Long-Term Road Tests

We used our 2009 BMW M3 sedan as a chase car to shuttle the GT-R to a service appointment this morning. Seeing the two beside one another made me wonder just how they sized up in terms of performance. Check out these numbers. Then look at the total package.

Which would you choose?

M3 Sedan
Price: $67,370
0-60 mph: 4.8 seconds
1/4-mile: 12.9 @ 111.0 mph
Slalom: 71.8 mph
Skidpad: 0.93 g
Service: 4-yr/50,000-mile free scheduled maintenance
Cost to date: $500.00 (@ 12,000 miles)

GT-R
Price: $73,165
0-60 mph: 3.8 seconds
1/4-mile: 11.8 @ 118.6 mph
Slalom: 74.0 mph
Skidpad: 0.93 g
Service: Pay as you go
Cost to date: $8,000.00 (@ 30,000 miles)

Mike Schmidt, Vehicle Testing Manager @ 11,210 miles

Categories: 2009 BMW M3,2009 Nissan GT-R

Below are the fuel economy numbers for October 2009. We've listed the best, worst and overall average tanks.

As usual, a couple of cars are out on the road or unavailable at the time of this writing. I'll continue to add them as they come in and let you know in the comments.

After the jump you can see the list sorted by best average MPG.

Continue reading Big List of Fuel Economy: October 2009 .

Categories: 2007 Honda Civic GX,2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution GSR,2008 Pontiac G8 GT,2009 Audi A4 Avant,2009 Audi S5,2009 BMW 750i,2009 BMW M3,2009 Dodge Challenger R/T,2009 Dodge Ram 1500,2009 Ford Flex Limited,2009 Honda Fit Sport,2009 Hyundai Genesis V6,2009 Infiniti FX50 AWD,2009 Mazda 6 i Grand Touring,2009 Nissan 370Z Touring,2009 Nissan GT-R,2009 Suzuki SX4,2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS,2010 Honda Insight EX,2010 Mazdaspeed 3,2010 Volvo XC60 T6 AWD

Last week I wrote a post asking you to guess what we were offered by Carmax for the 2009 Nissan GT-R and what my asking price would be. If you're curious, you can check out the ad on Mota or Autotrader.

Some of your guesses were right on the money. We were shocked by how little Carmax offered. In the past they have often exceeded our expectation. But this time we were disappointed.

Continue reading 2009 Nissan GT-R: How do you Price a Supercar?.

Categories: 2009 BMW M3,2009 Nissan GT-R

Picked up this little number from the local furniture store recently. For a second I thought about running home to get a bigger car, but I figured it was worth trying to squeeze it in to the M3 first.

Sure enough, with a little adjustment of the front seat I wedged it in there. Could I have done the same in the M3 coupe? Maybe, but to me this was just another instance of why the M3 sedan makes more sense.

Ed Hellwig, Senior Editor, Inside Line @ 11.055 miles
  

Categories: 2009 BMW M3

I love our 2009 BMW M3, just the way it feels, the way it sounds, the way it drives. It seems like a bit more car than I can handle, though. I'd be wracked with guilt if I owned it and didn't drive it the way it needs to be driven. To me that would be equivalent to keeping a wild animal as a pet -- they'd never get to realize their true potential. This baby does 0-60 in 4.8 seconds, 60-0 in 105 feet and slaloms at 70 mph. The average driver, like myself, just wouldn't know what to do with that.

Fortunately, our car gets its share of hard driving so I don't feel as guilty simply enjoying its luxuries like that very effective seat heater, red leather seats and, oh yes, superior passing skills.

Caroline Pardilla, Deputy Managing Editor @ 18,202 miles

Categories: 2009 BMW M3

(Our 2009 BMW M3 awaits its next freeway adventure. Photo by Andrew Reed.)

I've always said I would never own a BMW. I just hate the image. I'm sure you've all heard the joke about the difference between BMWs and porcupines. Sorry, I can't deliver the punch line here. 

But after spending serious time in the 2002 BMW M3, the 2008 BMW 135i and now the 2009 BMW M3, I'm changing my tune.

I think that the BMW is the ultimate commuter car. Here's why.

Continue reading 2009 BMW M3 -- The Ultimate Commuter Car.

Categories: 2009 BMW M3

Maybe my eyesight is getting worse. Or much, much better. Either way, I managed to hit a screw at the exact intersection of the sidewall and the tire tread. Bullseye! And by 'bullseye', of course I mean, 'damn.'

Short story short: A new Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 size 265/40ZR18 rang up an as-installed cost of $420.81 and took Stokes Tire Pros here in Santa Monica about an hour to do and about 12 hours to locate a tire.

Mike Magrath, Vehicle Testing Assistant @ 10,577 miles.

Categories: 2009 BMW M3

On Sunday I asked the question, "Maintenance Reminders: Are they making us lazy, or are they keeping our cars better cared for?" and there were mixed results. Mostly, though, you thought as I do: It's best to be aware, but at the end of the day, having a computer tell you what to do is a handy back-up.

Trouble is, sometimes you encounter a problem soon after taking preventative action. For example, Friday night, some 48 hours before this warning, I checked the tire pressures on the M3 before a slightly spirited run through SoCal (which we'll get to in another post).

At this reading the driver side rear tire read 28 psi instead of the 35 the door sticker wanted. I gave it a visual inspection, rolling the car back and forth, saw nothing hit the closest gas station, got back up to 35 psi, and then drove the 4 miles home.

The M3 is at Stokes now, we'll know more soon.

Follow the jump for more pictures of the warning systems BMW employs for this issue. 

Continue reading 2009 BMW M3: Another day, another E-warning.

Categories: 2009 BMW M3

It's no secret to anyone who's ever owned / driven / seen a BMW M3 that these things burn oil. >100 hp/liter and an 8,400 rpm redline will do that to a motor. But this blog isn't about that. Not really. By now we all know it happens and we know that the oil costs $20 from the BMW dealership.

Nope, none of that is news. It would be like putting up a new blog each time we fill the tank with gas. What this is about then is the handy warning systems deployed by the M3 when the oil dips below the "safe" zone.

Continue reading 2009 BMW M3: Engine Oil Low, Add Engine Oil.

Categories: 2009 BMW M3

This is the view you command when you're behind the wheel of our long-term 2009 BMW M3.
The power dome in the hood is in plain view. You don't need any M badges to remind you that this is the 3-series big dog. 

Just glance out the windshield and look at that bulge: it tells you that this isn't just another USC-stickered 328 that litters the West Side of Los Angeles.

This is the all-conquering, magnificent-sounding, V8-powered M3, at the height of its existence.

Because, as Josh said, it's all downhill from here.

Albert Austria, Senior Engineer @ 10,200 miles

Categories: 2009 BMW M3

At least that what this odd detail on our M3 looks like to me. I only noticed it over the weekend, so clearly it's not much of a styling issue.

It appears as though this odd cut line was made so the mirror housing could fold in, but it doesn't look particularly well finished, especially for a car that's so utterly spectacular in virtually ever other respect.

Surely, there must be a good reason for the lapse in detail here. Any suggestions?

Ed Hellwig, Senior Editor, Inside Line @ 10,022 miles

Categories: 2009 BMW M3

I was kind of hoping something would have gone disastrously wrong with our M3 by now. Maybe a tranny explosion or complete electronic meltdown. At least then I would have a reason to scoff at its sky high price. Then I would look at it and wonder if it was worth all the money and headaches.

But I crossed the 10,000 mile mark this weekend and realized that not much has happened. We've been wringing it senseless for months now and it doesn't seem to mind a bit. It's suspension is tight, there are no rattles and it feels at fast or faster than it did the day it arrived. Wish I had $70K, I'd get one for myself.

Ed Hellwig, Senior Editor, Inside Line @ 10,000 miles
 

Categories: 2009 BMW M3

Floor mats? We're talking about floor mats?

Well, why not? After all, Toyota just issued a humungous recall of 3.8 million vehicles because of a link between floor mats and sticking throttles. And I received a lot of questions in the immediate aftermath of that announcement, such as: Is this a Toyota-specific issue?

Well, this recall is specific to Toyota and Lexus, but my mind flashes back to numerous times when my own floor mats got fowled with the pedals in several of my personal vehicles over the years, Toyota and non-Toyota alike. And I know of the fear and panic that can come with a stuck throttle experience, because it happened to me at top speed on a racetrack, though that incident wasn't quite floor mat related.

So I grabbed a dozen random keys to some of our long-term test cars to see what I could see. No Toyota keys were handy, though. I'll catch the Prius later.

Before we make the jump, take a gander at the photo above. This is a typical Toyota/Lexus floor mat installation: An top-hinged "pendulum-style" gas pedal is paired with a generous cut-out in the mat to produce a large clearance. The floor mat is kept from creeping forward by two plastic hooks just in front of the seat. As long as it remains hooked and the floor mat is the right size and shape, things should be fine.

Moving on, in alphabetical order...

Continue reading Floor Mat Walkaround.

Categories: 2008 Pontiac G8 GT,2009 BMW 750i,2009 BMW M3,2009 Dodge Challenger R/T,2009 Ford Flex Limited,2009 Honda Fit Sport,2009 Hyundai Genesis V6,2009 Infiniti FX50 AWD,2009 Nissan 370Z Touring,2009 Suzuki SX4,2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS,2010 Honda Insight EX

Below are the fuel economy numbers for September 2009. We've listed the best, worst and overall average tanks.

As always, a couple of cars are out on the road or unavailable at the time of this writing. I'll continue to add them as they come in and let you know in the comments.

After the jump you can see the list sorted by best average MPG.

Continue reading Big List of Fuel Economy: September 2009.

Categories: 2007 Honda Civic GX,2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution GSR,2008 Pontiac G8 GT,2009 Audi A4 Avant,2009 Audi S5,2009 BMW 750i,2009 BMW M3,2009 Dodge Challenger R/T,2009 Dodge Ram 1500,2009 Ford Flex Limited,2009 Honda Fit Sport,2009 Hyundai Genesis V6,2009 Infiniti FX50 AWD,2009 Mazda 6 i Grand Touring,2009 Nissan 370Z Touring,2009 Nissan GT-R,2009 Suzuki SX4,2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS,2010 Honda Insight EX

 As our 2009 BMW M3 nears its 10K milestone, it feels as tight, powerful, and tacitly capable as it did the day it arrived. The current E90 M3 has been derided as being a sell out by those who feel the M3 peaked with the E36 (or even E30). Regardless of whether you feel this is the best M3 ever, it is perhaps the best sedan there is at any price. Here's why...

Continue reading 2009 BMW M3 Sedan: Best Sedan (sniff, pout) Ever.

Categories: 2009 BMW M3