So, guess what I drove today at lunch...
 

http://www.theautochannel.com/cyberc...s/mvc-314s.jpg

M Coupe.

My roommate picked up his new-to-him 2002 M Coupe last night. It's an '02, the last year of the Z3 based M Coupe, dark gray as pictured above. It's the M Coupe with the S54 (E46 M3) motor shoehorned in there, one of about only 600 made w/ that motor IIRC. :eek: I got to take it for a spin today on our lunch break. :devil:

Some specs:

3.2L inline 6, 315 hp @ 7400, 251 ftlb @ 4900, 5MT, 3100 lbs

http://www.autofan.com/review.asp?ID=62
http://www.edmunds.com/used/2002/bmw...582/specs.html

First off, the car is small. I barely fit... I can drive it, but I don't think I'd want to for any extended period. But, I'm kinda tall, so most people would be pretty damn comfortable in it. My head doesn't hit the ceiling (it would w/ a helmet on), it's my legs that are a bit cramped. The seating position is nice, the pedals would be just right if my legs weren't so long, the steering wheel is sweet, the instruments are driver oriented, and the cockpit ergonomics are fine.

The engine is sweet. It's really odd compared to the other fast cars I've driven. On a turbo car, there's zero power, then a massive rush as the boost comes in. On a big displacement car, there's instantaneous tire shredding torque. This is neither, but it's still very fast. There's certainly some bogging down low in the 1000 to 2000 rpm range, much like a turbo car. However, when you get on it, there's no rush as the turbo kicks in. The power comes on linearly, which actually makes it feel slow. But the difference is, due to the long gearing, when you get to what feels like the redline, you find that you're only at about 4000 rpm, and you've got another 4000 rpm before redline! :eek: The motor just pulls and pulls forever. Certainly not as hard as my WRX does on boost, but if pulls for such a long time you're going 100 mph at the top of second. :lol: Also, the car doesn't have the crazy torque of something like a Mustang, so it doesn't feel violent when it's accelerating, which also makes it feel a bit "slow", until you look at the speedo and you're 20 over the limit w/o noticing.

The handling seems nice. I didn't get to toss it around, but for cruising around on the street it's very comfortable, yet stiff. BMW suspension engineering FTW. The car's also got a traction control override, so if you're name is Tiff you can go sling the ass around with ease. It's got a pretty quick steering rack, to the point where you will rarely have to shuffle steer it.

The best part about the car IMO is the brakes. They feel like my StopTechs... maybe not in their braking power (since I didn't hammer the brakes at all, I don't know how hard it really stops), but in their feel. Great initial bite, and terrific feedback through the pedal. You don't really have to try to stop the car, just put your foot near the pedal and think about how much you want to slow down and the car does it. I'm not sure how they'd hold up on track, but on the street they feel awesome.

Anyway, I'm really stoked for Matt, since this thing is in damn near perfect condition... he got it with less than 10,000 miles on the clock, and the previous owner was a Dinan mechanic who *didn't* mod it because he knew it was a collecter's car. It's a seriously sweet and rare ride that's fun as hell to drive to boot.

Man, I just about died when I saw it in the garage this morning. Its freaking awesome. Hopefully I'll get a chance to flog it soon too.

This car (specific color and motor) has been on my top 5 list for ages. I can't wait to see how it actually drives.

omg.

it is here.

Oooo!!! Yay Matt got a new beamer. :) Tell him that I said congratulations. I want to see it next time I'm up there and have a chance.

Sweet!!

Damn, I just drove it and its pretty sweet. Much like Scott said, you end up going faster then you think you are. It also feels slower, but in reality is much quicker than my car. I got going like 90 on an on-ramp without realizing it. And it feels like the redline should be at about 4k (just from the "feel" I'm used to with my car) but you really have 3.5k more to go.

The brakes feel awesome, but as for heel-toe braking, its much harder to do at street speeds/braking power. Probably much better for heel-toe on the track when you are braking harder.

All in all, I'm jealous.

I bet that car is downright scary fast without ze autobahn diff ratio. Sweet friggin car.

Nice car!

Isn't this the part where someone corrects your grammar? This is fun.

Anyway, I love the car, can't wait to see it.

Ditto. I'm so happy for Matt, and I think he's such an asshole for buying one of my favorite cars of all time :)

Oh man, now Matt's doing it too. Damn.

I too have had this car on my short list since it came out.

I've always thought those were cool. I guess you guys were a bad influence and he wanted a faster car? Tell him I said congrats on the sweet purchase.

He's in Russia on vacation for a few weeks... I'll point him to this thread once he's back.

HOUSE PARTAYYYY!!one!