[FN2M3]

Tl:dr: Has anybody gone from an F87 to G87 or even back to an E92 (or vice versa, or any other order?)

I have been wanting to create this post for around 3 months but only got round to it. Please bear with me and tell me if I'm being mad.

Bought my F87 M2C last July, it is no doubt the best car I've ever owned. But I've only done 2k miles since purchase.

Working remotely (almost) full time, and having 2 other cars for daily duties/commuting means the M2C only comes out on the weekend (if that, only when the weather is good). It has just ticked over 18k miles.

Recently, I have been having the urge to step into a G87 M2. I sat in a friends G82 M4 and was blown away by the S58. Plus I have been given a G80 M3 as a courtesy car by BMW on 2 occasions (I'm sure they do this on purpose!) so have experienced some seat time in one. I love the proportions of my current F87 so it would definitely have to be a G87 rather than G80/2.

But do I really want an expensive garage ornament which is prone to even more depreciation than my F87?

I also have unfinished business in an E92 M3, and every time i see / hear one, it feels like I never truly enjoyed one to its fullest potential. Although I have owned 3 E9X M3's, that car does feel like the one that got away. It really does get under your skin.

I have also caught the track day bug after taking my car on track for the first time ever last year, but i feel very precious over the F87, I feel like it is too clean to be on a track, and there's always the fear of binning it. I have narrowed it down to 3 choices:

1. Change up to a G87 - £50-60k - newer car/tech/more power but will probably lose alot more money in depreciation. Plus I will feel the same way and not want to take a car of that value on track.
2. Keep the F87 and just enjoy it. Use it how i please and not worry about value etc. I have retained every single stock part in case I do decide to sell up in the future. And i am thoroughly enjoying it so no "real" reason to get rid of it.
3. Sell the F87, pocket 20k and buy another E92 M3 for <20k. I could probably get a "Roadsport" spec and it would be perfect for my little usage, and i won't be so precious about taking it round a track or binning it. I don't care about the lack of torque, winding it up to get the most out of it etc. - i have never been one to look at pure speed/power - i rarely drive my M2C to even 9/10ths of what it's capable of. Plus at <20k, I think the E92 has already depreciated and won't drop (significantly) further, so I can use the funds elsewhere. I also need to upgrade one of the dailies so freeing up some cash would enable me to purchase another car. The only issue here is will I feel like it is a huge backward step going from the F87? Plus there is the (significant?) increased running costs.

I have thought long and hard about this but still cannot make up my mind.

Please share your thoughts on the above.

Has anybody gone from an F87 to G87 or even back to an E92 (or vice versa, or any other order?)

As petrolheads, why can we never be happy and grateful for what we own? Why do I have to always look at what's next / other cars?

FFS

[Robin_NL]

If you go 'back' to E92 M3 please opt for the DCT box. I had an E90 M3 6MT and the 6MT does not suit the engine, too long gearing, not really powerful only beyond 4000rpm.

G87: Seen it once irl in black. I prefer my F87 M2C. And with a tune and CHF(preventive) mine has 550BHP and 700Nm. It's a blast.

Cheers
Robin

[pbonsalb]

I had an E90 M3 for 10 years, nicely modded, and drove it over 80K miles and liked it. Mine was a 6MT and while a manual gives you something to do while driving, I tended to think the DCT was the better choice. I had my time with the S65 and feel no need to go back to it. I bought an F90 M5, so I am obviously OK with less engagement rather than more. I like the automatic and the torque of the twin turbo V8.

I buy a nice car to drive, not to park. In that respect, I am different from the OP so my perspective may not be of interest to him. My advice would be to buy a fun car to drive whether it is an E90 M3 or a new M3. The S58 is an incredible engine. Not a special engine like the S65 or S54, but a really great daily driver engine.

I do have a built motor turbocharged E36 M3 that I no longer drive much. I have put over 100k miles on it and it was supercharged or turbocharged for most of those miles. It is not parked because it is my nicest and most valuable car, but rather because it is older, less comfortable, and needs some attention. The M5 sees snow and rain, hauls dogs, and sometimes hauls trash, tools, lumber, etc.

[jefe2000]

Originally Posted by FN2M3

Tl:dr: Has anybody gone from an F87 to G87 or even back to an E92 (or vice versa, or any other order?)

Plenty of folks over in the G87 subforum moved directly from the F87 to the G87 platform. I’ll bet your same question over in that subforum will get a lot more traction.

And I know user NPTM recently moved from F87 to an E9x M3.

[Redd]

If you want a car that will be quick on track, the E9x M3 will not be the right car. If you want a car you can keep for another 10 years - or forever - and never get bored of it even if you rarely drive it, the E9x M3 will be a good candidate.

[pbonsalb]

It is true that when you don’t drive a car much, it takes longer to get bored of it. After 10 years and 80k miles in my E90 M3, there was nothing more I felt like I needed to experience with the car. Even though I modded mine pretty well, I was bored of the long, flat power band that felt slow unless you were in the right gear at the right rpm, and the right rpm for fun was 5500-8600 (my car was tuned and used an 8600 rpm redline). Accessing the power got sort of old after a while — sort of a chore. I did have the 6MT and that meant rowing the gears. It might have taken me longer to get bored with the DCT since accessing the power would not have been as much work. The E90 M3 does make nice sounds and does get more attention from most enthusiasts than a more modern and faster BMW, if those things are priorities.

[CSBM5]

Originally Posted by pbonsalb

It is true that when you don’t drive a car much, it takes longer to get bored of it. After 10 years and 80k miles in my E90 M3, there was nothing more I felt like I needed to experience with the car. Even though I modded mine pretty well, I was bored of the long, flat power band that felt slow unless you were in the right gear at the right rpm, and the right rpm for fun was 5500-8600 (my car was tuned and used an 8600 rpm redline). Accessing the power got sort of old after a while — sort of a chore. I did have the 6MT and that meant rowing the gears. It might have taken me longer to get bored with the DCT since accessing the power would not have been as much work. The E90 M3 does make nice sounds and does get more attention from most enthusiasts than a more modern and faster BMW, if those things are priorities.

Very well encapsulates my net experience from my E90 M3. BMW made two fantastic N/A V8 M engines, the S62 and S65. They had completely different torque/power curves and hence completely different driving experiences. I had my E39 M5 for 15 years until 2018 and my E90 M3 for 12 years starting in 2012 so about 6 years of overlap. When I made the decision to sell each of them, I was at that same point - I had done everything I felt I needed to do with both. My enjoyment of each was complete, and it was time to move them on. Each lived a garage queen life except for times they went to the track, autocross course, Michelin 1/2 mile skid pad and wet track, etc, so they were in incredible condition (garaged 24/7 since new, never in rain but just a few times, etc), especially my M3 which presented as new with 41k miles.

I've owned my F87 M2C since new in Sept 2018, so having the E90 M3 and it at the same time for over 5 years gave me plenty of back-to-back driving. As you mentioned, the S65 is really only great fun from 5500rpm to over 8k. Keep it in that sweet spot rpm range, on the boil, wringing it hard, and it's a blast. The rest of the time, it's not such a great street engine (in my opinion) as it operates well outside of its most effective rpm range making it horribly inefficient and well boring too.

It's not a perfect analogy, but the S65 reminds me of my dirt bike/motocross days in the mid-70s where I had a 125cc MX bike (still have it btw!) that has a powerband from ~7000 to over 10,000 rpms. Keep it in that sweet spot, on the boil, wringing it hard, and it's a blast. Outside of that range and yuk. Not something to trail ride really, low torque, bogs down, etc, but wow, get into that rpm range and just click off the gears almost as fast as you can, and it's a heck of a lot of fun. I could see the appeal of a DCT S65 (mine was a 6MT).