my dad has a 530 and the instant powe is amazing. The overall refinement cant be touched, and its damn quick. Thats just German Engineering i guess.

 

The M3 is 100-150 lbs. less, depending on Z model. And the M3 motor is underrated and the Z overrated. Obviously, 232 hp at the crank ain't 287 at the flywheel.

 

Stock E46 M3 dynos at ~280 (search www.roadfly.org) with advertised 333 at the crank. ~15% drivetrain loss. I believe stock Z dynos show ~15% drivetrain loss as well. I don't think Germans underrate and Japanese overrate. More likely the BMWs have a better torque curve and better gearing for acceleration.

 

Thats funny if you check the recalls bmw has you would think KIA is better. They have more engine recalls......People around here complain of all the problems there bmw's have...I dont know though?

My old man test drove a few BMW's and wasnt impressed with the power at all. But he didnt test drive the M3 though. The guy down the street with a 540 with M-power parts says his has great power.

 

I raced an E36 on the highway and whooped his ***... It was a 4-door though, so i don't know how much slower they are, but he lost pretty bad, enough for him to keep a 15 car "shame" distance behind me for about 5 miles until he had to get of the highway...

 

dyno-ing bmw's r extremely hard.. it is possible

i remember i read somewhere here that some guy dynoed thei 471 crank hp at around 340 at the wheels

but one of the bimmer guyz went their with their huge fan and pumped 400+ whp...

that waz pretty funny to read when i first saw it

 

Here one question I've always wanted to know the answer to. Why would they have a Bimmer in Europe 320hp, and when over heere 247 hp? Why do we get screwed? Is it our emissions standards?