CRAIGFIN

Has anybody ever owned one?? What are they like??

I've been lurking on their owners site and they seem a bit fragile. The BMW warranty is a must by the sounds of it. I agree that the looks are a bit like marmite.....you either love it or hate it...I love it. The performance from all camps seems amazing, 325 bhp and 0-60 approx 4.8 - 5 secs.

I am really tempted to get one.

BMW M Coupe

Any views??

Craig.

davyboy

Shame they are not a little lighter.

CRAIGFIN

Davyboy,

I must admit, I like a light car as well. It weighs 1450kg which is similar to a MY03 STI which was my other choice of car. The power to weight ratio is about 225 bhp/tonne which is not to shabby. It could do with losing about 250kg of weight.

Craig.

Smeatser

I remember Clarkson test driving one of these against the scoob, evo and a 3,2l alfa, The M coup pi$$ed all over all cars in nearly all aspects with Clarkson saying it is one of the best cars he has ever driven,


Plus they are quite rare too, which is a big plus in my eyes!

....also **** hot residuals!

J4CK50N

my mate owned one form new and it was a very nice car

Loads of power and great handling

Thought it looked a bit like the batmobile at first but the more you look at it the better it is.

Was going to buy it off him when he sold it but couldnt shift my scoob type r in time

chris singleton

Personally, I think these are and I've been tempted to buy one also.

I love the looks, good performance and rare.............................just wish it wasn't a BMW

Darren 01

Had a wee play with one a few weeks ago.

Silver one near caterham.

Took off from the lights to join the motorway. He gave it some and I followed.
I overtook him but he was catching as I was running out of puff in 4th.

I think the only reason I over took him to begin with was due to there being a slight left hander and he could'nt give it full throttle!

We both slowed down and gave each other a wave of mutual respect. Seen him a few times now but don't go for it...

I think they are fantastic cars and would only have one if I did much lower mileage.

imi

Awesome looking car, supposed to be great handling too......extremely rare....

what a machine...

flat4_ire

good aul performance i guess yeah but i tink they look septic!! for the money tho i cud tink of getn a lot of other stuff.. 00 model m3 is the ticket, but thats about it for bmws for me anywho

wbm3

I like em, they are very rapid!

Alex B

I've liked these since I first saw it.

Supposed to be easy to lose the back end though and I think Jeremy Clarkson said they're a bit tight inside if your over 6'.

Alex B

Andy M3

I will probably get shot down in flames here, but personally i would consider a 130i over a M Coupe. There are a few reasons why i say this. The first is you can't buy a coupe new, and i know how the average driver of m coupe's drives. I think they look sort of similar, the performance won't be a million miles away, the general running costs will be lower and if you get the 130i sport with some tasteful alpina wheels, it should look unique in the same way.

Anyway, another option.

BTW - i love the M Coupe, never been in 1, but i have thrashed the **** off my mates roadster lots and lots, and 1 valet and a set of tyres later, the private ad read "careful mature owner, never raced or rallied" - lol.

Andy:

BMW Great Britain is pleased to announce the introduction of the BMW 130i – a car powered by the world’s lightest six-cylinder petrol engine. First seen on the BMW 630i and the BMW 330i, the new car boasts 258bhp and 300Nm of torque to deliver class leading performance figures.

The aluminium and magnesium alloy 3.0-litre straight-six petrol engine powers the BMW 130i from zero to 62mph in 6.2 seconds and on to a top speed of 155mph. These figures better rivals such as the Alfa Romeo 147 GTA, Audi A3 3.2 V6 Sport Quattro Sportback and the Mercedes C320 SE Sports Coupé. Such high levels of performance aligned with the near perfect 50:50 weight distribution have also resulted in the BMW 130i lapping the challenging Northern Loop of the Nürburgring in an impressive 8 minutes 35 seconds. All this and the car still posts a respectable fuel consumption figure on the combined cycle of 31.4mpg.

The commendable figures are due in part to the VANOS and VALVETRONIC valve opening and valve lift control mechanisms that ensure optimum combustion and engine breathing at all times. An electrically driven water pump also cuts down on internal engine friction and improves efficiency. Power is transmitted to the road via a standard six-speed manual gearbox feeding power to the rear wheels.

Brendan Hughes

...or wait for the rumoured M2 to materialise...

m_shep

I was lucky enough to own a black one... Bought it new in 1999 and sold it in 2002 when I bought a Suzuki Hayabusa (GSXR 1300). Car was a ripper! Wish I would have never sold it -- biggest car mistake I ever made.

I now own an '05 STI (black), 220 miles, and I love it. However, the MCoupe would inch me out in accelleration and top end. Handling would depend on the driver -- which I'm not going to pretent to be a pro.

I live in California, but don't bash -- I've still got my Brit passport and my dad was born in Devon. The only downfall to the MCoupe would be maintenance costs. My 60,000 mile service was upwards of $1300 U.S.!!@# I drove that car hard, and it never let me down - redline was seen daily.

People think they look funky, but it's an acquired taste. Wife spun it out (back end is light) at speed but did not wreck.

If you've got the opportunity and the car is in god condition with service records, do it -- you won't regret it.

Marc from Santa Barbara, your local friendly "Bobby".

The Zohan

I love 'em, rare to see on the roads, great styling, performance and handling.

I would have one in an instant if i had the money to.

magicman

Spent some time weighing up the M Coupe. Drove a couple, both very nice. Just for a laugh I popped into the Subaru dealership and took out an STI, no intention of owning one. Was blown away by the STI, it made the M Coupe feel numb in comparison. I pick up a MY 03 STi PPP on Saturday!

Main consideration was after driving the STI I had a huge smile on my face, didn't get that with the BMW.

Andy M3

Funny you should say that magic man. My mate, who i refered too earlier, got sick of being in a mobile green house, and wanted out of his M roadster and Golf GTTDI to buy something practical like the golf and fast like the M roadster. So he took out a 04 WRX STI PPP and hated every minuet of it. The exhast was too droany, the suspension too hard, the steering twitching on cat eyes, and compared to the BMW it was obscenly aggressive with the power, but only able to make the same progress. But if you go from a smoooooth german sports car to a fire breathing Japanese rally bread motor, it will come as a bit of a shock....

In case you are interested he went for an Audi A4 S-line 1.8t quattro !?!?

Enjoy your car anyway.

wrxsc00by

ive sat in 1 and you definitely get a memorable drive every time - im gonna own one one day (soon i hope n pray)! they look stunning - makes heads turn at breakneck speed everytime. ive heard the performance is better than an E36 M3 evo?!?! cant confirm it personally... but it is a drivers car. and we r all drivers rnt we...? hehehe

Andy M3

They are better than the evo with there performance, i used upset a chap at my BMW meet when i had my M3. He couldn't loose me no matter how hard he tried, and i had a E30 M3 - 200hp.

Pants On Fire

Later models come with the S54 engine, still a 3.2 straight 6 but with 342 Bhp, a must if you can find one as they dont suffer the Vanos unit issues of the earlier models.

Must have a BMW warranty, a Vanos unit will set you back a cool £1500 incl labour.

There are some mega spec cars out there, nice to have a sun roof, HK choons all add to excellent residuals, there's hardly a car out there for less than £20k.

Ralph Wiggum

yeah on his 'head to head' dvd, he tested a m coupe vs evo 6 vs 22b vs gtv off the line the 22b had it but by end, the m3 was surging forward, can't comment on the drivers involved, jezza has a habit of rigging things though imo so unless i drove the 22b or m coupe i cant coupe, on paper the m coupe should win though with sheer capacity.

Brendan Hughes

Neither points are what I've heard. Main difference is you get DSC, a magic button that might save you an insurance claim in the wet.

churchwa

The S54 version has 325 bhp, they could not fit the m3's headers in. thats a 4bhp, jump, but when dynoed most of the S50's came in at about 300 becasue of the throtle cable. the S54 is drive (fly) by wire and has DSC. (A life saver)

i know, i have one

I have also had an 03 STI PPP, M Coupe is less flattering but a better all around car.

Unless you want 3 people in it

Pants On Fire

Vanos unit and M engine and you've not heard.

I suggest you get over to http://www.bm3w.com

Brendan Hughes

No, I heard that it was not 340+bhp but 325bhp, and I heard that there were still Vanos risks with the post-2001 model. From a number of searches on that very site.

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

On the continent did they do smaller engined versions of the Coupe, i.e. like a non M power 2 or 3 litre ?

Dieseldog

I had an S54 engined M Coupe (325bhp). The engine was lovely but the chassis I never got completely comfortable with - it would pitch and roll 'funny' (sorry, I ain't no Senna) in and out of corners. A lot less sorted than my old Bilsteined up 911, which was a good 20 years older. Still love 'em though.

Brendan Hughes

J4cko, they did a 2.8, and I think something smaller.

sonu

The standard //M suspension does cause the car to pitch and roll. I think it was designed for the US market

I you do get an //M, upgrade the suspension, eg, Schnitzer...

///M Breadvan

I am a S50 owner and they are fantastic to drive. Either love them or hate them but i would not swap for the world.

Vanos is an issue but very over hyped. Apart from vanos, engine is bullet proof. Took me about a year to find one as i was very specific about colour/spec. (black paint, orange leather, ACS sports suspension, <40K Miles, enthuisat owner) I probabaly travelled in excess of 2000 miles whilst looking for one.

The best thing for me is that no-one knows what it is. even BMW many BMW fans dont know let alone actually seen on on the road. I have had mile about a year and have only seen 2 others since so very rare and a bit leftfield.