I think there is some confusion about which M3 we are talking about. The person above said their friend had an E46 M3 that was a 99. In 99, the car only had 240hp and had very similiar numbers to the Z... I can definitely believe the Z would beat those cars. The new ones (2003 and beyond, or it may be 2002) have 330hp and they are definitely much faster than the Z (car to car, now drivers obviously make a difference).

The 330 is quite quick and it does it through great gearing. From a stop, they are tough, but try them from 40-90 and you'll kill it. Same with the new Z4 3.0. From a stop they are 5.5 to 60, but if you look at the acceleration times, the Z is MUCH faster 40-80, etc. I have also proven this during a race with a new Z4... we began at 40 and gunned it... I pulled away steadily...

 

I agree. The E46 M3 is a half second+ faster than the Z to 60. You would have to be a much better driver than your competition to compensate for that performance gap.

The E36 M3, produced from 95-99 or 00, is a pretty much equal match for the Z so it would come down to driving.

 

Last time I went to the track on my run where I recorded a 2.047 60' I did 0-60 in 5.13 seconds and I have just an Intake.. My friend works in the dragway computer booth thing and I have him run a speed vs time report of my runs.. so Z's are capable of better then 5.5 0-60 runs

 

That's an impressive time, but it also seems odd to expect that out of any other Z. All the major magazines couldn't beat 5.4 seconds if I remember correctly and most of the time professional drivers are in the cars beating them to death.

 

That was my best 0-60, I think it was so low due to my 60 foot. The other reports that day showed from 5.28-5.45 (5 runs total) My 5.28 0-60 was with a 2.13 60'

 

I raced a 330i the other day and beat him pretty good, I am guessing I had him by nearly 4 car lengths by the time I got to 85 mph and shut down. We raced from a dead stop on a two lane road and I had suicide lane. But those cars are pretty quick for what they are. His E46 was in having surgery and that was his loaner. But his M3 will pull my 350 not quite as hard as I pulled the 350 but pretty dang hard!!!