Drove my first M3 on track at PDC. Best car I've ever driven.

Not that any of you who own an M3 need validation from an X5 owner like myself, but the M3 is the best car I have ever driven, and that includes porsches, M5s, X5M and Audi S cars. I can't stop thinking about how amazing it was.

It helps that it was the competition package, DCT and I had Donnie, one of the PDC instructors, in my passenger seat coaching me, but the M3 was the best handling, most impressive and most fun car I have ever driven.

As a clutch/manual purist I thought I would hate the DCT, but putting it in full manual mode and using the stick shifter to up / downshift into and out of corners was unreal. The car would rev-match my downshifts perfectly and emit a short grunting sound (like a formula one car slowing down into a tight corner) every time I downshifted. The sound was intoxicating.

Anyway, after some track time in an M3 competition package, it is clear that you M3 owners are some of the luckiest people in the world to get to drive one on a daily basis. Hopefully I will be able to join your ranks some day.

Congrats to you all. Awesome car. 8000+ RPMs? Incredible. And if you ever get depressed about something in your life, remember that you have one of the most kick-a$$ cars ever; just go drive it!

Originally Posted by plegard

.....

Congrats to you all. [Amazing] car. 8000+ RPMs? Incredible. And if you ever get depressed about something in your life, remember that you have one of the most kick-a$$ cars ever; just go drive it!

+1000

(...cue organist...)

Amazing M, how sweet the sound,
That saved a guy like me....
I once was SLOW but now am FAST,
Was blind, but now M3!

T'was Launch-Control that taught me fear.
The “M” button relieved.
The precious checker’d flag appeared
the hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, points and fines..
with driving school to come.
T'was Grace that brought me safe thus far...
and Grace will lead me home.

So I will only race on tracks
I’ve learned my lessons well.
On Roads you risk the other guys---
So you’ll go straight to hell.

Amazing M, how sweet the sound,
That saved a guy like me....
I once was SLOW but now am FAST,
Was blind, but now M3!

Originally Posted by plegard

And if you ever get depressed about something in your life, remember that you have one of the most kick-a$$ cars ever; just go drive it!

funny - when i'm playing golf and am disappointingly putting together a string of bogeys, i always seem to be able to shake it off when i think about the ride home

Originally Posted by Capobranco

+1000

(...cue organist...)

Amazing M, how sweet the sound,
That saved a guy like me....
I once was SLOW but now am FAST,
Was blind, but now M3!

T'was Launch-Control that taught me fear.
The “M” button relieved.
The precious checker’d flag appeared
the hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, points and fines..
with driving school to come.
T'was Grace that brought me safe thus far...
and Grace will lead me home.

So I will only race on tracks
I’ve learned my lessons well.
On Roads you risk the other guys---
So you’ll go straight to hell.

Amazing M, how sweet the sound,
That saved a guy like me....
I once was SLOW but now am FAST,
Was blind, but now M3!

That is AWESOME!!!

the PCD was the reason why i am making the quasi-irrational decision to own two cars in the city. my wife got the 2 day m school for me and as soon as we left she said "you're going to want one now". i shrugged her off for about 2 weeks. in truth, i have wanted an m3 since i started reading motor trend at age 12. i am 3 friday's away from delivery back at the PCD. 21 short days...... time is draggggggggging

God I wish I could track my car somewhere in Vegas.

Originally Posted by highyo

the PCD was the reason why i am making the quasi-irrational decision to own two cars in the city

Not needing a car for work (or to get to a weekend place), I've frequently (but not always) made the COMPLETELY irrational decision to own even ONE car in the city. For the 25 or so days a year I drive mine, it would be much cheaper to join one of the various exotic motor clubs and rent something really cool (and different) each time than to garage, pay for and insure my M3. (For you non-Manhattanites, in much of this borough "to garage a car" is defined as "to spend $650/month.")

The problem with that philosophy, though, is that being the cheap bastard that I am, I'd usually instead use public transportation to get where I needed to go, and whenever I absolutely HAD to rent a car I could never get myself to spend $300 to rent something really cool when I could get, say, a Camry for $80. (Again, for you non-New Yorkers, yes, believe it or not it really does cost $80 to rent a Camry here.) [As an aside, for those of you who hate on Wall Street types-- for good reason, in many cases-- you should definitely adjust the "egregiousness" of the pay scale by accounting for the cost of living here, although admittedly that argument is somewhat circular because that egregiousness also helps CREATE this cost of living.]

So anyway, I bit the bullet and got the M3 because otherwise I'd be a car nut who read ten car magazines a month but never got to drive anything cool. (And that's the same reason I got the WRX before the M3, and the older M3 before the WRX, and the 911 before the older M3, etc., etc., etc. back to the early 1980s.)

So go ahead and make your "quasi-irrational decision"... What the hell, you only live once!

well i know one thing is for sure, there is NO way i pay 650 a month to garage my cars. i think 650 will be both of them. still the point is, it's damn expensive to keep a car in the city. but this is all prefunded and if i don't make it in this world/cit, the back breaker wont be the 1500 or so i spend on this car for the next 3 years (including payment, insurance, garage, gas). and we all know the story, last NA v8, likely last NA engine on any M car ever. it's now or never.

also those exotic car clubs are cool. but i only want one car. that's mine.

Originally Posted by highyo

well i know one thing is for sure, there is NO way i pay 650 a month to garage my cars. i think 650 will be both of them.

Where is there a garage (not outdoor lot) in Manhattan south of 96th Street for $325/month including tax? I know I could get it down to $450 if I went a number of blocks away, but I haven't seen anything cheaper in years.

Originally Posted by logicalthought

Where is there a garage (not outdoor lot) in Manhattan south of 96th Street for $325/month including tax? I know I could get it down to $450 if I went a number of blocks away, but I haven't seen anything cheaper in years.

my lot is is 350 and that doesnt include the discount i get for taxes on monthly parking. icon on 20th btwn 5th and 6th. maybe i got a sweetheart deal? i don't know.

best thing about parking monthly at icon is that you get their card that gives you 50% off every one of their lots. makes it cheaper than taking cabs. best deal in the city

Originally Posted by highyo

my lot is is 350 and that doesnt include the discount i get for taxes on monthly parking. icon on 20th btwn 5th and 6th. maybe i got a sweetheart deal? i don't know. best thing about parking monthly at icon is that you get their card that gives you 50% off every one of their lots. makes it cheaper than taking cabs. best deal in the city

Wow, that is a GREAT deal. I'm on Madison in the 80s, but we may be moving over to 2nd Avenue in the 70s, where I found one for $450.

Originally Posted by logicalthought

Wow, that is a GREAT deal. I'm on Madison in the 80s, but we may be moving over to 2nd Avenue in the 70s, where I found one for $450.

i think the UES is the worst for parking. my buddy lives up there and i think pays 500+. BUT it's a self park. i have to unfortunately diaper the car up considerably before handing it off to these guys. it's like demolition derby in some places. they know now to keep mine downstairs now which is a big relief.

ahh the simple pleasures of city living

Originally Posted by highyo

i think the UES is the worst for parking. my buddy lives up there and i think pays 500+. BUT it's a self park. i have to unfortunately diaper the car up considerably before handing it off to these guys. it's like demolition derby in some places. they know now to keep mine downstairs now which is a big relief.

Yes, the guys in my garage keep mine in a corner all the way in the back (because it's used so infrequently), and have kept it scratch-less for the year that I've had it.

Thanks for the tip on Icon; I just bookmarked their web site and will give them a call.

you just have to be a monthly guy there. it's a great deal. i have stopped taking cabs on the weekends bc a night out with the car costs $12 bucks now. that't way cheaper than cabs.

Originally Posted by highyo

i have stopped taking cabs on the weekends bc a night out with the car costs $12 bucks now. that't way cheaper than cabs.

Lol, I take cabs for FREE on weekends. When I go out with my wife I tell her I want to take the subway and she says "We're taking a cab even if *I* have to pay for it!"

Originally Posted by logicalthought

Lol, I take cabs for FREE on weekends. When I go out with my wife I tell her I want to take the subway and she says "We're taking a cab even if *I* have to pay for it!"

haha in my house it's "one team one dream" so her money is mine and vice versa!