Well.. The starter of this thread is from USC so I forgive him. M3 > Z. All aspects. Like someone else said, stop mag racing. Also the Z seems to have gained the Freshmen TWO HUNDRED. I think it weighs a lot closer to the M3 than it did back in 03, and the HP increase is minimal. Thanks for NOTHING Nissan.

 

Yea the weight thing isn't going in a better direction...fortunately technology seems to be doing so, which is why we will never see lighter cars like we did back in the day. But atleast we are doing better than american cars in the 70's! Now those were heavy.

 

Haha, I've noticed that too, .

 

As a ex E46 owner i can say the 350Z is a POS against the E46, don`t even try to compare it whit the M3, why?

1) the 350Z interior
2) the seat position
3) the blind spots in the rear view mirror
4) The transmission feel (both stick and auto)

Don`t get me wrong, but the E46s are great cars and yes I love my fairladyZ

 

The e46 M3 is COMPLETELY overrated, from it's looks to it's performance. I've run against two e46 M3s. The first one backing out twice at about 70mph, and the second just starting to pull away from me at 100mph. For $60k IMHO it is a rip-off.

So, in conclusion, given I am a former M3 owner, I am thoroughly disappointed with the M3. Perhaps the e90 version will be my next car. Highly doubtful though, the price will be absurd I am sure.

As was stated earlier, drop a few bucks into the VQ and you have a M3 killer. Not to mention better looks.

 

Erp,

I think the M3 is a faster car generally than my Z. I've driven a few and they haul butt, raced a few and they didn't destroy me, but i could see them pulling a lot harder which is readily apparent when you're bumper to bumper.

The Best Motoring video you can hear the guy driving the m3 saying the car has the wrong tires for the condition. The M3 is a bit heavier than the Z. I have to agree with a previous post. The S2k should have won the race if the Skyline camera car wasn't blocking.

I really like the tightness of the m3 drive. I just can't "feel" as much with my Z. Its hard to describe exactly but I guess I'm talking about crispness, feedback, a sense of the road if you will. Bleh, I'm talking abstracts here.

Plus I hate the VDC on our cars. Absolutely hate it. HATE IT. I know you can flick it off with a switch and then part of it comes back on when you hit the brakes the first time and the only way to shut it off for real is by pulling the ABS fuse. it doesn't feel natural and has screwed me up on plenty of occasions.

My nickels, as worthless as they are...

 

Its an ad campaign, any company has the freedom to come up with any ad slogan they want. That slogan hit the spot for you, but not me. I have respect for BMWs, but I dont worship them like some people here do and dont think they are the ultimate in my book. I think they are hyped. Current BMWs are just plain ugly, all of them, 6 included.

Why not M3:
1) Based on the 3 series platform, stiffened and widened body/frame, but still a 3. So no real substance there.
2) Not a real sports car
3) Talk about reliability, Horrendous reliability of the M engines.

Why Z:
1) Interior: Minimalist and very functional, no leather or wood trim needed. I have ridden in a 550 Maranello, interior is no way the best compared to the cars of its time. I have sat inside Diablo & Murcielago, again minimalist and functional.
2) Seat position: I love it, again its subjective, so no real merit to that con there IMO.
3) Blind Spot: Any sports car suffers from severe blind spots, so it is assumed when you buy a sports car, you dont have the best visibility in the rear. Take any from Viper to Enzo to Mclaren F1. Or even the BMW Z8 for that matter.
3) Transmission: I agree no the swiftest, but mine is still like butter, I have treated it very well during the break in period.

+1.

For the last lap, there was no Skyline on the track, S2K was still beat by M3 and Z.

 

And the 350z is based on a heavy global chassis. Take a G35/FX35 chassis, chop it, and shorten the wheelbase. Where's the substance in that?

I will say that the seats and transmission is where I think the 350z is better than the M3. The seats grips you like a glove and the transmission has a nice bolt-action like movement, not as vague as the M3. However, I will disagree about seating position in the 350z mostly because of the "styled" high belt-line.

///Michael.

 

spcemn_spiff, you are correct on the reliabilty of BMW. The BMW reliabilty has been slipping for many years. Three major Japanese makers (Honda, Toyota, forgot the third one) are rated higher in reliabilty then BMW. It's sad really, BMW used to be one of the top ranked when it came to reliability, Now they are close to the bottom.

But, all these people living the ad campaign dream of "the ultimate driving machines" are so brainwashed for so many years that they will over-look the real present day situation.

 

I wouldn't go that far to say that. BMW is ranked significantly higher than Nissan in J.D. Power's 3-year Vehicle Dependability Study (VDS) in addition to being ranked significantly higher in the 90-day Initial Quality Study (IQS).

When I jumped ship, I didn't expect the M3 to be as reliable as a Nissan. I still don't, but my opinion on BMW reliability improves every day.

///Michael.

 

dollar for dollar, i think they're both great cars and very competitive in what you get for your money.

 

What Best Motoring Video were you watching? I was watching the one with the Porsche Boxster vs. M3 vs. S2k vs 350z. The skyline was the camera car.

I think it was Best motoring volume 6. If I remember correctly the camera car blocked all the way until the end where it passed the Z. The finish was 350z, S2k, M3, Porsche Boxster (way behind).

The skyline effectively blocked the s2k the whole way.

D/L the torrent here.

http://www.racingflix.com/forum/foru...p?TID=383&PN=1

 

I agree, having the skyline as a camera car was a cool idea, but it made it an unfair race giving the advantage to the Z until the final lap.

 

The M3 is just a modified 330i from the factory. Same thing with Evo's and STi's. The Z is just a normal car nissan sells. I would like to see how a M3 would stack up against a Nismo 350Z if Nissan sold them from the showroom floor. It would go for at least 50K and then you can compare them.

 

The Z is a modifed G sedan.

 

There is a difference between sharing chassis and sharing platform. Z shares platform not chassis.

3 shares chassis with 3 sedan/coupe and platform with 1 series and X3. And X5 shares the same car based platform from 5. So BMW is not immune to sharing platforms. The way I see M3 is glorified 3 coupe. Because its glorified they can price it $20-25K higher than the 3 and people will buy it.
In the same price range as M3, a Corvette will outperform M3 in accleration and handling on road track and is based on new platform that it doesnt share.
So how would I described M3, somewhat hyped but decently performing 3 series.

 

Eh.. no its not. The 03-04 G sedan is a modified Maxima... the new ones have the same Z engines though. But yeah they share the same platform but suspension, chassis, and drivetrain are all different.

 

BTW the Z came out 1st before the G sedan and coupe.

 

The one I am watching was the Tsukuba Battle with the same cars you mentioned. Boxster came last.

I have a copy of it on my desktop from here when the link was working. https://my350z.com/forum/2003-2009-nissan-350z/41406-great-video-z-vs-s2k-m3-boxster.html

The last lap was so that all the cars would compete without the Skyline.

 

G does not share platform with Maxima. G & Z share FR-L/FM: This is Front-engine, Rear-drive, Large and Front Mid-ship.

FF-L: "Front-engine, Front-drive, Large." The vehicles it encompasses are Altima, Maxima, Murano, Quest Presage, and Teana.