I don’t really post much around here, honestly this forum has been such a great resource for me in selecting my G80, I’ve really enjoyed reading through some of the member review and I wanted to contribute, so bear with me.
I’m definitely a motorsport fanatic, I built a mini go-kart track at my farm, it’s nothing impressive, but we race karts here. I also do a bunch of track days. In 2014 I sold my RSTI replica for a 2013 bmw m3 e92 manual. I loved the e92 platform.
At the time, I lived in Montreal, Quebec and I only got to enjoy my M3 for about 3 months before it was stolen. I was devastated, I had just done a bunch of track related mods to it, including a full exhaust and the insurance company took over 2 months to pay me out. Funny thing is I had paid the car in full, so I ended up losing about 8k in the whole ordeal.
Was a hell of a situation, because I badly wanted another e92, but couldn’t find a manual with the millage I was looking for, I ended up getting an F82 M4 DCT. I think I did about 15-18 track day with that car, was one of the most reliable, albeit soulless cars I owned. That DCT was never my cup of tea. So I ended up selling it after 25k miles and bought a 991.1 carrera. Believe it or not that 4 was my daily driver in -25F weather, in the snow, in hail storms. I drove put over 30k miles on that thing in 2 years. That was a good year. I was single, 28 years old, living near the city, It really was a great machine, but again soulless, even with and exhaust, intakes and a tune that thing was just not as fiery as the e92 and I honestly missed that V8 note.
That summer I sold the carrera and got a 991.2 manual 4s in blue. Drove that car for the summer and right before winter bought a C43 AMG. I needed a 4 door car, as I had just gotten married and my wife was driving long distances to work and back. We were also commuting from Montreal-Virginia to see her parents. So the C43 was an absolute beast in the snow. AWD, V6 Twin-Turbo, this was 8 years ago and I still have the machine parked in my driveway. I’ve put 100k miles on it, I’ve driven it all the way to Florida, it’s the most consistent and reliable item I’ve bought period. Love that thing. Anyhow, 5 years ago today, Covid started and my work asked me to move down to the US, I couldn’t say no to being in warmer weather. So, my wife and I bought a farm in Southern Virginia were I reside today with a bunch of cattle, 6 goats and 4 horses. I went from downtown Montreal to the deep South.
That said, I needed something for VIR (Virginia international raceway), I wanted to do track days, something a bit more than the Karts we were using, so I bought the car that was always on my mind, an E92 M3.
In 2022, I bought the ESS S/C kit and a big brake kit for it. I fucking love that car. It’s pretty much straight pipe and I’m making some decent power. I’ve put 14 track days on that car and 12k miles, I’ve done so much maintenance and work on it, I’d have to type out a Tolkien novel to cover it. If you have an e92, trust me the ESS kit is a game changer. I still own my E92, and will until I give it to my son one day. I can make a thread about my experience with it one day.
Alright, forward one year and my daughter was born. We have a farm truck that my wife uses and she’s monopolized the C43 for quick errands, so I wanted to buy a 4 door to drive around my kid and considering she was prego again, I wanted something spacious. So being the considerate, reasonable person I am, I bought a 911 Turbo S. Yes a Turbo. I wanted one so bad, I need a Turbo S.
I put 3K miles on it before having to replace both turbos, got a transmission failure check engine light, had pretty much every damn electric fault you can imagine, I spent maybe half my time under that car wrenching on it. You know what I loved about the turbo experience? Nothing, absolutely nothing. That thing was the worst purchase of all the cars I’ve mentioned. What’s funny is I regretting buying the moment I did, and I sold it to a gentleman that drove it across the country, I’m sure he hates it as much as I did.
I wanted another shot at exotics, and I wanted a real 4 seater. So next came a Ferrari FF. Yes, an FF. I made it, I bought a prancing horse. You know how they say, there are two types of Ferrari owners? The ones that buy 1 and never buy another? And the ones that buy one and end up buying nothing else? Well I’m the former, not the latter. I sold that thing faster than the 911. I know, I sound like just some guy putting in cars I’ve owner that never existed, but check out the photos. No I’m not a dealer and no I’m not crazy, at least I don’t think I am.
So, Now I had an E92 that smelled liked unburnt fuel and cigars, was highly modified, a few farm trucks and a C43 AMG. What’s next?
Why not a G80? Everyone seems to hate them, I’m sure I’ll love it right?
I searched the internetz and found a green one with 20k miles, manual for around 1/3 what I sold the FF for. That’s a lot of Go-Karting money saved, so the only reasonable thing to do was to buy it. And I did.
I’ve driven the G80 for over 4k miles and like any fanboy, ricer, annoying self-centered car guy, I Tuned it, did Downpipes, exhaust and intakes. Yeah, I know, not too classy, but hey I live in the countryside, with no neighbors so why not. On a serious note, I have to be honest, I didn’t expect to like this car this much, I know it gets some hate out there for being heavier, bigger and uglier than past gen’s but I don’t understand the hate. The car is really a pleasure to drive, the gearbox, with a few mods is fantastic to shift. The low end torque is really fun, especially in the rain, and the sound you get with a secondary cat delete and primary resonator delete is really nice. The DPs give is a deeper crackling sound and a ton of pops (I know, I’m a child). All in all it’s far superior than any predecessor on a track, one day at a track and it’s obvious to any driver with experience. We drove it back to back with the E92 ESS and honestly, minus the sound, the E92 doesn’t hold a candle to it. Yes, it’s fun, it’s so fun to row through the gears, but it’s not as communicative, the G80 will surprise you with how little it under-steers for a big machine. When you widen your apex entry and through the front end in, you legit feel the engineering that has happened between 2013 and 2023. I have the Carbon seats, and they offer pretty much the best support I’ve had minus my Birrell kart lol.
Even on the backroads, I love driving the E92 for the sound and veracity of that German V8, but the G80 gives you so much more confidence, a slide in it isn’t like the F82, where you wonder if you’re going to end up in a ditch every time the ass kicks out. I don’t get the hate.
I’ve come a long way, owned some pretty nice whips, but that G80 will sit beside my E92 for many years to come, I’ll buy other cars I’m sure, but there is something about this platform with a manual that is hard to describe. I think the best way to do it is to say confidence, the G80 is a confidence inspiring sedan. Sure a GT4 is a better track car for the price, but it doesn’t fit a car seat, I can’t look in the rear view mirror and see my kid giggle at the loud exhaust farts, or take them to get ice cream and row through the gears pleasantly without dying of monoxide poisoning (cue in my e92). It’s just a great sedan and I think with all the electric garbage coming out, people will remember these cars as the last of an era, for now at least.
Sorry about the pictures being all over. But I wanted to share with you all my journey. If you asked me what is the best Sedan I’ve owned, I’d say the G80 M3. What is the funnest car I’ve owned, it would be my replica RSTI with EJ20 310awhp and 1100kg. I hope this helped you Bimmerpost, I know you all have helped me a lot.