[Prev][Next][Index][Thread]

more on M3 miss shifts

Hello,
No, I don't have an M3 yet, but I am trying to find one.  Because of this, I
have been following the posts on M3 shifting pretty closely.  Let me say this,
I am not as interested in what people think as I am in what they have
experienced.  M3 owners, there must be 20 or 30 on the Digest, how many of you
have blown engines.

In my experience, I have driven two brand new M3s  (E36 of course)  They are
awesome cars, (I can see why I want one so much)  but the shifting is a bit
tricky.  More tricky than say a Ferrari or a lamborghini?  No, but different
from any American car I have driven, and certainly different than other BMWs.
What does this mean?  Well, on a brand new M3 I did a miss shift, and dropped
the engine from 4th to 1st instead of 3rd.  You see, it IS possible.  I freaked
for an instance, and then quickly depressed the clutch, and shifted back into
2nd and then 3rd.   The end result, everything was fine.  If had had blown the
engine, whose fault would it have been?  Mine? The dealerships? BMW?  Mine of
course, and I would have had to shell out $42000 plus the cost of a new engine.
Not to mention the fact that I probably would never be allowed to test drive a
car at that dealership again!  The point is that we are responsible for our
actions.  Learn to drive your M3, and practice down shifting carefully and
conciously, and things will be fine.

To all of you who want to sue BMW, please, please, sell me your M3 (with a new
engine of course) and go buy a Buick.  Suits like this will ultimately see BMWs
as low performance automatic six cylinder cars that self brake and self steer!
Learn to live with a mistake (I have made many!) and get on with your lives!

wanted: E36 M3, will have a good home, with regular Zymolings and cruising to
work every day (none of this weekend car stuff)...

Mike Whitley