I got my 01 M3 yesturday. Heres my impressions with my limited driving so far.

Car is quick, runs great in 1st 2nd, 3rd. The top end charge is less than expected, and doesnt feel much better than the 01 540. Handling is awesome, a whole different world than my 328ci.

The transmission shifting isnt that great. It feels clunky at best in 1st and 2nd. There is noticeable drivetrain clunk like my 99 cobra had with a IRS rearend. ( was eliminated with a solid rear swap ) The trans shifting in my 328ci is just like butter, and no drivetrain clunk at all.

Gasmileage, is fair, about what I expected I guess, no better than my 322rwhp 4.6l V8 mustang.

I love the high RPM motor, and I am sure the more I drive it the more I'll love it. I can definatly tell the lack of torque. Some guys gave me the light em up sign doin about 25mph. Im my cobra just took a little rev/blip of the throttle, drop of the clutch in 2nd and it was all tire smoke. I tried the M3 even going about 10-15mph in 1st gear and it wouldnt do it. This isnt all bad tho.

All in all the topend power is a bit disappointing, it just doesnt feel as fast as I would have hoped, pulling form 80-120 is sluggish.

Thats interesting because my car pulls hard in topend maybe its the intake in exhaust. I dunno lol.

In OEM configuration, the engine seems lacking... software will clear that right up. Ive got Dinan stuff - youd be surprised how much it changes the nature of the torque curve.

Oh and eh... Ive got 275's out back with plenty of tread and have no trouble breaking them loose on command.

Give the car some time - as strange as it sounds you need to learn it.

CDV if it's a stick

cool to see another stang driver on here.... my stang s my M3 in every gear but I dont talk about that much :evil2

Whats CDV? It is a 6spd.

Have to say looks wise, its aboslutly the most beautiful car I've ever owned, and probably ever seen. The comments and attention it gets, its too much for my taste. Everywhere I pull up I get a group looking at it.

After driving it another day, the handling is just god-like compared to my 328ci. The braking is awesome, and the car is just plain capable. The shifter/transmission is just clunky. Hopefully a shifter fixes this.

Biggest complaint is the drive train clunk. Ive always HATED this in any car ive owned. Hearing/feeling that clunk in the rear when pushing in the clutch. Is this normal? Its quite significant. If not the car is under warranty and I'd like to get it fixed asap.

Maybe my car is down on power? Its quick, but I anticipated that driving my 328ci yesturday would feel like a downright slug and it did not.

The car will launch at 6k and barely burn the tires. It feels fast, but not quite what I expected. I guess I should get a dyno on it.

I know I really need to learn this car and its capabilities. At this point the 328 is much milder and more suited to a daily driver. The firmness of the ride in the M isnt much mroe of the 328, but the clunky shifter, and drivetrain clunk make it for carefuler driving to stay away from clunking it. My 328 has none of this. Anyone know a fix for it?

Thanks guys.

to hide away the clunk i normally drive a little harder :evil2

The Clutch Delay Valve (CDV) is keeping you from changing gears. It is a small little nut/bolt looking thing at the end of the clutch line. If you go to www.madrussian.net, you will see a write up for removing this. I am still waiting for a free day to do it, but many M3 owners get rid of it ASAP.

As for the clunk, it is completely normal, and it is usually referred to as the "M Clunk."

After driving it another day, the handling is just god-like compared to my 328ci. The braking is awesome, and the car is just plain capable. The shifter/transmission is just clunky. Hopefully a shifter fixes this.

Biggest complaint is the drive train clunk. Ive always HATED this in any car ive owned. Hearing/feeling that clunk in the rear when pushing in the clutch. Is this normal? Its quite significant.

The car will launch at 6k and barely burn the tires. It feels fast, but not quite what I expected. I guess I should get a dyno on it.

I know I really need to learn this car and its capabilities. At this point the 328 is much milder and more suited to a daily driver. The firmness of the ride in the M isnt much mroe of the 328, but the clunky shifter, and drivetrain clunk make it for carefuler driving to stay away from clunking it. My 328 has none of this. Anyone know a fix for it?

Thanks guys.


I have a 2005 M3 6 speed with 5,000 miles on it. I can definetely side with you on the drivetrain clunk. They say this is "normal", but it seems kinda shoddy to me. In parking lots, cruising slow, the clunk eminating from 1st or 2nd gear when your on or off the gas is just plain excessive to me. Dealer said it was fine. Owners manual calls it "acoustic feedback". I just live with it. Like one person said, i just drive it harder :devillook An owner of a local high performance shop had a brand new M3 a few years back, and sold it after 8,000 miles, because he felt the clunk was unacceptable. He said it was originating in the M rear differential. He has since bought a 996 Porsche.

I find it hard to believe your car cant break the tires free at a 6K drop. I can start out with no gas and hammer it, and it breaks them free with no problem. I can also drop the clutch at a pretty low RPM (2500-4000?) and just BURN my tires. Maybe you have a clutch problem? does it feel like it is slipping?

I agree that a regular ci is a much better choice for a daily driver. To me, the M3 is too high strung to be a daily driver, ofcourse, im used to a 4 door benz. The M3, in my opinion, is the greatest weekend car to get in, strap on the seat belt, and go tear up country roads, with a big $hit ass grin on your face! :D

Good luck and let us know what you find. How many miles are on your car?

The Clutch Delay Valve (CDV) is keeping you from changing gears.


I'm not questioning what you've said, but if this is the case, why in creation would our Bavarian cronies put such an animal into the ///M?

Then again, Ford deliberately has their 'Stangs running lean so a little factory sabatoge wouldn't surprise me...

If I launch at 2500-3000 RPMs, it just lights up the tires, even with the 275/30/19 out back. :confused:

Launching at 6k I was slipping it out or I was gettin tire spin. It just doesnt feel as powerful as I was expecting, I suppose I should get a dyno to really find out. I will try and do that mod. The drivetrain clunk is downright annoying, and was "normal" for my 99 cobra too. Sure is pathetic they cant fix that. I honestly dont see me keeping the car as a daily driver with that clunk. My car just turned 20k miles, so its relativly a baby. The shifter is ok, but nothing like the 328ci.

M3 is an awesome car, but for its price, it does have its annoyances. In order of hatred 1. M clunk. 2. Poor shifting/sloppy shifter. 3. Tempermental idle, seems a little fusy.

While my 328ci gives me 0 complaints in daily driving.

Thanks guys!

You're sure your traction control was off, right? :)

peole dont even have the basic understanding of how things work
obviously motorsport thought they needed a good amount of clearance between the ring and pinion in that rear end. im sure it has something to do with putting power down on lsd characterics in cornering. id live with it who cares.
whats the next thing M owners will complain about, the exhaust note is too loud?

You dont seem to have a good understanding of the english language. For a 50k car, the drivetrain clunk seems ridiculous to me. Why dont the 400hp C6 corvettes have the clunk and they have IRS? Do you know how it works smart ass? :rolleyes

:argue

I'm not questioning what you've said, but if this is the case, why in creation would our Bavarian cronies put such an animal into the ///M?

Then again, Ford deliberately has their 'Stangs running lean so a little factory sabatoge wouldn't surprise me...
It is retarded...It is not like they even cover the clutch in most cases, I know my dealer doesn't. So why in hell would they do something like this? It makes it very difficult to drive smooth to the point where you basically slip the clutch more than you would without the valve.

Skyman-As you noted, the Cobra had the same clunk. It really is a non-issue though when you put it in perspective, probably like you did with the Cobra. YOU CANNOT compare it to the 328- the M3 has a high strung, high revving engine that is pretty maxed out for a 6 cyl. You will get the rough idle, but only at first when the ECU is trying to warm things up. It goes away right?

As for the shifter, I would definitely recommend that you get a short shifter. I have the UUC Evo III, and I love it. It completely changed everything with the shifter, maybe you can find someone near you who has a SSK and give it a try.

Granted, you would expect these little things to be perfect on a 50k+ car, but I think everything else it does outshines the imperfections and makes up for them.

I went from a e36 m3 cab to a e46 m3 and also felt is was too high strung at first. Car is not my daily driver.

However now that I got some seat time in the car I love going out on the weekends and blasting some back roads. I now wish I lived farther upstate.

It is retarded...It is not like they even cover the clutch in most cases, I know my dealer doesn't. So why in hell would they do something like this? It makes it very difficult to drive smooth to the point where you basically slip the clutch more than you would without the valve.



not to totally hijack the thread here, but I'd be curious to hear what your dealer has said about the shifter and exhaust (provided you're still under warranty). Send me a PM if you don't want to post it here...

@Skyman - I forgot to post this yesterday - the 'clunk' was present in the 99 Mustang GT I owned too. Much less noticeable in my M though. Friend of mine has an 03 'Snake it does the same thing just as noticeably as my 99 did. :shrug: In the 'Stang, I thought it was 'cool.' In the M I realize it just comes with the terf...

the M3 has a high strung, high revving engine that is pretty maxed out for a 6 cyl.

Please don't keep spreading this BS around. :rolleyes

Please don't keep spreading this BS around. :rolleyes
Huh?

Huh?

:werd:

Also I have to disagree on the car not liking the big end.
The car pulls pretty damn good all the way up to about 150mph.
And my previous performance car was a ~380 rwhp TA (on the dry shot).
Maybe because it was A4 though.

Go tell the guy's over at e46psi.com that the S54 is high strung, high revving and maxxed out. :rolleyes

I'm not debating that the engine is high strung, and as far as N/A power

The S54 is not like a chevy 350 where you can take a factory engine do basic bolt-ons and cams and get a huge % power increase.

However with basic bolt on's, software etc, you can vastly improve the drivability of any car equipped w/ an S54. That's my only point.

The "You'll never get anything more out of it, period" mentality is what I'm suggesting we dissuade.

270-280whp stock is great.

310ish whp N/A modded is even better

490 Blown :devillook

Go tell the guy's over at e46psi.com that the S54 is high strung, high revving and maxxed out. :rolleyes

I'm not debating that the engine is high strung, and as far as N/A power

The S54 is not like a chevy 350 where you can take a factory engine do basic bolt-ons and cams and get a huge % power increase.

However with basic bolt on's, software etc, you can vastly improve the drivability of any car equipped w/ an S54. That's my only point.

The "You'll never get anything more out of it, period" mentality is what I'm suggesting we dissuade.

270-280whp stock is great.

310ish whp N/A modded is even better

490 Blown :devillook
I gotcha. I was mainly trying to compare it to the 328 because Skyman commented on how easy it was to drive daily. Believe me, I know it is not maxed out per se, but besides FI, nothing will give you huge gains, only small incremental increases. There is potential to get good gains NA, but you must change every little thing possible. BHS has a monster over there running low 12's, I think.

Ahh I see.

trust what the others are saying, I bought my car with the mods below, night and day over a stock M3. Granted there is not a huge power difference, but the other mods will cure any false feelings about your purchase.

Ok guys, after a few more days of driving, Ive completly eliminated the clunk except for in reverse, just learned to drive around it and its no big deal. The idle does clear up once its warmer, and the shifting seems better. I have really fallen in love with the car. I think part of it, is that the seats are a lot stiffer than my 328 which makes it feel not so plush on my bad back. I love the car, but a little more power would really wake it up. I think it maybe time for some new rubber too. That said, what do you guys think? Chip? Cat-back? I really love a quiet ride, that being said is there one that can be done with out making it any louder on the freeway? I have the new k/n intake in a box waiting to go on.

-Sky

Totally different cars you're comparing there when accelerating with the V8 and M3. I had a 914 with a 330rwhp 327 but would never compare it to my M3. Apples and oranges.