A good friend of mine who's a big fan of BMWs wanted to do a comparison between the current MR and current model M3. He's in the market for a new car so yesterday morning we went out and did the test. I let him drive my MR for some of the morning and then we went to BMW dealership and test drove the M3. There's about 3 miles worth of twisty roads near the dealership, so the salesman pointed us there and told us to let it have it. I drove the M3 and then he did.

My impressions were that although the BMW definately has a more expensive fit and feel, it felt very very heavy while cornering without much feedback as to what's going on with the car. The car definately had more torque off the line, but the top end was a bit disapointing. My friend felt the same way but he was primarily disapointed by how heavy the car felt while cornering. Now mind you there were 3 of us in the M3 so that might have had some bearing. When we returned to the dealership, the salesman felt that we hadn't done a fair comparison because of the extra weight in the car. So I offered to drive the same road in the Evo with him along so that the Evo would have the same weight disadvantage. He was like a kid in a candy store laughing from the first corner until we pulled back in to the dealership. For my taste, the Evo felt far better when driven hard. It offered a lot more feedback, and turn-in and tracking through the corners was far sharper than the M3. At the end of drive, the salesman agreed with us that having been in both cars, he would buy the MR over the M3 if performance is what you're after. He categorized the M3 as more of a "fast" luxury car whereas the Evo seemed to be all about no-holds-barred performance. The Evo also wins more points for actually having a usable back seat.

At any rate, it was a fun Saturday morning. My buddy is definately going with the MR now.

 

Damn Our Evos Are Good!!!!

 

nice. to each his own, but all out performance the Evo is the winner. i've driven the e46 m3, 6spd and smg....it's nice as hell, and it's my dream to own one too...but after i get the Evo. imo for me the m3 is for a bit later, maybe when i'm a bit older and can appreciate luxury more.

IMHO.

just saw an m3 parked in the parking lot yesterday, couldn't help but admire its beauty...i was staring at it for so long the owner came out of the store and asked me what the hell i was doing lol. i just told him you have a beautiful assed beast and i coudlnt' stop looking at it.

 

by the looks of your sig, we're also not talking stock vs. stock here...

 

What about straight line performance? Stock vs. stock?

 

From a dig (assuming the EVO owner is a capable driver) the EVO should win, stock IXs having been hitting high 12s and very low 13s. As far as from a roll, I think it would be much closer between a IX and M3 than previous years. As far as everything else, such as handling and braking and control, the EVO wins, if somebody tells you differently then they purely going off of their opinion and not actual facts. Indeed the EVO is much lighter than a M3, a good 200-250Lbs lighter, depending on the options on the M3 it can get up over 3500Lbs. Now this is only talking about performance, there are other advantages the M3 has over the EVO, but one disadvantage, price. But if your talking about a used car then the price of the two may be very similiar, but then again a used car vs. a brand new car, advantage new car always. Still the M3 is a very nice car and I wouldn't blame you if you chose it over an EVO, I'd personaly would always get an EVO, but that's just me. Atleast the M3 is a worthy contender.

 

I don't know guys. My brother has an E46 M3, numbers aside (actual distance to zero) the M3 has much more confident braking feel. The pads BMW uses are more aggressive and bite into the rotor better.

 

Having previously owned a 2003.5 M3 SMG, I can tell you that the evo gives you a more "one with the road feel" over the M3. You can push the evo to it's handling limits much easier, and the braking is superior. 1/4 mile acceleration should go to the new evo IX, but from 100mph on, I feel the M3 should eventually overtake the evo. But then again, who races to top speed? M3 has the status, resale value, and build quality that 20k more than an evo should buy. It is very rare to find a person who is actually considering a new M3 vs a new evo in their buying decision, because they are such different cars. It is now more common to find a person considering a new evo vs a used e46 M3 instead. Bottom line, the evo will out perform a e46 M3 for 20k less; if performance is your only criteria, however the new v8 400hp M3 is on the horizon.

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2004 evo WW SSL
1997 Viper GTS B&W
1989 20th Anniv Turbo Trans Am hardtop

 

Many road tests that I read on the e46 M3 states that the brakes start to fade with use

 

Woops I meant your friend, if he is interested in a M3 I wouldn't blame him. Hopefully you are satisified with your IX, because it seems to be a very nice car and I can't wait to here updates on what you have in store for it. I'm hoping you hit 400WHP on the stock turbo/pump gas (no alky). Hey go for it all, go for the stock turbo HP record and be remembered forever.

 

All cars are stock except for short shifter in the M3. We change cars both going there and on the track. M3 (2001 model) and Evo9 are almost dead even in the straights (we only tried up till around 110mph due to trafic).

Around curvy country roads in good weather they were also pretty even (but my 9 had crappy winter tires) but the evo inspires confidence quicker to a driver new to the car. Once you induce wet/dirt in curvy roads, the evo pulls easily ( I was on the m3 once and he was pulling on me coming out of each curve - impossible to keep up).

On the track (it is a slow track with 5 curves), eventhough the s2000 feels sooo much slower than the other two, it feels the best to me due to light weight and linear power delivery - just a fun car.

Between the evo9 and m3, the evo is a better drivers car to me - better turn in feel, feels more nimble/lighter, better gear change, better feel from the wheel, better power out of the corners. m3 feels heavy but the engine is beautiful - louder than my stock 9 with strong linear power delivery.

Thanks god we live in a tiem where there are so many good choices!!!

 

My thoughts exactly. The Evo is a far more rewarding drive. It handles better and really gives the driver more feedback. From a looks standpoint, I think it's more a matter of taste. The M3 is a beautful car and has nice styling, but I'm also a great fan of the Evo's looks as well. My friend also drove my car when it was stock and he felt that when the it was stock, it was a closer match. A stock Evo vs. a stock M3 is a closer match in straightline speed. The Evo still corners better. With the 1600 in mods that have been done to my car, there's absolutely no contest in performance. The M3 is pretty luxurious but it's not a drivers car in my opinion. Between the stability (electronic driver) aids and the heavy feel, it takes away some of the work/challenge from the driver. You feel a disconnect. It doesn't feel like a car that would reward good driving and punish mistakes...

 

As much as I like to hear that the evos are superior to e46s m3s in handling, I have to say that the m3s are such well balanced cars, I would have taken the M3. They really are drivers cars, and so much fun. Also cosider the aggressiveness of the stock tires, I think it would be such a different feel if the tires were equal.

 

Yeah...brakes on all cars tend to fade when you use them. If someone wrote a road test that said that, he or she clearly had a brilliant way of restating the obvious.

 

Yeah...brakes on all cars tend to fade when you use them. If someone wrote a road test that said that, he or she clearly had a brilliant way of restating the obvious

Well let me just rephrase my previous statement, the M3's brakes are more prone to fade as compared to the evo's; it's certainly a weak point of the M3's inaddition to their unreliable engines which has been recalled several times since 2001

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2004 evo ww ssl
1997 Viper GTS b&w
1989 20th anniv turbo trans am hardtop