BMW new gen M3 and ultimate drive (UDE?)

[wdc330i]

I just got a drive event email. Alas, for DC, where I no longer live. I feel like the M4 was included.

[equ]

Originally Posted by Alan

How did you find out about this event ? I would love to drive the new M3/4 ...

Perhaps it got lost in my convoluted writing: both the m3 & m4 were there. I didn't put the m4 in the title; think of it as e46 330i & 330Ci.

I preferred the m3, mainly for interior feeling, headroom as well as a balanced 3-box sedan look as opposed to swoopy coupe that felt less genuine or more like cheaper copies of it (Infiniti & Hyundai?). The cars are beautiful inside and finish is top notch. There are colors available for the outside and there are even front bumper solutions coming to market... I had no time to admire or hate any of that. I also had no time to dive into voluminous menus to set anything up (info screens, entertainment, drive modes). The only thing I fixed was that I found DSC off when switching into a car. Not wanting to get caught (and possibly get thrown out per predisclosed rules), I got someone to put it back to some kind of sport setting with it back on. Pretty dumb if you ask me, not just for breaking rules but also the young kids picking up cones all around.

We were auto-x'ing or doing some pointless exercises. In that tight environment, it was not a particularly fun car for the reasons that I outlined. If I were interested (and I'm not) I'd do some street test drive to see how it drives when you're not trying to do 0-50-0 in 4 seconds or place it between cones. No wet skidpad, in fact the whole event may have been interesting if it were raining. I don't know how well the m3/4 would isolate and cruise the street, my 340i felt decidedly softer/smoother on the way back. I found them a bit loud as well.. Again biased, but the sound of my m-perf exhaust 340i is milder/better and the 981 beats them all with its naturally aspirated soundtrack.