Para82

Not surprised. I'm not much of a driver and I was all over a 2014 Boxster S *** in the turns and as soon as it was clear was waved to pass. Generally in the turns your 911 should hold with it but in the straights probably not happening.

1Carnut

I owned EVERY Mcar made from the early 90's until (not to mention 5 7series and other BMW's) 2007 and I must say that BMW is no longer a brand I even consider when looking for a car. Their quality has gone down and in my opinion they are no longer truly drivers cars. They need to change that slogan to the ultimate electronic gizmo's that bring you back again and again to see us!

zirrah

+1

It's either that they aren't making drivers cars as they used to or our collective opinion of what a drivers car is has changed. I think it's the former.

MJBird993

I've spent a bit of time in the 428 and 435. I was impressed by them both, but the steering in the new BMWs still leaves something to be desired. I'm not sure how to categorize the M3/M4. It's not a sports car, maybe a GT? A very fast GT. Also, BMWs tend to have some reliability and maintenance issues that we long-time Porsche owners typically don't experience.

McLaren997

I've owned 11 BMWs the last 2 being '13 M3 and 650i coupe. What happened after '08 was the German car companies had to either raise prices substantially or cheapen the product. BMW and MB took the latter route to try to maintain market share. BMWs made after March '09 were cheapened significantly.

beden1

Since the E Series BMWs went from 2005 to 2011, I doubt BMW made any quality changes for the worse during that period. IMO, the new F Series cars do have numerous areas where quality has slipped.

PhilD

Put the stats, practicality, quality, etc, to one side and decide which one "moves" you, which one would make you excited to open the door and start, which one would bring a smile to your face. For me there is no BMW that would do any of this, apart from maybe the i8. Let emotion decide.

Ezkill

BMW's and Mercedes in general just don't seem to very special anymore. They used to be worlds above in terms of build quality and materials used over north american cars. Now when I look at the interior of a new Ford and a new BMW I struggle to find the difference. A few people above have mentioned this as well so I don't think I'm off my rocker here.

Ultimate driving machines? Yea, years ago. Modern BMW's .... not so much. To each his own though. If you find the car thrilling and it moves you in some way then it's worth the purchase.

Some people may find that the 997.2 doesn't do much for them either. I feel something when I jump in that car daily and for me that's worth the price of admission. None of the BMW's or Merc's we've owned over the last few years have done anything for me.

z3mcoupe

My current and probably latest model BMW I will ever own. The new ones are too heavy, cushy and infotainment focused. No longer ultimate driving machines.

[IMG]Image by R0NAN, on Flickr[/IMG]

McLaren997

In Mar of 2009 they removed the storage nets behind the seats, removed the liner under the hood, put a base stereo that was so bad that everyone complained loudly, went to single turbos with the N55 engine replacing the great N54, the paint was lousy with orange peel. And lots of other things I either can't remember or don't know about. BTW, hi Brock.

Ezkill

Just reminded me of my friends current saga with a BMW 3 series. Yea I know this isn't a flagship model but I feel bad for him. Basically within a few weeks of him buying a brand new car his clear coat started to haze. It's a darker blue vehicle and looks absolutely awful. He's fought for almost a year with BMW and had to end up suing them. He wasn't looking to get his money back or to return the car. He just wanted a reasonable solution so his new car looked like a new car. Now he has a court date in December of 2015(yep takes that long).

BMW did try to wet sand it. That just made it worse. He basically has a full priced, trashed, new car. BMW has completely wiped their hands of the situation. As you can imagine that will be his last BMW purchase. I think the best he can hope for is the court to give him a little leeway in how much of a hit he will have to take when he goes to sell the car. He certainly won't be getting full value out of the car since it looks like crap.

jdogg2000

I think I recall my 2007-2008 E92s having a center console interior that you could set the temperature with a dial (to cool drinks, etc.). I'm pretty sure my 2011 E92 no longer had that feature.

Mspeedster

Interesting. I owned BMWs non-stop from 1988-2004. The Chris Bangle styling of the BMWs is what turned me off, which is era when you started buying 'em. To my eyes - BMWs are finally starting to look the part again, but there still hasn't been a model to sway me back.

Redline911

I spent a bit of time reading the M3/4 forums on Bimmerpost. Found a couple of interesting threads comparing Porsche to M cars. The general consensus seemed to be that the 911 is the next step up from the M cars. All the opinions on the M cars being better were simply based on their superior infotainment and bells and whistles like HUD and back up cameras. If you're looking for a nice DD then the M works nicely, however this is my weekend fun car. So I think the 997 is the right answer, I just need a more potent version.

USMC_DS1

I was a BMW enthusiast for a dozen plus years but when it came time to replace my aging '98 M3(e36)... like others here I discovered that the newer M3's had blotted to a near caddy like weight class. I switched to a C2S instead and I don't see going back to BMW in the near future. The e36 will likely be the last BMW in my stable. Perhaps if they came out with an M 0.5?