Quick E90 to F80 review

[justin4u]

Hi All

I just got back from an excellent Euporean Delivery of my new M3



I will post a trip report in a few days. This post is to talk about my thoughts coming from a 2011 328i to a 2015 M3.




Before I begin I need to tell you a little about my car history.

1984 MB 190e (hand me down family car)
1995 Nissan 240sx (My first car)
2000 BMW 328Ci (My first car with a full time job
2007 Infinity FX45 (had a second kid and needed something bigger)
2014 Scion iQ (gas prices in the FX are killing me)
2011 BMW 328i (totaled the iQ after 2 weeks needed a car ASAP)
2015 BMW M3 (Happy 40th birthday

The big takeaways from my car history are.

1) I love rear wheel drive
2) I seem to like BMWs

Now for the review

Looks: slight win M3
The E90 328i is a good looking car. Black was not my first choice in colors but it was the only manual 3 series I could find for 200 miles. The E90 generation is very common in my area we have 3 in my work parking lot alone. I like the look of the F80 M3 better but it's not night and day. If both cars were black I would still prefer the M3 but not enough to pay more. Yas Marina Blue visually makes the car truly special. The interior differences are noticeable but again I like both cars and they feel related. One thing worth mentioning is the leather in the M3 feel 500% better then the vinyl in the 328i.

Steering: no contest M3
As most of you know the last gen 328i has hydraulic steering and the F80 M3 has electrical steering. hands down I prefer the M3 all day long. It feels more direct and accurate. I didn't notice any reduction in road feel. I put 1200 miles on my M3 so far with a good mix of highway, city, and track. It was fun playing around with all the steering setting and I think I like "sport" the best.

Transmission: ???
My 328i was a 6MT and the M3 is the DCT. The DCT worked well but I need more time to decide if I like it better. I don't regret ordering the DCT because I believe the F80 M3 deserves a high tech transmission.

Driving: M3!!!!
I did my best to follow the break in rules (under 5500rpm, under 175kph). I am sure power wise the M3 will blow the doors off the 328i. In the handling department the first thing you notice is the front end grip the turn in is so direct. On my first 2 laps on the Nurburgring I had traction control on and it killed the power during every turn. I guess the difference is inside and outside tire speed was enough to activate the traction control. On the 3rd lap I put the car in MDM mode and that fixed the power problem. I love windy mountain roads and this is where the M3 (for me) was happy. The big difference in the mountains is the reduced body roll and faster steering vs the 328i.

Closing Thoughts:
1) The M3 miles were in Germany so I can't comment on high speed driving in the 328. The M3 was louder then I expected driving at 120mph. Both engine and wind noise. I can't comment on the 328i at 120mph. At more normal speeds 60-80mph the noise levels are close.

2) The DCT has a very different behavior then a standard automatic. before the trip I played around with my wife car manually shifting her automatic (535xi). The DCT feels totally different. You feel its a manual transmission that does the work for you.

3) Yas Marina Blue gets LOTS OF ATTENTION!!!! Anywhere I parked people would stop and take pictures.

4) YES I am happy with my decision to upgrade my 328i for me its worth the extra money.

Feel free to ask questions

[ASAP]

Not exactly a far comparo... but glad to see you are happy w the upgrade.

[DrtyJrze]

^^^This. But glad you're enjoying your car.

[Woodengun]

I think we need an F80 vs Scion iQ review...

[F83]

I've also got an E90 (Dinan 3 335xi) and an M4. I obviously love my M - but I also still love the E90.

Hard to compare an M to a Non-M. If you compared a 2013 M3 to a new 320i the M3 would also win every single day by a long long margin.

Apples to apples, most people would say that the E9X had better steering. On pretty much all other dimensions however, the F8X Ms probably win.

[nicknaz]

I had an 08 328 6mt as well back in the day. Not really a comparison. Between that and f80. Congrats.

I too agree the steering on f80 is fine and i don't miss my e90 steering or 6mt at all

[justin4u]

one advantage the iQ has over the M3 is you can drive it at its limits all the time. with only 94HP you can floor it all the time . Also the seats had no side bolsters or armrests so every turn you have to hold on.

I only had the iQ for 2 weeks it was totaled after a delivery truck pulled out in front of me. The iQ didn't have day time running headlights not sure if this played a factor but I am glad to have them now. The car looks bad but I walked away without a scratch. black box shows crash happened at 30mph