[Hasser]

Just like to say the 5er beats the interior of the M3 imo.

I didn't actually take pics of the interior of the M3, but it just doesn't feel as good or match the 5er quality.

I liked the M3 yes, but wouldn't change from the 5er to a 3 series or even the M3, would need to be an M5!

My driveway looked good for a few hours anyway before I had to return the car.

[gatorfast]

Beautiful cars but don't think anyone buys an M3 for the interior...

[Hasser]

Originally Posted by gatorfast

Beautiful cars but don't think anyone buys an M3 for the interior...

no, but its a consideration when making a decision and for a £70K i would have expected the interior to be of a higher standard than it is.

but the exhaust sounds better than the 5er, maybe not an M5 though.

[gatorfast]

Ehh I think the M3 interior is fine. Sure it's not as luxurious as a decked out 5 series but then again the M3 will drive circles around the 5 series. All about what you prioritize.

[lsturbointeg]

Was it a loaner car? Same opinion here...I had to see what the fuss was all about so after a trip to the dealership hands down the 3 series exterior wise was nice especially with all the aftermarket goodies available . But the interior was lacking especially with what felt like alot of plastic going on. I could be bias cause I went in reading what everybody hated about the 3 series interior.

[ArchJR]

The interior quality was the primary reason I leased my 528i last week instead of another 3- or 4-series. For the three years I had a 328i, I convinced myself the critics were wrong, especially as mine was a well optioned Sportline compared to the truly stripper models. But when I started comparison shopping, I could not resist the better design of the 5-series. Then again, as an architect I tend to place a higher priority on design and efficiency than outright performance.

[493263]

Originally Posted by gatorfast

Beautiful cars but don't think anyone buys an M3 for the interior...

I hate it when people say this because it counters the whole point of aesthetics which BMW hired a team dedicated for it, spent years and countless millions of dollars to make it look "beautiful". How could you say it's a beautiful car and then say nobody cares about the interior? Are you saying they designed the interior to look good and doesn't care about interior? Then why all the interior options to make it look better? It's obviously clear that they did spend a lot of effort into the interior but it just didn't come out as good as they hoped.

It's all a silly arguments I hear on car forums only. The M3 is built to attack the track yes. But it's not built for that purpose only. It's still made to be driven everyday on the street, with many luxury features, and plenty of other things that added massive weight to the car.

I know what a purpose built track car is since I had one. When you don't care about interior, you also don't care about exterior, sound deadening, entertainment, LED accent lighting, etc.... It doesn't make sense that M3 buyers don't care about interiors. I'm willing to bet nearly all of them do and we can all agree that the M3/M4 only shortcoming is the interior.

If you still don't get it. There's already a few of them in this forum. The OP is one of them.

[Hasser]

Originally Posted by lsturbointeg

Was it a loaner car? Same opinion here...I had to see what the fuss was all about so after a trip to the dealership hands down the 3 series exterior wise was nice especially with all the aftermarket goodies available . But the interior was lacking especially with what felt like alot of plastic going on. I could be bias cause I went in reading what everybody hated about the 3 series interior.

I had my mini in for a power steering repair, and I asked if I could borrow the M3 whilst the mini was getting repaired.

[Hasser]

Must say though I did like that the ///M on the seats lit up. And it did have full leather option with CF trim which was nice.

It was just really the switch gear that let it down.

[gatorfast]

Originally Posted by 493263

I hate it when people say this because it counters the whole point of aesthetics which BMW hired a team dedicated for it, spent years and countless millions of dollars to make it look "beautiful". How could you say it's a beautiful car and then say nobody cares about the interior? Are you saying they designed the interior to look good and doesn't care about interior? Then why all the interior options to make it look better? It's obviously clear that they did spend a lot of effort into the interior but it just didn't come out as good as they hoped.

It's all a silly arguments I hear on car forums only. The M3 is built to attack the track yes. But it's not built for that purpose only. It's still made to be driven everyday on the street, with many luxury features, and plenty of other things that added massive weight to the car.

I know what a purpose built track car is since I had one. When you don't care about interior, you also don't care about exterior, sound deadening, entertainment, LED accent lighting, etc.... It doesn't make sense that M3 buyers don't care about interiors. I'm willing to bet nearly all of them do and we can all agree that the M3/M4 only shortcoming is the interior.

If you still don't get it. There's already a few of them in this forum. The OP is one of them.

Whoa whoa take it easy. I didn't say people don't care about the interior, I just said most don't buy an M3 for the interior. For example, if you took a pole of 5 and 7 series owners and asked why they bought the car I'm sure interior quality would rank at or near the top. If you took the same pole of M3 owners I would bet performance would be at or near the top. Doesn't mean no one cares about the interior, it's just not a huge reason an M3 owner chooses to buy that car.

Also I see absolutely nothing wrong with the M3 interior and think the look and quality is just fine.

[lsturbointeg]

I've heard that from the 6 series fellows. They want sportiness of the 5 series and the luxury of the 7 series so they wanted both and went with the 6 series.

[TexasSpartan]

I had a '11 E92 M3 prior to getting my '15 535 M Sport a few weeks ago. I never tracked my M3 as it was my DD and because it was my DD, the interior did matter to me. My car had full leather and carbon fiber trim. I also added carbon fiber to the steering insert and really loved the interior of that car. Moving to the 535, I really love the interior of this car as well (Mocha brown color) and the ride is just flat out smooth. These are two different cars. I've found myself "missing" certain things (exhaust sound of the V8) about the M3 but I've quickly gotten used to this new car and how relaxed I am when driving it, even on Houston freeways. I don't get every ricer and their brother trying to race me as I did in the M.

[R N M]

F30 interior is crap, E90/92 was better quality.

F80 M3 is a great car but unfortunately the interior plastics are very low grade and the design layout is not very good for the price.

Having said all that - my 535i lease is ending soon and i plan to get the new M3 as I want something more fun as my DD and to me it looks incredible. Interior quality is not on top of my list.

[TimeFor]

Originally Posted by R N M

F30 interior is crap, E90/92 was better quality.

F80 M3 is a great car but unfortunately the interior plastics are very low grade and the design layout is not very good for the price.

Having said all that - my 535i lease is ending soon and i plan to get the new M3 as I want something more fun as my DD and to me it looks incredible. Interior quality is not on top of my list.

Yeah I had this thought last year when I went from the F10 to the 4 series. I was ok with the interior at first and then soon hated it. It's not just bad, its garbage. So noticeable that a friend jokingly commented I had money trouble buying such a cheaper new car compared to my old one. Truth was that the 4 actually cost more.

I sold the 4 series and I have another F10 on order. I'd think about it really really hard to be sure you'll be happy with flimsy plastic interior and buttons that wiggle around. Assuming you have a moderately optioned F10 its a big downgrade quality wise.

[Hasser]

well looks like i'm not the only one with this opinion of the 3 series interior.

[gatorfast]

Tough crowd

[wheresmy5]

Not an M3 vs 5 but heres my 0.02-
Have a 5 at home and rented an X3 for a week out of town. Absolutely awful interior. Wood panels have a strange warp easily visible, plastics are horrible, fit and finish is crap. The truck otherwise is great- very roomy and large trunk but the interior materials and layout is absolutely abysmal for $42k. In terms of interior it doesn't even feel like the same brand.

[TimeFor]

Originally Posted by gatorfast

Tough crowd

Its kind of sad but maybe the bar has just been set too high with the F10 and so everything by compassion seems much worse than it really is. I think F10 is still easily best in class interior.

Its obvious with how little change there was with the F10 LCI. In may ways the LCI was actually worse because BMW changed things that didn't need changing. IE Removed LED turns signals and added plastic to the nav screen. If from what we see with the new 7 makes it way down to the new 5 again then I'm confident we'll have another generation of amazing interiors.

Fingers crossed for G11 style quilted leather making it into the G30. Though unlikely

[crow]

What do you guys think about the interior between the E70 vs F15? I think on some models BMW is lowering their standards on the interior. I definitely saw a difference between E90 vs F30. F30 had great ambient lighting but seemed to lack on overall quality.

[lsturbointeg]

Originally Posted by crow

What do you guys think about the interior between the E70 vs F15? I think on some models BMW is lowering their standards on the interior. I definitely saw a difference between E90 vs F30. F30 had great ambient lighting but seemed to lack on overall quality.

Got some pictures we can look at?

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by TimeFor

Its kind of sad but maybe the bar has just been set too high with the F10 and so everything by compassion seems much worse than it really is. I think F10 is still easily best in class interior.

I believe this is part of the issue, the F10/11 is a near perfect blend, 'feels' right, as it appeals to pretty much all our senses. For me nothing 'grates' when I'm in the 5-series.

I personally don't get the problem with the 3-series, yes it is different for sure, but intended to be so, rather than just a smaller 5-series clone. I'm not even sure there is much difference in actual quality, more a perceived issue, as some aspects of the 3-series interior make it look and feel cheaper.

Over here in the UK there are a lot of low specification 3-series, which does change the feel of the cars. Then we also have low specification 5-series and they also feel down market compared to top end 5-series.

HighlandPete

[TimeFor]

Originally Posted by crow

What do you guys think about the interior between the E70 vs F15? I think on some models BMW is lowering their standards on the interior. I definitely saw a difference between E90 vs F30. F30 had great ambient lighting but seemed to lack on overall quality.

The F15 is on par with the F10. Its nice. There are just some wacky things the X5 gets that makes no sense to me. IE random hole in the center console and double stacked air vents?

You can get a proper leather dash and the seats and stitching are very nice. I think the seats are better in the F15 over the E70. So for that and the LED lighting I think the F15 has an edge over the E70 in quality. I'd think the same would go with the E60 to F10. Its the lower series cars that have the interior quality issue. There a noticeable dividing line between the 4 and 5.