Just watched the first show and did not stop smiling from the point where Hammond and May joined Clarkson on the drive to the new set.
As the owner of a M3

 

IT issues so I continue
As the owner of a M3 I do not agree with the M2 review but that is what the show is about.It is a bit like this forum in that opinionated and informed people have a debate.
I for one am pleased they are back

 

OMG, I was waiting for someone to say something)))Finally boys are back.

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I might well be a soppy old git but that chemistry just makes me glad to be a bloke

 

They had 21 season on Netflix , so I was watching it again and again and again...waiting for November 18th...
Actually, I have wasted 45min of my life watching one of the newer episode...Original BBC became a poor copy of itself...What a shame...

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I'll admit I shed a tear during the intro.

It was good, a little uneven in a few spots as they tune it but great nonetheless.

Keep in mind a lot of the opinions are skewed for Drama. Clarkson has called the e46M3 SMG transmission the worst thing ever, then called the SMG transmission in the e46M3csl the best ever. They are identical, the only difference is one is a little lighter and has 15 more HP.

 

Hi all,

Maybe it just me but i found the bit with the stars to be really bad and doing it 3 times only made it worse, then the skit they did about the RAF being the best Air Force was really boring IMHO and the episode would of been better without it and the stars bit altogether. The new track and test of the car also didn't really hit the spot either for me and I found myself feeling it was all just a little to forced and phony in general.

That was all the bad bits for me but as always there were some great cars and some great bits of banter between the presenters but it didn't blow me away or feel much better than old Top Gear and it hasn't left me wound up with anticipation for the next episode, of course this is just MO and your opinions may well differ.

Marc

 

I liked it; just a re-branded Top Gear in a tent really.

 

are they back? what channel or network?

 

Amazon Prime is where you can see them...The old BBC TopGear budget per episode was £500.000...The Grand Tour has a budget of £4.5Mil per episode!!

 

Also glad to see them back - just watched some of it, including the M2 review since I've had 2017 on order for the last month or so...no delivery date yet, so hoping for the spring.

Impossible to get a test drive, but luckily someone who attends the same tennis club that we do has one, so he let us take it for a spin. It was an auto, but still a lot of fun. I've ordered the 6-speed of course, as it's just way more fun. Points well taken about it only having 2 modes - my wife's 335 M-Sport has something like 4 or maybe 5 modes you can select for driving, which seems like a bit much. I tend to be drawn to cars that are a bit simpler - my last M car was the Z4M, which the Hamster once described as "Fred Flintstone's car." Not sure I would go that far, but so many cars have the nanny technology up the wazoo, it's nice to get back to something that requires some basic driving skills.

Haven't driven the current M3, but did take an M4 out last summer when we were considering what to buy (also drove a couple of the F-Type Jags, which are very nice). But these are big cars. When my wife bought her 335 last summer, I checked the dimensions and it was as large or larger in most respects than my first 5 series was...

Cheers, Al

 

With both our sons having left home our cars made little sense anymore so I am getting rid of our Mercedes ML used for load lugging and the M3 and have been having fun testing all sorts of cars ranging from a Range Rover SVR sport (542 bhp of utter madness) to the Jaguar XFR sportbrake.
I do like BMW though so was meandering through the 5 series options but was persuaded to try a 3 series Touring and not only that but a diesel to boot.
The car in question is the touring 335d xdrive M sport and I was so impressed I have bought one .Superb performance,mpg figures out of this world (well at least for me with my car history) . I never thought I would say this I love the 8 speed auto box and can have fun with the paddles when I want and the adaptive suspension option just tightens the road manners up. In day to day driving conditions it does everything I want and I have spent an inordinate amount of time driving the test car and my M3 back to back to make sure I am making the right decision and whilst the M3 rear drive sensation is lost I am more than happy to have gained the surefootedness of this car in the wet (I live in the north of England and it rains a lot)
My nephew has a M135 and that is incredible fun and reminds me of a Peugeot 205 GTI (not sure these ever got shipped to the states) which I still have fond memories off
The M2 will be incredible fun and I am sure you will love it and agree with you that the amount of drivers aids is getting bewildering.When I take delivery of this car they have booked me in for a 3 hour handover to brief me on its self parking,drivers modes,heads up displays,Hi FI ,Sat Nav et al

Cheers Phil

 

I've got an e46m3 that I love the e90 and current M3 are not improvements or to heavy respectively. My Dad has a current 535d with the 8 speed and that thing is sublime. Smooth effortless power in a 5 and under some situations will pull on my M3. Alas the options in the US for diesel and touring are limited. If they offered a 335d touring with rwd I'd be first in line. Heck even a non xdrive touring 328 I'd be interested in ditching the M.

 

Hmm that's not what is generally accepted on the M3 forums. Additionally ive driven a full CSL replica complete with full software and I did not notice the difference. I know mine and every smgii I've driven does rev match and I've got track telemetry to back that up.

That being said 2 things could be at play. One what setting was the smgii in? 1 is vastly different then 6. 6 at wot is fast and feels like a sledge hammer hitting the back of the seat. 1 is a medium speed shift compared to a manual shift. The second thing at play is the smgii system does learn driving habits and I've actually dialed out the rev match kind of by accident. I was working on 2 foot braking and manually blipping during a track day. I noticed on the drive home the car was no longer rev matching near as well. I forced a learning reset and the rev match came back. My assumption was the car learned my manual rev matching and dialed out some of the automated system. All e46m3(non CSL for sure) smgii systems are identical from a hardware and software standpoint. Only smgii was available in that M3. Yes a non CSL can be converted to a manual very easily as the gearboxes are identical the CSL due to software in the engine mapping Maf/alpha n cannot be converted easily to a manual unless you want to change to new engine management which opens a whole host of issues and relegates the car to track only as everything in that car is tied to engine management.

Smgiii in the e60m5/6 seems smoother and more Idiot proof but could get violent under wot.

I've also actually owned a rare smgi car for a bit. That system was a tad wonkey and had some big issues that where mostly dialed out by smgii in the e46m3(cold start bucking) Afaik smgi was a rare option on later e36 non m cars and some early 1st gen z4's.

 

Don't take him too literally. All the 1 and 2 series cars will have 3 or 4 modes from the rocker switch he indicated, Comfort, Sport and Sport Plus (same as Sport but with a less intrusive DSC) and possibly or possibly not Eco-Pro mode which is present on every other 2 series inc the M235i. Changing modes will alter various things like firming up the steering and dampers (if variable dampers are fitted) and altering with the drive by wire throttle response curve and exhaust noise flap. Several of these options can be dialled in or out independantly via the i-drive controller so I am afraid to suggest there are 2 modes only is basically wrong. Oh and be aware that while you will doubtless want to leave it in Sport, it will default back to Comfort every time you switch the engine off. I have a 125d hatch (5 door version of 2 series) and I love it, but I happily have a 911 for the fun stuff!

 

I've driven 02 cars the first with smg as well as mine an oct 03 build date 04 model year. I've been a member of the m3forums for almost a decade with 6k posts I've never once heard of an smg software change in the e46m. There is some confusion out there due to some BMW press material that makes it look like early e46m3's had smgi and not smgii that might be where that info comes from.

There are 2 shops in the US that do the conversion to manual. It retains the gear box but yes a few parts are added as well as removal of an indent.

 

I was not a massive fan of the thought of x drive before I drove it and having previously owned Audi quattro 4 and 6 models which whilst competent did not compare with rear wheel drive cars. I think the x drive split provides a reasonable compromise .Like you though I would love to drive a pure rwd 335 d as the engine is stunning and I never thought I would say that about a diesel engine.
I have to say though you are not going to get better than your e46 which to my mind is one of the best cars ever produced which at the time I rejected in favour of Audi RS 6 estate (I had an 11 and 5 year old sons at the time and needed space)
In my humble opinion never ever sell it as it is an icon and will in time pay you back in spades