[bwrlane]

I'm new to M cars. I just swapped out my F31 340i for a G81 LCI M3. I'd probably have had an M before if there'd been a Touring (family of 5). The G81 will double up as a daily and long-distance cruiser for the family so the ride had to be, if not sumptuous, at least acceptable. (Sorry Alpina, just don't think I could ever get used to those wheels).

A lot of reviews on Youtube seem to focus on the ride quality saying "whoa this is firm", "not as good as the M340i", "Alpina is better, etc". But is it really that bad?

My impressions are: yes it is firmer than the F31 340i but not by a huge amount; on the plus side, the ride is more controlled (i.e. not as wobbly, not that the F31 340i was particularly bad in this regard).

Anyway, reason for posting is, I took a couple of friends for a spin in the G81 the other day. They are husband and wife, both car enthusiasts with loads of experience of performance brands, and previous owners of BMW M cars. Their last M car was an F87 M2 Competition, which they got rid of mainly because... of its ride quality.

Their reaction to the G81 was like "wow this ride is really good", "much better than the M2", "the M2 would be crashing all over these ridges and bumps", "really great for an M car". They were even impressed with it in Sport Plus chassis mode.

Yet all the reviews seem so Eeyorish about it. How do you find it, do you use it as a daily/long-distance cruiser and if so, how do you find the ride?

[MJBO]

No complaints about the ride in my G81 on the 20/21-inch 1000M wheels lowered on MPHAS. More than comfortable, and handles rough roads impressively well. Way, way better than my F82 M4 (completely stock on 437M 19s).

Take a lot of reviews/reviewers with a grain of salt.

[bwrlane]

Originally Posted by MJBO

No complaints about the ride in my G81 on the 20/21-inch 1000M wheels lowered on MPHAS. More than comfortable, and handles rough roads impressively well. Way, way better than my F82 M4 (completely stock on 437M 19s).

Take a lot of reviews/reviewers with a grain of salt.

Beautiful thing, love the frozen black. Did lowering affect the ride?

[MJBO]

Originally Posted by bwrlane

Beautiful thing, love the frozen black. Did lowering affect the ride?

Not in any meaningful way I’ve noticed.

Covered 15000km on my original 826Ms and 10000km so far on the 1000Ms.

[HeebieJeebies]

Got to agree with the OP. There's a fair bit of criticism from non M owners or drivers who've by luck were given a G81 for a few days and say it's undriveable and that's that, their opinion is sacrosanct, no matter what an actual owner with thousands of miles under their belt in a G81 says.

One particular pie on the other uk board, takes every opportunity to try and slag the G81 off on any thread available

I think, from that particular closed mindset, it's mostly a green eyed monster type thing.

I'm with you on the Alpina, dear christ, all that tech and performance and it's as plain as my G21 is, nice enough, but plain.

The car community as a whole has been crying out for a M3 Touring since I can remember and BMW delivered almost impeccably first time out! There's no pleasing some pies

[bwrlane]

Originally Posted by HeebieJeebies

Got to agree with the OP. There's a fair bit of criticism from non M owners or drivers who've by luck were given a G81 for a few days and say it's undriveable and that's that, their opinion is sacrosanct, no matter what an actual owner with thousands of miles under their belt in a G81 says.

One particular pie on the other uk board, takes every opportunity to try and slag the G81 off on any thread available

I think, from that particular closed mindset, it's mostly a green eyed monster type thing.

I'm with you on the Alpina, dear christ, all that tech and performance and it's as plain as my G21 is, nice enough, but plain.

The car community as a whole has been crying out for a M3 Touring since I can remember and BMW delivered almost impeccably first time out! There's no pleasing some pies

Yup, it’s the green eyed monster

[HeebieJeebies]

On how I find it, I've been opening the car up a bit with some weather permitting enthusiastic driving of late. Mainly in the Scottish borders so far, some of the roads in that area are as rough as toast but the G81 handles it very well, not been in full attack mode yet, mostly comfort and a bit of sport. Very well balanced, less crashy than my G21 and certainly more planted.

On urban roads it's been absolutely well behaved, wouldn't know it was a 500bhp+ monster with great road manners. Everything is 'tighter' compared to my G21 of course but nothing so far has caused me but more importantly, my sensitive other half to have any complaints.

Before I got my M440i G22 last March, I watched every review of the M4, wanting to go from coupe to coupe when moving my Mustang on but one reviewer, who carried out the review in Spain, couldn't laud it enough with the caveat that it may be too harsh a ride for the UK, but fantastic on European asphalt. So I then researched the M440i and got one, never bonded with it, 6months later it was replaced with the G81 and I'm as happy as a sandboy