Plaz' 1M

[Plaz]

Cherry popped. Dime- sized curb rash on front passenger wheel.

I'm an idiot.

[FC]

Ugh. Sorry man.

[clyde]

Originally Posted by FC

Ugh. Sorry man.

I'd say congrats. Now, he can have fun with it and not feel guilty.

[equ]

Originally Posted by clyde

I'd say congrats. Now, he can have fun with it and not feel guilty.

+1.

When you have enough of them accrued, I can recommend a wheel shop.

[kognito]

Originally Posted by clyde

I'd say congrats. Now, he can have fun with it and not feel guilty.

This, plus it is always better for you to do something stupid, than someone else doing something stupid to it

[lemming]

Originally Posted by Plaz

Let's cut to the chase: I find this car to be a masterpiece. It's everything I always wished my E46 330i could be, which I modded tirelessly to try and attain. It's stupid powerful, balanced, firm yet comfortable, and modern yet timeless. It is the perfect car for me.

Inputs

The steering on this car is fantastic. The shorter-ratio rack is perfect -- makes for excellent, immediate, sharp turn-in, but not so short that it's darty or nervous on the highway. I think it's still a hydraulic system on this car. It's similar to the E46 steering, if just a teeny bit less communicative. The wheel is thick (thicker than E46 M3 wheel, not as thick as MZ4 wheel, in my estimation), but not too soft, and its small diameter is well suited to the quick ratio. I love the feeling of its leather… they've done something to give it both a glove-leather-like softness, but also a bit of a satin finish that never feels slippery.

The shift lever is so much better than the E46's was. The stock E46 throw was ridiculously long, IMO. I felt the need to put in a short shift kit in the E46, which ended up great, but very notchy. I liked it that way. But the 1M's shifter has a much shorter throw, with no sloppiness at all, but also much easier and smoother engagement than the E46 with SSK. The knob is the classic ZHP knob… very comfortable. (It doesn't light up, BTW)

At first I thought the clutch was too light. Oddly, the MCS's clutch requires significantly more effort. But after acclimating to it, I've decided it's actually very good… despite its relative lightness, it's very communicative and easy to modulate. I never had much of a problem with the E46 clutch, but this one definitely gives more tactile feedback.

I'm not sure if the seats are any different than the standard 1er sport seats or not, but they're awesome. The adjustable side bolsters, lumbar, and thigh extension make it very easy, in conjunction with the standard adjustments, to tailor the fit of the seat to my physique (or lack thereof). I feel like a baseball in a catcher's mitt when seated in there. The leather isn't as nice as M3 or S5 leather, but it's nice enough, and certainly better than the leather I have in the MINI. It's probably about the same as the E46 leather.

The brake feel is excellent -- typical BMW feel. And given the ridiculous oversized rotors, it goes without saying stomping on the stopper is like throwing a couple of anchors out. The car just has ridiculously over-specced brakes, IMO, honestly. And cross-drilled to boot. Probably useful on the track, but complete overkill for the streets. Not that I'm complaining.

The exhaust note from inside the cabin is GREAT. Much more sonorous than I've ever heard from a stock BMW, but not obnoxious. Lovely character to it. A slight bit of drone right around 2700rpm at partial throttle on the highway, but easily avoided with a shift or some acceleration. Great burble on spin-down after revving in neutral.

Power

First of all, some context in which to place my thoughts. I've never owned a high-powered car before. The history of my stable has ranged from the woefully underpowered (two original VW Beetles and a Chevy Chevette), to the mildly underpowered (early 80s Buick Skylark, 1st-generation Honda Civic CRX, Mazda MX-6 and RX-8), to the adequately powered (BMW E46 330i, '08 Mini Cooper S). I've never owned a 911, or a Vette (the Chevette doesn't count), a Mustang, or any other muscle car. So to have a car that has such seemingly limitless ability to punch me in the kidneys is a revelation. An endorphin-packed, adrenaline-squirting, shit-eating-grin-inducing, continuous epiphany of petrosexual arousal.

In M-Sport mode, this car wants to GO. NOW. There's very little discernible turbo lag… I'd say below 1700rpm or so it feels a little more powerful than my E46 with the M54B30 did, but once it's above there, it finds the meat of the power band, and holy sh*t. Torque torque torque. Broad torque. Send the traction control into frantic labor trying to keep the 265s on the back from lighting up all the way through 1st and 2nd torque. Passing cars on two lane roads: effortless. 50-80 before you can say "fifty to eighty."

With the nannies in M Dynamic Mode, a tantalizing hint of the degree of power oversteer available with a slight stab of the throttle when exiting any corner is apparent… this car clearly has enough juice to satiate my most evil of desires. Being that it's a brand new engine, I haven't stretched it out to red line yet. But at no point while trying to keep the revs below 4500 at all times (and succeeding in keeping them under 5000) did I think there was a need for more horses or more twist. Ever. It's my understanding this is a new characteristic for M cars, which historically have had to have their naturally aspirated power plants wound up high to find that limitless reservoir of go. Well, I'll take the turbos. Torque down low is a marvelous thing, especially in real life day-to-day driving.

Chassis and Suspension

The suspension and chassis are classic sporty BMW. Very stiff and taut, but comfortable. Not harsh at all. You feel every pebble and crack on the road, and every divot and bump, but it feels like all the sharp points have been rounded off. It makes one think the engineers in Munich could design a bed of nails that would be comfortable for a good night's sleep. There is no mushiness, but no suspension crashing either. It's a little bit hoppy on surfaces with lots of irregular bumps, probably due to the relatively short wheelbase. Nothing as crazy as the MCS in that regard though.

I haven't really attacked corners yet at 8/10ths, let alone 10/10ths. Circumstances didn't really present themselves that were safely conducive. But with the little bit of road carving in anger that I did do, I was surprised at the lack of understeer. I never noticed any front scrubbing at all, attacking turns that would undoubtedly have caused my E46 to plow a bit. If anything, it's a bit oversteer-biased. Again, surprising, especially considering the staggered setup of 265s in the back and 245s up front.

The non-runflat Michelins feel like great tires. Getting a flat = getting screwed though. You can get a lot more stranded -- possibly fatally -- in the US than you can in Germany. I still hate the decision to drop spares. Though with the ridiculous rotors on this car, I don't see how a donut could ever work… would need to be a full-sized spare.

Modal Harmony

I've read that the "M" button on the wheel in this car just changes the throttle mapping. I take that to mean that, 0% throttle (non-sport) = 0% throttle (sport), and 100% throttle (non-sport) = 100% throttle (sport), with only the curve being different. That's what it feels like in my MCS. I don't buy it in the 1M. I think there's more power in sport mode. Maybe the boost is dialed up a bit throughout. It's just too pronounced a difference to be just an adjusted curve. The car feels downright docile in non-sport mode. And like a captured angry big cat straining against its chains in sport mode. I find myself always putting it in sport mode.

Traction control/DTC has three modes: On (default -- full nannies -- no fun allowed -- lots and lots of yellow flashing on the instrument panel should you try), M Dynamic Mode (a little bit of fun allowed, but won't really let you get into trouble), and Off (body shop mode). I pretty much have left it in MDM almost all the time. I wish it was just a little more liberal. It allows for a teeny bit of wheelspin and a teenier bit of yaw. I wish it would allow just a tiny bit more sideways-ness. But I understand that's a tricky balance. At this point, in a very expensive new car, I've only run with the system in full "off" mode once. On a straightaway. Starting from stop. You get the idea. I was just, uh, testing the limited slip diff, yeah, that's it. (It works.)

…and The Rest

iDrive is actually very good, IMO. Intuitive. Great voice control, bluetooth's awesome, Nav is good and fast, satellite imagery is cool, multiple device inputs are handled with aplomb, split screen options are great, iPhone cradle is great for charging and boosting signal, BMW Apps are retarded and were a waste of money (except the Web Radio… cool to be able to listen to KCRW on the east coast).

Dual-zone climate control is kind of silly in such a small car, but cool nonetheless. A/C is powerful and good, new knob-based controls are much better than the E46 pushbuttons, cruise stalk is weird but functional, Comfort Access is much better than the MINI's, auto lights and wipers are perfect, configurability of options (lights, locking, key memory, etc.) are excellent through iDrive, searching for music on iPod with voice commands is cool (can't do that on the MINI), "universal" memory buttons confused me at first, but are kind of cool once you wrap your head around the idea.

The rear seat is more spacious than in the MCS, the stupid plug-in cupholder is uglier than sin, but actually engineered pretty well. I hate that it exists, but like its utility. Sucks that it doesn't fit in the glovebox though.

There are some harder plastics around than there were in my E46, but that doesn't really bother me at all, as long as they don't start squeaking. None of them are on surfaces you normally touch. All the switchgear feels of high quality, typical of BMW. Fit and finish excellent, no weird unsightly gaps anywhere.

No flashlight in the glovebox anymore. Only one small cargo net in the trunk, on the passenger side behind the wheel well… I'd like a bigger net for securing larger items, but there don't even appear to be hooks to allow for that.

Oh, and the upgraded Harmon Kardon system is WAY better than the HK system that was available in the E46. My buddy's S5 has a better system, but I think this HK comes very close. It sounds way better than I expected it to.

That's all I've got for now!

really happy for you!

sounds so awesome, Plaz.

[equ]

I found myself doing an online search for 1M's yesterday.

[Plaz]

Originally Posted by lemming

really happy for you!

sounds so awesome, Plaz.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by equ

I found myself doing an online search for 1M's yesterday.

I actually would like your wheel shop recommendation, equ -- was thinking of bringing my old BBSs to wheel collision experts out in PA, but if you know a good shop that's more local, that might be more convenient.

And we should get a fall drive together with interested locals. Then you can judge for yourself whether my effusiveness jibes with your own perception of the car or not. Maybe you'll get lucky, and think it sucks!

[kognito]

the guys out in PA did a great job on my A6 wheels when a huge pot hole caused two of the rims to be way out of round.

Shipping to them was the only hassle, had to make my own wood box to ship them the rims.

[equ]

Plaz, what mpg's are you getting in easy highway, mixed and hooning conditions?