can focus on a specific skill or exercise like corner entry, exit, racing line, skid pad etc... My lead instructor said that three hours was a good amount of driving. Let me know when you go there.