[Richbot]

What would be really cool (and very cheap and easy for the ///Marketing division to do) is an itemized list of what every options adds to the curb weight vs. a no-options car. That'd really geek us out.

I don't mind power trunk openers, iDrive4you, 4 different kinds of "talent in a button" stability control, heated headliners, panoramic moonroofies, leather speaker covers, or whatever other nonsense BMW decides to offer being available as an *option* on an M car. That's fine for everyone who wants to lease one until the next hot ticket comes along, let them pay extra for it. For people who just want the best possible swiss army knife driver's car money can buy, leave out the extra crap and give me the important parts. If you just want a rocket in a straight line that has all the gadgets, there's a BMW app for that, but it shouldn't be an M, unless BMW decides to make "M" stand for "Mollycoddling".

[e1000]

Originally Posted by Richbot

What would be really cool (and very cheap and easy for the ///Marketing division to do) is an itemized list of what every options adds to the curb weight vs. a no-options car. That'd really geek us out.

I don't mind power trunk openers, iDrive4you, 4 different kinds of "talent in a button" stability control, heated headliners, panoramic moonroofies, leather speaker covers, or whatever other nonsense BMW decides to offer being available as an *option* on an M car. That's fine for everyone who wants to lease one until the next hot ticket comes along, let them pay extra for it. For people who just want the best possible swiss army knife driver's car money can buy, leave out the extra crap and give me the important parts. If you just want a rocket in a straight line that has all the gadgets, there's a BMW app for that, but it shouldn't be an M, unless BMW decides to make "M" stand for "Mollycoddling".

I wonder how many M3's see a proper race track, HPDE or auto-x, ever, much less on a regular basis. I'd guess to say less than 10% get raced more than a handfull of times through the duration of the first owner.

[BobsM3Coupe]

Originally Posted by oldmanstyle

mineral white paint for the M3!!

Sounds like BMW is trying to give the M3 a softened look with that pearl paint.

[kaykay]

Originally Posted by racedoc11

Automatic/Start Stop: A feature developed from BMW’s EfficientDynamics strategy that will shut down the engine under certain conditions when the vehicle comes to a complete stop. The benefit of this technology is reduced fuel consumption and the function can be switched on/off via a button located next to the Start/Stop button.

This is the dumbest thing I've ever heard of in my life. Thank God I got my car three weeks ago.

The BlackBerry e-mail integration into iDrive would be nice, but how many of use are going to be reading emails on the iDrive system???

[kyoo]

^^ at least you can turn it off

[Richbot]

Originally Posted by e1000

I wonder how many M3's see a proper race track, HPDE or auto-x, ever, much less on a regular basis. I'd guess to say less than 10% get raced more than a handfull of times through the duration of the first owner.

The real question is "how many M3's are actually driven by someone who can fully exploit their capabilities?"

I have a racecar, I don't need to take my M3 to the racetrack to do a bunch of laps when I can race wheel-to-wheel whenever I want. What I want is the most involving, fun, high performance experience I can get for my money in a car that can still be useful as real car. Most of the things on the M3's option list, and many of the standard features, add nothing to that experience except an extra 5 pounds here and 15 pounds there. That eventually adds up to a more expensive and less capable car, but at least it has a "Motorsport" badge on it! Make that stuff optional. The power seats are a move in the right direction.

[Frozen Black Panther]

e46 seats are the worst

[///M Rakete]

Originally Posted by Finnegan

While I'm sure many of us could add to the list of changes, this is a pretty good start and makes me a bit more confident of the direction of BMW. It's good to see them taking enthusiasts who are more performance oriented and less luxury oriented into account: manual seats, de-coupled Mdrive from Tech, CA option separate.

The manual seats, while not a huge weight savings, are one less thing to go wrong long term and they do save weight (as does not having the Idrive/Nav screen and components). I hope this philosophy is extended and carried over into the 1 series M and future M3: allow the buyer to configure the car with less luxury, provide weight saving options, and give the ability to add performance pieces (e.g. Mdrive) w/o needing the weight/cost of other options. The whole "must have tech" to get Mdrive thing on the E9x M3 was not a bright move--but this is a move in the right direction.

BMW, you're on the right track. Keep it moving this way. Give us lighter, less luxury oriented options so that we can option a more hardcore performance oriented car from the overall base. That would provide even a bigger market for your products--one group can option for more luxury while the other goes more hardcore performance. That's a win all around.

I, for one, would go pretty bare bones inside, even less sound deadening, and would love the option to add brake cooling and a BBK all around. Much rather have that than Idrive, Nav, electric luxury seats, heavy split folding seats, overly isolated boring sound deadening, and comfort access....

Call me a cynic but I think this has more to do with take rate on options, bundling them accordingly to optimize profit versus the take rate, and perhaps reduce costs/stale cars by avoiding unpopular option combinations (like making more things Priority 1 as well). I'd like to think that the enthusiast is at the forefront of BMW's, especially M's, thinking but I suspect the bean counters on behalf of the owners are equally or more influential.

[Brknbones]

I have a car on the boat now, what bothers me the most is not the new iPod features coming in September with the combox but the fact that it will now be able to be upgraded and work with apps. It is this unknown future functionality and compatibility.

Before all the purist jump down my throat. I have many passion/ obsessions in life. My car is one of them, technology is another. I love my iPhone (AT&T works great where I live and work). I am sure on an online forum I am not the only one. The beauty of an m3 is that is a sports car AND a daily driver. If you want stripped get a lotus

[Richbot]

Originally Posted by ///M Rakete

Call me a cynic but I think this has more to do with take rate on options, bundling them accordingly to optimize profit versus the take rate, and perhaps reduce costs/stale cars by avoiding unpopular option combinations (like making more things Priority 1 as well). I'd like to think that the enthusiast is at the forefront of BMW's, especially M's, thinking but I suspect the bean counters on behalf of the owners are equally or more influential.

Definitely.

[e1000]

Originally Posted by Richbot

The real question is "how many M3's are actually driven by someone who can fully exploit their capabilities?"

I have a racecar, I don't need to take my M3 to the racetrack to do a bunch of laps when I can race wheel-to-wheel whenever I want. What I want is the most involving, fun, high performance experience I can get for my money in a car that can still be useful as real car. Most of the things on the M3's option list, and many of the standard features, add nothing to that experience except an extra 5 pounds here and 15 pounds there. That eventually adds up to a more expensive and less capable car, but at least it has a "Motorsport" badge on it! Make that stuff optional. The power seats are a move in the right direction.

Again, 15 lbs? Really? I know every little bit counts, but not only are we missing the forest for a tree, I can almost guarantee you the choice was made not for the enthusiast and purists, but to find another way to charge more for the existing option set. If they really wanted to make a car that was meaningful, they'd shave hundreds of pounds off of it and get it closer to 3k lbs. For example, make A/C optional, make the stereo optional, that would be something that would really show me BMW M is moving in the enthusiasts direction.

Originally Posted by Brknbones

I have a car on the boat now, what bothers me the most is not the new iPod features coming in September with the combox but the fact that it will now be able to be upgraded and work with apps. It is this unknown future functionality and compatibility.

Before all the purist jump down my throat. I have many passion/ obsessions in life. My car is one of them, technology is another. I love my iPhone (AT&T works great where I live and work). I am sure on an online forum I am not the only one. The beauty of an m3 is that is a sports car AND a daily driver. If you want stripped get a lotus

You too huh? Are you on the Rhea Leader too?

[aus]

Originally Posted by racedoc11

Wouldn't this take too much time to get the car moving ???

Automatic/Start Stop: A feature developed from BMW’s EfficientDynamics strategy that will shut down the engine under certain conditions when the vehicle comes to a complete stop. The benefit of this technology is reduced fuel consumption and the function can be switched on/off via a button located next to the Start/Stop button.

It's suppose to work well per magazine reports. It gets a big ass starter that also acts as a generator when braking. I'm sure it's heavier too.

Originally Posted by blueman2

I am missing what is changed with the M button. Sounds just like the current version to me.

The biggest change I was hoping for? Having the car remember the S and D settings between starts, without using the M button. I like S4 and D4, but the system keeps reverting back to 3 level. Makes me crazy!!!!

Out of what is offered, only thing I will miss is the Album Art! I would really have liked that. And that should be just a software upgrade, really.

My car doesn't have Tech, so I get no M button.
I just wonder if MDM is standard... like it should have been. I don't need the M button, but I would like to have MDM as part of my DSC button.

.

[1cleanm6]

such bullshit, i just got my 2011 and they are already making changes. Non sense?

I can care less about the auto stop/start i rather not have it.

However i really like the convenience package.

Eithier way in MY opinion everything should have been released when the 2011 was introduced. But oh well

[Finnegan]

Originally Posted by ///M Rakete

Call me a cynic but I think this has more to do with take rate on options, bundling them accordingly to optimize profit versus the take rate, and perhaps reduce costs/stale cars by avoiding unpopular option combinations (like making more things Priority 1 as well). I'd like to think that the enthusiast is at the forefront of BMW's, especially M's, thinking but I suspect the bean counters on behalf of the owners are equally or more influential.

Oh course this is true. But I'm trying to see the potential bright side as well. Nothing that BMW has done lately has offered any sort of glimmer of hope in terms of lighter or more performance oriented focus. Sure, it's not like they're offering another Z4M, but on the other hand they didn't announce a massaging seat or a blender in the dash either. (Okay, I exaggerate with the blender, but the seat thing is not too far fetched--M SUV anyone?)

[quality_sound]

There's no way the iPod upgrades can't be flashed. All the parts needed are in the car, the only difference is how iDrive interacts with the iPod. This HAS to be retrofittable. I don't care about the email and other stuff, strictly the new iPod functions and that can EASILY be retrofitted.

Whether BMW will do it or not is another story.

[DiRTyDeLuX]

I just got off the phone with my Military sales rep. He's working to see if he can push my production month of July to September. I was not planning on taking delivery until first week of November so it shouldn't affect me there. Let's just hope my car is not in production already. According to BMWUSA.com, they don't recognize my production number so I guess its not in the system yet.

[RayC]

I think the only thing I would have gone for is bi-color seats.

Other than that...meh.

[Cloud]

damn i need the one wire solution so I can use the apple USB cable. The Y cable doesn't work with the iphone 4 with a bumper.

[Tyspy]

I am a little 'annoyed' BMW are planning to bring this out part way through a production year to be honest, my car is 1 month old 2011 model, my biggest problem and the 1 thing I really dislike about my M3 is the way the Ipod connects (apart from my wheel wobble) .................. and the bi colour seats would have been nice.......... Nice one BMW

[IRMthree]

thanks for sharing this info...its new to me so thanks

[quality_sound]

Originally Posted by DiRTyDeLuX

I just got off the phone with my Military sales rep. He's working to see if he can push my production month of July to September. I was not planning on taking delivery until first week of November so it shouldn't affect me there. Let's just hope my car is not in production already. According to BMWUSA.com, they don't recognize my production number so I guess its not in the system yet.

It won't ever show in the system. I think it's because the military sales companies are based in Canada or we have different numbers that don't follow the usual scheme. But I tried anyway and it never showed up.

[quality_sound]

Originally Posted by Cloud

damn i need the one wire solution so I can use the apple USB cable. The Y cable doesn't work with the iphone 4 with a bumper.

bumper??