From E46 M3 to ISF and now back to E90 M3...Impressions
03-05-13, 03:29 PM
#1
From E46 M3 to ISF and now back to E90 M3...Impressions
E46 M3 was a 6-speed manual
ISF was AUTO obviously
E90 M3 is now DCT
I was getting tired of waiting for Lexus to release their GSF so decided to go back to a E90 M3 for now as my "family" DD when I needed to pick up the kids or take them out. My biggest gripes with the ISF as many of you know was that it only seated 4 and with the tiny trunk and no fold down seats it was just too small.
The E46 M3 is a purist car in my opinion, very rare and great driver's car. I wanted something more comfortable and that lead me to my ISF. The ISF was nearly flawless in terms of reliability and having so much refinement made me fall in love with it. Where else can you get a V8 with 400+hp and still maintain decent MPG!
With no GSF, I test drove the new M5 but spending $100k+ is not practical at this point with two kids so decided to get back into a E90 M3 (of course it had to be white!)
My initial impressions are listed below:
+M-button is programmable to call up custom tailored program instantly as needed. Lexus really needs to learn from BMW on this and do away with that "Sport" button hidden in a hard to see place that you need to hit each time you start the car. Please put it on the steering wheel nd make it user programmable!
+ E90 M3 has such sexy and aggressive body lines and perfect seats/steering feel. The thickness of the steering wheel made me realize why BMW is at the top of their game!
+Fold down rear seats + room for 5 if needed is a huge plus for a family guy!
+DCT transmission from BMW is a marvel. Depending on what mode you are running, this thing snaps shifts almost as fast as my buddy's 458 he recently let me drive. (have to admit the F-car is nicer but at $300k+ it better be)
-Right away I noticed the BMW seems to be very thirsty for fuel. Oddly both the ISF and M3 uses a V8 motor but the ISF just seems to be less eager to consume fuel. I don't know if it's because of the transmission difference? I average 15mpg in the M3 and around 19-22 in the ISF.
-BMW iDrive is not easy to operate, I much prefer the Lexus touchscreen NAV menus!
Neutrals: Both cars seem to have great exhaust tones when modded properly: JoeZ on ISF and Akrapovic on the M3
My ISF had the KWV3's which made the ride so much better than stock. If I had to pick one car to go cross country, it would be the ISF. Everything works in perfect harmony and the seats feel very soft and comfortable. The M/L audio is perfect and I love the backup camera. M3 only has the beeping PDC which I find out of place now.
The M3 has adjustable EDC dampening control but it just feels a lot more responsive to driver input. Freeway sweepers melt away in the M3 as if it was made for the turns. I would definitely pick the M3 as the ultimate driver's car. The M3 computer has so many programs and gadgets that I'm still getting used to some of them.
So these are my initial impressions, I hope you guys enjoyed reading this and I'll try to get some comparison pictures up later this week.
My e46 M3:
My ISF:
My e90 M3:
ISF was AUTO obviously
E90 M3 is now DCT
I was getting tired of waiting for Lexus to release their GSF so decided to go back to a E90 M3 for now as my "family" DD when I needed to pick up the kids or take them out. My biggest gripes with the ISF as many of you know was that it only seated 4 and with the tiny trunk and no fold down seats it was just too small.
The E46 M3 is a purist car in my opinion, very rare and great driver's car. I wanted something more comfortable and that lead me to my ISF. The ISF was nearly flawless in terms of reliability and having so much refinement made me fall in love with it. Where else can you get a V8 with 400+hp and still maintain decent MPG!
With no GSF, I test drove the new M5 but spending $100k+ is not practical at this point with two kids so decided to get back into a E90 M3 (of course it had to be white!)
My initial impressions are listed below:
+M-button is programmable to call up custom tailored program instantly as needed. Lexus really needs to learn from BMW on this and do away with that "Sport" button hidden in a hard to see place that you need to hit each time you start the car. Please put it on the steering wheel nd make it user programmable!
+ E90 M3 has such sexy and aggressive body lines and perfect seats/steering feel. The thickness of the steering wheel made me realize why BMW is at the top of their game!
+Fold down rear seats + room for 5 if needed is a huge plus for a family guy!
+DCT transmission from BMW is a marvel. Depending on what mode you are running, this thing snaps shifts almost as fast as my buddy's 458 he recently let me drive. (have to admit the F-car is nicer but at $300k+ it better be)
-Right away I noticed the BMW seems to be very thirsty for fuel. Oddly both the ISF and M3 uses a V8 motor but the ISF just seems to be less eager to consume fuel. I don't know if it's because of the transmission difference? I average 15mpg in the M3 and around 19-22 in the ISF.
-BMW iDrive is not easy to operate, I much prefer the Lexus touchscreen NAV menus!
Neutrals: Both cars seem to have great exhaust tones when modded properly: JoeZ on ISF and Akrapovic on the M3
My ISF had the KWV3's which made the ride so much better than stock. If I had to pick one car to go cross country, it would be the ISF. Everything works in perfect harmony and the seats feel very soft and comfortable. The M/L audio is perfect and I love the backup camera. M3 only has the beeping PDC which I find out of place now.
The M3 has adjustable EDC dampening control but it just feels a lot more responsive to driver input. Freeway sweepers melt away in the M3 as if it was made for the turns. I would definitely pick the M3 as the ultimate driver's car. The M3 computer has so many programs and gadgets that I'm still getting used to some of them.
So these are my initial impressions, I hope you guys enjoyed reading this and I'll try to get some comparison pictures up later this week.
My e46 M3:
My ISF:
My e90 M3:
Last edited by s4play; 04-04-13 at 11:43 PM. Reason: added some pics
03-05-13, 04:26 PM
#3
i have had both as well. I agree i love the feel of the thicker steering wheel, and in M mode the car drives amazing. but the 15mpg is terrible and 18 if i was lucky on the highway...I have gotten 28mpg on the highway in the isf. the idrive is on par with a commodor 64 as far as technology goes, i guess the 09 and up versions were improved but i hated the nav on my 08. both cars are top notch, well built fantastic vehicles.
03-05-13, 04:27 PM
#4
It sounds like you are enjoying it. I imagine the fuel, maintenance, cost of ownership are the positives of the ISF. Hopefully the cornering and feel outweigh those. I owned a 7series prior, not fun
its all preference, hope you enjoy your new ride.
its all preference, hope you enjoy your new ride.
03-05-13, 04:30 PM
#5
Congrats on the E90 Rick.
2011 IS-F has the sport on the steering wheel though it's not programmable
The new 3IS has folding back seats so odds are the next IS-F will too
M-button is programmable to call up custom tailored program instantly as needed. Lexus really needs to learn from BMW on this and do away with that "Sport" button hidden in a hard to see place that you need to hit each time you start the car. Please put it on the steering wheel nd make it user programmable!
The new 3IS has folding back seats so odds are the next IS-F will too
03-05-13, 06:27 PM
#7
+M-button is programmable to call up custom tailored program instantly as needed. Lexus really needs to learn from BMW on this and do away with that "Sport" button hidden in a hard to see place that you need to hit each time you start the car. Please put it on the steering wheel nd make it user programmable!
+DCT transmission from BMW is a marvel. Depending on what mode you are running, this thing snaps shifts almost as fast as my buddy's 458 he recently let me drive. (have to admit the F-car is nicer but at $300k+ it better be)
-BMW iDrive is not easy to operate, I much prefer the Lexus touchscreen NAV menus!
+DCT transmission from BMW is a marvel. Depending on what mode you are running, this thing snaps shifts almost as fast as my buddy's 458 he recently let me drive. (have to admit the F-car is nicer but at $300k+ it better be)
-BMW iDrive is not easy to operate, I much prefer the Lexus touchscreen NAV menus!
- the newer model F's have the sport button on the steering wheel... and what do you mean by programmable?
- do you think the DCT shifts faster than the ISF's tranny? I believe the ISF upshift speed is 0.1 sec
- Agree on the Nav. It's extremely difficult to operate my gf's nav in her 3-series, I prefer touch screen on the Lex.
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03-05-13, 07:58 PM
#10
E46, rare? Maybe where you are... Flooded in NY
I had an e46 drove for 2 years... Drove my boys e92 M3 from Florida back to New York and own an ISF... Although I understand both cars have their perks... I will never switch from an IS-F to an M3. Just my .02 cents.
I had an e46 drove for 2 years... Drove my boys e92 M3 from Florida back to New York and own an ISF... Although I understand both cars have their perks... I will never switch from an IS-F to an M3. Just my .02 cents.
03-05-13, 09:43 PM
#12
Sorry if I chose the wrong words, when I said "rare" I meant it's a rare breed of cars you just don't find too often (sans BRZ), so raw and defined as a real driving machine. Today's M3 and M5 are so heavy and electronically modulated it takes some of the fun of driving away. E30/E36/E46 are the last of the lightweight driving machines in my opinion.
I'm in SF Bay Area which is like car modding capital of the US where we see F-cars, Lambo's daily and even a few Veyron's on the street so of course the E46 m3 is dime a dozen. I don't mean rare in that sense, my bad!
My ISF was a 2008, I was not aware they moved that button to the steering wheel, my bad. For the M3, you can set various things such as the traction control off, Electronic dampening (EDC) and Sport+ mods so everything can be called upon with one button, sorta like a macro in Excel. Pretty neat idea instead of going through like 10 menus to set something each time you want to race.
Well the DCT is a real dual clutch manual tranny so it acts like a manual with the computer operating the clutch so it will roll back just like a manual with no gas. First time I drove it was kind of odd but once you get used to how it works, it's definitely no automatic tranny that has a "D" mode. Irony is I drove the M3 DCT back to back with my friend's F-car and they actually react the same way. On the F-car you have "Sport", "Race" selectable from this cool red button on the bottom right of the steering wheel. On the left you can adjust the damper setting also on the fly. The M3 does lighting fast upshifts and the revs climb really fast but nowhere near as quick as the F-car. My buddy told me to do a 30mph rolling start in 2nd gear and then go WOT, the time it took to go from 30-120 was literally a blink of an eye! We timed it in both the F-car and M3, he said this is how you measure a car's true potential but honestly I was having too much fun just enjoying the exhaust note in the Ferrari to care how fast we were going.
On the ISF, the 8-speed auto is very smart and the downshifts are right on key, however it is essentially a smart "Auto" tranny and reacts just like any normal automatic car. It's hard to compare a DCT to a Auto as they are just two different technologies. Go drive a P-car with their PDK and you will understand this right away
Bottom line however is I have love for both the ISF and M3, both have merits and downfalls.
I'm in SF Bay Area which is like car modding capital of the US where we see F-cars, Lambo's daily and even a few Veyron's on the street so of course the E46 m3 is dime a dozen. I don't mean rare in that sense, my bad!
My ISF was a 2008, I was not aware they moved that button to the steering wheel, my bad. For the M3, you can set various things such as the traction control off, Electronic dampening (EDC) and Sport+ mods so everything can be called upon with one button, sorta like a macro in Excel. Pretty neat idea instead of going through like 10 menus to set something each time you want to race.
Well the DCT is a real dual clutch manual tranny so it acts like a manual with the computer operating the clutch so it will roll back just like a manual with no gas. First time I drove it was kind of odd but once you get used to how it works, it's definitely no automatic tranny that has a "D" mode. Irony is I drove the M3 DCT back to back with my friend's F-car and they actually react the same way. On the F-car you have "Sport", "Race" selectable from this cool red button on the bottom right of the steering wheel. On the left you can adjust the damper setting also on the fly. The M3 does lighting fast upshifts and the revs climb really fast but nowhere near as quick as the F-car. My buddy told me to do a 30mph rolling start in 2nd gear and then go WOT, the time it took to go from 30-120 was literally a blink of an eye! We timed it in both the F-car and M3, he said this is how you measure a car's true potential but honestly I was having too much fun just enjoying the exhaust note in the Ferrari to care how fast we were going.
On the ISF, the 8-speed auto is very smart and the downshifts are right on key, however it is essentially a smart "Auto" tranny and reacts just like any normal automatic car. It's hard to compare a DCT to a Auto as they are just two different technologies. Go drive a P-car with their PDK and you will understand this right away
Bottom line however is I have love for both the ISF and M3, both have merits and downfalls.
03-05-13, 10:21 PM
#13
Great write-up illustrating the highlights of both cars under your ownership. I do agree that the E43 was one of the finest Ms for a driver-based vehicle. My friends swear by that car, and even joked that they needed two in their garages in the event one was not able to be driven or swapping for parts. It's a powerful car, when modded, but more so it puts more responsibility on the driver instead of the brains within the car when pushed hard.
Definitely looking forward to the pics. You had one clean F before you sold it!
Definitely looking forward to the pics. You had one clean F before you sold it!
