You know I truly hate Mozilla Firefox, the god damned software crashed in the middle of my 20 paragraph writeup on the weight of the new M.

Im way to tired to re-write all that BS again, so here are some cliff notes.

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No way in hell the new M3 will be weighing in even close to 3600-3700.

Reason why:

1. History has nothing to say for itself this time around when it comes to comparing the weight gained between the fuily equipped 3-Series coupe, nor the comparing of the previous M3 weights gains vs. the following generations.

*The reasons why are that there has never been a 3 series coupe that has been this powerful, or that has turned or stopped better. My point with this is that the car has been beefed up in all of the power, handling, and braking areas, that its predecessors havent. (Don't lose me now, we're talking about the 335i coupe) With all of the beefing up of this car going on, its bound to add weight in the hundreds of pounds. So in the past the usual weight gains between the M3 and 3-Series coupe which were from the beefing up of suspension, engine, and brakes cannot be held true this time around because the difference between the two wont be so extravagant.

In fact, i think that this time around everything weightwise will be on the contrary. I think that this time around BMW has realized that its customers dont want to be driving a big fat pig through the twisties, and have decided to address the matter in a big way. (Clearly seen with the decision to use a CF roof) And it doesn't stop there either.
The final weight of the 335i coupe will hopefully be equal to or more that the M3. My reasoning behind this is that BMW is not including several of the weight saving factors that it will surely incorporate into the M model. Such as aluminum, magnesium, carbon composites, and other lightweight goodies that will save weight over the 335 in key areas, such as suspension and braking components, and things that will greatly affect the driving dynamics. Which brings me to my next point.

^ This puts an end to anybody saying the the 335i weighs 3500lbs and the M will be even heavier.:alright

Now continuing with the theory that all historical weight trends are not applicable with the new e92 M3.

Back when the new and improved e46 m3 came about, it was the biggest weight gain from a previous generation m3 ever. (I know that the M3s havent been around forever but you know what I mean) It was a 250lb gain and the number one reason that the majority of the customers didn't have complaints, was the fact the the handling and dynamics of the car were greater than ever.
And this time around the handling and dynamics will not dissapoint either :buttrock . A lower center of gravity, and better weight distribution are the key factors in this. Thanks you a V shaped engine as opposed the straight six, the engine can be place farther back in the engine bay. Therefore pushing the center of gravity and weight of the vehicle toward the center of the car where it should be.
Also, the CF roof will lower the weight substatially up top and bring the center of gravity lower, toward the center of the car once again. So we should all hope for close-to-perfect or perfect, weight distribution once all is said and done.

I hope that these clear up any complaints about a weight gain in the e92 M3.
And hopefully all you sissies making excuses about not buying the car because of weight and "fun factor" will think twice.

Phew! That was one hell of a cliffnotes edition!

Best reguards to all,
-Pete

P.S. And if it does weigh a whole lot more, so what. You know that your fat asses can lose some weight and pretend that you have your hefty buddy driving with you. 200lb man and another 200lb man = A 150lb man and the extra 250lbs that the e92 M may or may not have.

*God, I hope this all made sense.:eyecrazy


:redspot :redspot :redspot :redspot

You're right. All the statements from BMW people I've heard about the E92 M3 say that the weight issues have been seriously adressed. It won't be a 1800kg tank like the M5/M6 which are just a pain in the ass to corner because they are TOO HEAVY.

Especially with the V8 being able to being placed further back, that means they can use lighter chassis materials on the back end too to achieve 50:50 weight distribution, instead of doing the usual trick of putting the heavy metal on the back to balance the engine weight. And the CF roof is a definite indicator (even though it wasn't on the M6). But most of all, this car will be kind of a modern street legal M3 GTR Racetrack version (as told to me by one BMW old-timer rep who I talked to about it in length), and one of the points of the M3 GTR was also light weight, around 1250kg's or ~2700 lbs even though it had a fire-breathing 500hp+ 4L V8.

I'm really looking forward to seeing the weight stats and individual details on how the chassis is built, but from what I'm told, some of the most advanced and innovative (and never before used) technologies will be used here. As most of you know, BMW is positioning the new M3 as the premium M-model, after which all others will follow. Price will surely be higher, but as long as it's light and fulfills the expectations, who cares... Jeez. Still 5 months to the first unveiling of the demo cars here and the whole winter to go before shipments. Good thing I got me my 130i to play with meanwhile.

Best regards,

Jussi

130i!! Lucky!

Thanks for you reply buddy, i wrote this to hopefully lure some more people back on the e92 boat after that one weight thread scared some of them off.
Hopefully some more people can read it and give they're insights.

Ps. This is also posted at www.m3post.com (http://www.m3post.com) The dedication e92 m3 website.

On another side note. The e39 m5 weighs 12 pounds heavier then the new and improved e60 m5, which includes the heavy smgIII.

E39 M5 = 4024
E60 M5 = 4012

Yeah, had to have the N52B30 engine, was bored of my E46 330Ci and it would have taken the dealer 5 months to ship a Z4 M Coupe and none were available except for test drives which I took, but luckily they had almost perfectly configured 130i M Sport here so I grabbed it as fast as I could and am enjoying it's low weight and excellent straight six. Reminds me a lot of the manual (not SMG) E46 M3s as far as it's rev-happiness and it's restless nature. No wonder it's only 0.4s slower in 80-120km/h accell in 4th gear than the S54B32 M3 and 0.5s on 5th. I just put in a new ECU software too so now it has roughly exactly 210kW and 340Nm and revs up to 7400rpm with no problems (BMW techs told me the N52B30 with it's second gen valvetronic will rev more than 500 rpm over 7000 happily with no problems, tested in lab.)

But still I just can't wait to see the first E92 M3 in March... I wish the people who are invited could drive it... I can't wait till next summer for my own... Even though consequently the 130i is so much fun that I think I'm gonna keep it with the M3.

My backup plan, if the new M3's weight would be horrible, would Z4 M Coupe, but hearing that it'll get the V8 from E92 M3 in 2008, I'm not sure if I'd wanna buy it this summer instead. Definitely the most fun BMW to drive that's for sale right now, but the S54B32 is getting old. I wish they made a new M straight six... and my friend from Munich has told me this might even happen in the next 3-4 years, as the 2-series M model is being considered. With what they manage to accomplish on the E92 M3 V8 already a new M straight six could be incredible. But short of that, N52B30 is almost like one, as far as you just break it in properly and then upgrade the ECU to give you more revs.

Best regards,

Jussi

Thats car so awesome man, Ilove the M Coupe, its so fast. I see them here at the BMW events in socal. I think that you should just stay friendly with your 1-Series until 08 and wait for the new M3, its gonna blow everybody'd minds.

It was a 250lb gain and the number one reason that the majority of the customers didn't have complaints, was the fact the the handling and dynamics of the car were greater than ever.


Changing market conditions and the buyer were the reason no one complained.

Changing market conditions and the buyer were the reason no one complained.

Haha, like the US getting fatter. No but seriously, your point is right on.

I believe the new weight is going to be about give or take 100 lb from the current M3. E90's are wider, taller, longer than the e46. Plus the new M3 will get heavier V8. thus all the carbon fiber and weight savings will equal out.

:)

I believe the new weight is going to be about give or take 100 lb from the current M3. E90's are wider, taller, longer than the e46. Plus the new M3 will get heavier V8. thus all the carbon fiber and weight savings will equal out.

Why do you think the V8 will be heavy? The old outgoing I6 was a brick. There is a very good chance the new engine will be lighter than the old 6.

Kind of late but, thanks for that enigma, the old I6 was a brickolla.

Since the new M5 has a very light V10 vs the old V8, and the new M3 will have a V8 based around the E60 M5's V10..this can only lead me to believe the new M3 will have a lighter engine than the outgoing I6.

I dont think the new M3 will exceed the current M3's weight actually.

I do believe the 335i is using the E46 3.0 liter engine block not the magnesium based one which is why it got so much heavier.

I agree with the basic consensu here that BMW will address the weight issue head on. I can wish but don't predict it will weigh less than the E46 version, but if they could pull that off along with 415-420 ponies I would be most impressed. 8.1 lb/hp wouold be just swell!

If you're curious as to how BMW will reduce weight and improve handling, take a look at the new X5.

At some point you realize that although a car may be extremely fast and handle excellently, it loses the feel a car should have when it gains so much weight. Like the M6 convertible. Yes you can continue to make bigger engines to compensate, but at the same time you are still venturing deeper and deeper into a realm of overweight cars with hardly any road feel.

I think any heavier than 3600 lbs will be too much, considering the convertible will be even heavier.

BTW: The 335i coupe is closer the 3600 lbs BASE model, so with any options I'm sure it'd up it to 3600.

That is the reason I decided not to get the M6. I test drove one and it just felt dead. Too heavy.

Again I might be biased when my other car is on the lightweight extreme of road legal cars at 1900lbs :)

That is the reason I decided not to get the M6. I test drove one and it just felt dead. Too heavy.

Again I might be biased when my other car is on the lightweight extreme of road legal cars at 1900lbs :)

Thank god there are cars like the elise around. I can't wait to get my elise this spring.

I say 3700 should be the MAX for any car if you really want to keep some feel. The SLR is 3700 so that's my logic.