'03 Cobra vs '02 M3: Props to the M3 even though driver was COCKY

[SoCalSnake]

Drivin' back from my GF's house...

Ran into a white '02 BMW M3. Flew by me while I was in the slow lane. German plates under his Ca plates. Noone on the freeway. Caught up to him, doing about 70. He goes, gets a decent three car jump...stupid of me b/c I was in 5th then downshifted to 4th...I know, I know, I should've done 5th to 3rd, but I wasn't thinking. I was slowly gaining on him and caught him at about 130. We shut down around 158 and I had about a bumper lead on him. Took the same exit.

To be fair, he had three passengers in the car, total of 4 in the car. Talked to him at the stop light. Asked me why I couldn't catch him with 4 people in the car, then I asked if I was stock. Told him I had CAI and cat back...then he got really cocky and said, "wait till I run you with no passengers." Said he wants to run me heads up on the fwy implying that he would stomp my *ss. Didn't get any info on his car though.

I give the M3 respect, but too bad the driver fit typical snob mentality. No respect for him.

Is this typical of a stock M3...I admittedly didn't shift correctly and was playing catch up until 130.

Is he modded or are stock M3s even with 4 people that fast?

Either way...its chip and pulley time!

 

[Booyah]

You had a bowl of fugtardio's and messed up so of course he is going to be cocky being that you didn't reel him in like you should have.

 

[Blades]

They are cool cars. A jack of all trades, master of none, so to speak. But that isn't a bad thing! Unfortunately I find that M's (rather than AMGs or Audi "S") tend to have bitches like that driving them.

Occasionally they are cool. My neighbor with a M3 Vert asked to trade cars for the day (just jokin I hope) and always gives a thumbs up.. Not to mention pretty much all of bimmerforums are cool guys as well.

Don't mind the yuppies, they are here for our amusement. Next time just scam him for a grand. Be like "wanna race my toliet base mustang snake edition?". It'll take some serious driver error for you to lose your money.

 

[YesterdayAgain]

Stock M3's are pretty damn fast to begin with. I think they are almost if not just as fast as the M5's. I have heard of 0-60 times for the M3 being as low as mid 4's, althought I would think you should have been able to pull away from him as long as you guys raced. Still a sweet car none the less...and a kill is a kill, whether it's by a bumper or 20 car lengths.

 

[Pyro]

M3's are very nice cars and are well built....expensive, but most likely worth the price for such an all-around car. If I had the $$ AND if it had a bit more hp, I would have opted for one. Most Bimmer owners are snobs but interestingly enough, the folks on Bimmerforums.com are real cool and actually respect the 03/04 Cobras and give them props all the time. Cool guys overall and a great source of info kinda like this forum.

 

[sticky]

M3's are the best thing in the world, what did you expect?

 

[L3thal 324]

really nice cars. guy down the street from me has a white one. too bad those motors eat themselves alive. or so i hear from the M3 owners i have talked to.

 

[sticky]

Originally posted by 03silversnake
really nice cars. guy down the street from me has a white one. too bad those motors eat themselves alive. or so i hear from the M3 owners i have talked to.

There was just a bad production run in november of 01. The motor received new internals since then, mine is an 02, no problems. I see redline several times everyday.

 

[Pyro]

Originally posted by sticky2
I see redline several times everyday.

That's what we like to hear...regardless of the brand!!:thumbsup: A true auto enthusiast!!

 

[M-Phibian]

Sorry to hear the guy was a snob, bro. I love *all* performance cars, and I have a lot of respect for the '03 Cobra. Especially since I got beat by one when I was stock Anyway, to answer your question...a very good driver in a stock M3 can run high 12's, but most will run low 13's. On the top end, they get up and move quite well. I doubt this guy was stock, since even if he had only one person in the car you should have been able to pull on him regardless of speed. I'm thinking he may have had a CAI and exhaust, but I'm not sure how much of an exhaust (ie., just a muffler, or a mid-pipe, headers and S-pipe). Regardless, for future reference, you won't see many modded E46 M3's on the road at all (the ones built 2001 and newer). Modding them is *extremely* expensive and you get minimal gains. The E36 M3's however (pre 2000) are often modded and can be very quick if they were done right. Not too many will run faster than mid 13's though, but don't try them in the twisties (all M3's for that matter handle far better than they go in a straight line). Anyway, please don't assume we're all bad. Only a select few. Later!
:thumbsup:

 

[SoCalSnake]

No bad feelings toward the M3 or M3 owners. Actually, I think the car is quick, beautiful, refined car. It was just this one owner that rubbed me the wrong way...but it wasn't really a big dea. 'cause we had a good run!

 

[rmvurhdfmurass]

M, how do you like the SMG? My brother is looking at M3's and he's kinda torn... to clutch or not to clutch.... I know the shift time for the latest version of the SMG is something sick... but there's no clutch!

Lemme know

tnks

 

[03DOHC]

Originally posted by M-Phibian
...... Not too many will run faster than mid 13's though, but don't try them in the twisties (all M3's for that matter handle far better than they go in a straight line).....

I hear the ricers say this about American cars all the time. hmmm.:bored: I guess I should forget about turning.

 

[Dave07997S]

As you see by my name I am a owner of a E46 M3 Coupe which I actually just sold (have a new 04 M3 ordered that will be here in late Nov. or early Dec.). and I am a lover of Mustang Cobras as well. In fact I have owned the following SVT's: A 93, 95 and a 98 Cobra. When I sold my M3 I went to go look at a 03 Cobra as Ford just recently had that special on them and it deserved a look. I thought the car was a beast...but..after coming out of a M3 and to go back into a Cobra I really thought it was a step backward, well actually 2 steps backwards. Don't get me wrong for the money they are the best buck on the planet and the aftermarket makes them just that much stronger. Ford just took there sweet ass time in coming out with the new Mustang that it won't be until 06 until we get the new Cobra. When my 04 M3 lease is up I will definitly consider a new Mustang Cobra as the pics I have seen so far are just awesome. The current Cobra really is getting long in the tooth. Particularly the interior, the outside of the car is baaadd looking-just mean. They really have to get it out of the Dearborn assembly plant into a more modern plant so the build quality will improve which it will be done when the new Mustang comes out and get off the Fox chassis. As far as a speed contest is concerned the M3 is very quick upto a 100 mph then after that the Cobra will just scream away. My M3 bone stock with only 3500 miles on her ran a [email protected] with a 2/0 60 ft. time. I have seen 03 Cobras run this time with better MPH and a worse 60 ft. time. The secret to the M3 is the whole package. M3's are cleaning the clocks of the Corvette, 911's, Acura NSX's in the World Challenge series. They are doing it with a worse power to weight ratio, but its about balance. They handle awesome out of the box and a few suspension mods and you have a car that is outrageous on the track. There are a few companies that are starting to release some hard parts for the S54 E46 M3 that can get the hp up to the 360+ range but prepared to pay in the neighborhood of 5-7K for Euro headers and cats, Schrick Cams, and a good exhaust system and not to mention ECU tuning as under WOT they act like a Speed Density system even though they have a MAF sensor.

The late 10/01-early Jan/02 builds had some issues with contaminated oil pumps that were causing oil starvation on the main bearings and really was narrowed down to the 11/01 build with the bulk of the problem. These were model year 02 cars, as the 01 cars such as my previous ride which was built in 3/01 were actually quite stout. BMW stepped up to the plate by recalling the 11/01 build cars and gave MY 01-03 cars a 6yr/100K mile warranty on the engine if it was a oil related failure.

For those of you who think the M3 is all refined guess again, they are tempermental in the morning with cold starts as the sputter along and the ride was worse than my 98 Cobra with Steeda sport springs and Koni D/A shocks However I never drove a car you felt more connected to the road including a few Porsche 911's I have driven in the past as well. The car feels you are one with it. Anyway, just my .02..Dave.

 

[SonicVenum]

3rd gear would've been a WHOLE different story. No question. No smug comments.

Bimmer owners who have posted on this thread: :thumbsup:

 

[sticky]

Originally posted by rmvurhdfmurass
M, how do you like the SMG? My brother is looking at M3's and he's kinda torn... to clutch or not to clutch.... I know the shift time for the latest version of the SMG is something sick... but there's no clutch!

Lemme know

tnks

Personally I love the SMG, perfect compromise. It is a disadvantage on the strip, but who buys an m3 to drag race? On the road course it is the best tranny you can have, and it shifts faster and harder than the manual.

 

[tvguy]

Heck, that BMW driver had no clue of your shift "miscue". He's got 4 people in his car and he has to wait for you to catch up and finally pass. Plus, I'm sure he was being cheered on by his passengers. Of course he wants to race you with no one else in the car. I would too if I were him with that race as an example. Just remember, your car can only take you so far. At some point it becomes driver vs. driver. A good driver in a late model M3 can beat a weak driver in an 03 Cobra. They are close enough for the driver to make difference. I love the newer M3's, but I have to ask, who thought of that bugly green/yellowish color they have? Saw one today and it made me sick!! Hopefully you'll meet him again when things are more "even" for both of you.
pacotaco

 

[SoCalSnake]

This forum is addictive because all (o.k. most...) of the members and visitors are informative, knowledgable, respectful, cool, and most of important of all...love fast cars. Dave01M3, thanks for all the info. I hope all the M3 owner's I meet on the street are as cool as you guys!

 

[Dave07997S]

This forum is addictive because all (o.k. most...) of the members and visitors are informative, knowledgable, respectful, cool, and most of important of all...love fast cars. Dave01M3, thanks for all the info. I hope all the M3 owner's I meet on the street are as cool as you guys!

Kudos to you as well man, there are definitly snobs in the BMW camp, but there are those in the camp that love all cars regardless who makes them. I defend the Cobra to the hilt on a few of the BMW websites. Dave.

 

[DD2000GT]

We have to get real here! I have ran more than a few M3's in my car on the highway, and it is no competition. Not being smug - just stating true life facts. From 50 to 100 you should have so many cars on a M3 that they would give up. The right gear makes all the difference. M3's are damn nice cars - I will give them their due, but they have 333 HP and weigh 3,400 lbs. vs. our cars at an underrated 390 HP and 3,600 lbs. - and the aerodynamics don't give any advantage to either car here. Next time make sure you hit the right gear and take all chances of smack talk away. :thumbsup: