So the car is... amazing! I love this car. I have driven some amazing cars and this car is to me just as much fun as any of them. It just feels responsive as hell in every way. As a benchmark I’ve had 30 mins plus of wheel time in all these cars in the last year:
Camaro SS1LE Manual
Porsche 997 Carrera S Manual
Cayman GT4
AMG Mclaren SLR
E92M3 Manual (3) and DCT (2)
M2 Manual and DCT
F80 M3 DCT
M4 DCT
M6 DCT
Z8 Manual
Jaguar F Type R
I enjoy driving my car more than almost every car on that list, even a 650hp AMG SLR Which felt heavy and numb and didn’t have nearly as good a sound to the exhaust. So that is crazy I know, and I can’t say everyone would agree but I’m not a horsepower nut. I’m a driving experience nut who wants to work the car and I like analog everything.
The only cars on that list I enjoyed as much are the GT4 and the Carerra S and it’s because they are in that same vein, lightweight analog drivers cars that you have to work to extract the speed from.
My car is now like an angry chihuahua in that it’s light and nimble and ready to jump any which way in an instant, and it positively screams at high revs WOT. So it’s very stimulating in the drivers seat. There’s a lot of factors which contribute to this. Sometimes people make comments about this car assuming what it’s like from their time in a 328 but you really can’t do that because every single thing you interact with is changed and the car is so far from stock. I don’t really think you can benchmark it against another 328i. Think about it.
Steering Rack changed (12:1 rack is quicker than any other bmw ever made (except the e92m3 which has about 300lbs more over the front tires and isn’t nearly as nimble feeling)
Shifter changed (short shifter and 3.91 gearing)
Brakes changed
Clutch Valve Deleted
Throttle response sensitivity changed (part of tune)
Not to mention the nature of the engine where it builds power all the way to 7500rpms. It doesn’t fall flat after 6500 like it did when stock and also with 3 stage intake.
So everything you interact with from the drivers seat has dramatically increased in sensitivity. The car now reminds me a lot of my buddies 997 carerra S. That car has 355hp and weighs like 3150lbs. It changes directions mid turn super easily and my car has migrated close to that. It’s not quite as eager to turn in as the Carrera S, but it’s moved significantly in that direction. I enjoy the handling and throttle sensitivity a lot more than the OG M2.
If I could change 2 things on my car:
I would make the chassis a little stiffer. The Porsche’s did feel a little more solid, like when you hit a bump in then the car shifts once and stays focused on its track, where in all the other cars I’ve driven you feel the front shift and then a back, so there’s like 2 shifts in the chassis when you hit a bump and they are a little more unsettled.
I would not mind like 30-50 more HP. I don’t feel the car is hurting for power but a little more would be great.
For the future I’m looking at new bucket seats. Looks like the recaro pole position will be my likely choice. A pair of those would add a little bit to that analog “feeling/being one with the car” and also take 60lbs off the car. After that then maybe someday I’ll do a rear seat delete for another 65lbs. That should put the car almost to 2900lbs which would make it just perfect to me.