thatnewguy

A friend of mine has had his fair share of BMW's over the years. Usually 335's that he gets and tries to get more power out of. After his last and riding in the F a few times with me, he was back on the sports car kick again. Of course I pushed him to bite the bullet and finally get an M3, which he did. Wound up with a 2011 M3 with only 4900 miles on it, every option it seemed like, an extra set of M wheels and tires, the M Performance exhaust and an extra set of pads the guy was going to use for the track but never did.

I'll lead by saying, I still believe that I made the right choice with my IS-F, but the M3 has many good points.

The good (IMO):
The M performance Exhaust (a $4400 option) sounds great. It really gives the car that V8 growl that I want my F to have. I just have to pick the right exhaust.
I also really like how fast it shifts. His has the M double clutch tranny ($2900) option, and I honestly feel like it shifts a lot faster than my car. Also a fan of how the car does manual down shifts. You get that quick "blip" with a loud sound that I thought was great.
The steering felt a lot tighter to me, could be me, but there is definitely a difference there.

The few things that I personally wasn't a fan of are really personal preference things, but still.

There are a lot of different "power" options you can use with the car. We have Sport mode and it's either on or of. The M3 has "M" mode that is on or off, but you can also dial the power from 1-5 bars. Not really sure why so much variance there as I would assume you either wanted power or didn't, but again, maybe it's a personal preference thing.
I'm not a fan of the shifter setup. There is no physical park that you put the car in, you just put it in first or neutral, set the parking brake and turn it if off. It confused me and I don't like it.
The car has parking sensors, but not a backup camera. I looked at the window sticker and it has the cold weather package, competition package, convenience package, premium package 2, and a few other odds and ends, all totaling around $13k and still no backup camera!
The interior cabin felt a lot smaller than the Lexus. I didn't adjust the seats to much when I drove, but I felt that the leg area was not as wide and just felt a little more congested that I do in my car.

It's an amazing car with a ton of history and technology and is due respect. Luckily my friend is not one of the BMW people that you commonly see on some forums bashing everything but BMW's, and he really likes the F, he's just always been a BMW person. It was great to actually be able to drive one and gather my own opinions. The F has it's flaws, but I'm still glad that I chose it.

Now to find a friend with an S63!

ISFPOWER

iTrader: (20)

the 1-5 bars is the SMG shift speed, i believe. It is on the e60/e63 m5/m6.

fstpassat

You know that the ISF blips the throttle when downshifting in manual mode using the paddles, right?

F_Throttle

The setting by this shifter is the SMG shift speed setting. You need to max it for launch control. Keep in mind, steering tightness, doesn't mean handling. The steering setting is for input control and feedback. The EDC does have an effect on the handling. It is a great car, and I love the seating position.

bbong

Check out my videos from HPDE and hear the throttle blip. ISF's do have it. I never driven the M3, but I wouldn't mind trying it out. Thanks for your opinion.

Meanstreak

Hard to beat the 6 -> 5 downshift in the F with headers and exhaust... in my humble (biased) opinion.

thatnewguy

I know that ours will blip too, it just was a lot different in the BMW.

FFM

Just a heads up, but SMG was last found in the E46 and E60 M cars. The E9X has a DCT gearbox as mentioned by the OP which is far superior. I have a SMG in my E46M and the few times I've taken my buddies E90M out its a night and day difference. That gearbox is one of the greats. Obviously not quite on par with a F car but many agree it's what sells the E9X M's, it's perfectly mated to that high revving V8.

Biggest complaint for most is the lack of torque for a street car, but then again it wasnt designed with stop light racing in mind haha. Loves getting revved out in the corners.

It was 100% my next purchase, but with my 80 mile round trip commute I gotta opt for an ISF as I'm more comfortable racking up miles on one.

Justind27

iTrader: (6)

^same mileage here, I love dailying my F. It started to bother me at the amount of miles I put on it but you know what it's a car it's meant to be driven and enjoyed. This winter it will not be driven due to mods that will prohibit use so I'll consider it a catch up in time..

kzlflash

iTrader: (1)

I usually do this downshift to show my displeasure when someone cuts me off on the freeway haha

bnizzle87

I know what you mean, Kelvin. They tend to retreat a bit after realizing their mishap

dannyk8232

Yep. That's my favorite too. Sounds wicked with muffler delete

2URGSE

Amazing car when it's new and under warranty. I've heard and seen plenty of horror stories with that car.

No backup camera? Is that an option as well? LOL

- Don't forget there is no engine oil dipstick oil.

I test drove it when it came out in 2008, my friend was looking to buy it. I looked at the salesman and said: "Are you sure this is a V8? where is the torque"

The guy who is working on my other car audio system has an E90 outside, leaking oil and broken drive shaft among other complaints.

Anyways, I'm done.

FFM

Also have to consider the number of *******s that buy and beat the **** out of those cars. Although the rod bearing issue seems to be gaining some steam, I also would like to know how many New Jersey d bags dry revved the hell out of it upon cold start for their friends lol.

I know of a few owners that are getting up there in miles trouble free. Forum hysteria is real, how often do people post that their cars are running great compared to those that post immediately when there's something wrong haha. But again, ultimate driving machine comes at a cost unfortunately. That engine and chassis is still among one of the most reliable though, not Toyota appliance reliable but not terrible :P

LukeRich

When I bought my F it was either the e90 or the ISF. I drove so many e90s and just couldn't pull the trigger.
Though it had a 6spd I felt the car lacked ***** IMO. I read so many forums on the costly repairs and the "give her up after 50k" argument that I decided that the Toyota quality was the way to go.