Newbie with a handful

NonChalant · Post by **NonChalant** » Thu Jan 17, 2008 4:15 pm

Congrats on the sexy car. and welcome aboard.

I think everyone's covered most things. Your shifter gate isn't a design flaw

Practice makes perfect!

black94boost · Post by **black94boost** » Thu Jan 17, 2008 5:33 pm

One of the first thing I did when I got my car was the row through the gears to get a feel of it, a couple of times, 1-2-3-4-5 5-4-3-2-1. Now, it just happens like magic.

comingbackdown · Post by **comingbackdown** » Thu Jan 17, 2008 7:07 pm

Welcome to the forum. Use the handbrake. I can't tell you to use it on a small grade, but if it's steep, use it.

Nice car!

wannabe · Post by **wannabe** » Thu Jan 17, 2008 7:31 pm

nice car, andy

and welcome

i really like the color...

hockeystyx16 · Post by **hockeystyx16** » Thu Jan 17, 2008 7:43 pm

holy sh1t thats awesome. my stepdad just got a E39 540i, with a 4.4 v8 and a 6 speed, that thing pulls hard.

welcome to SS.

andytothemax · Post by **andytothemax** » Fri Jan 18, 2008 3:31 am

Johnf514 wrote:Hey there Andy. Gorgeous car - nearly a perfect vehicle for every need. Congrats on taking the plunge on a stickshift! You've come to the right place.

Thanks this is all excellent advice

I am doing better. Rev-matching downshifts seems to have happened correctly after about 10 tries, actually and I can do it in every gear (except 1st of course) with minimal jerkiness. Some double and triple downshifts (5-4-3-2 and 4-3-2) have been pitch-perfect where I didn't even feel a change in speed or any jerks. It seems to work best in a familiar area where I know exactly how fast I need to be going around the turn I'm fast approaching. As I get better I intend to downshift closer and closer to the turn.

Great tip on mis-shifts at the redline and keeping it low until I get good. I have meant to focus on the basics because a pro is someone who executes the basics perfectly every time...

I see now that the shift gates are not an issue-- I simply wasn't being careful enough initially. Now I am careful and a couple of times I have felt the shifter slide into 2nd instead of 4th but I have detected it before engaging the clutch and corrected it...

The opinion on the color is unanimous...it's "bad" if you know what I mean

A

Post by **Johnf514** » Fri Jan 18, 2008 11:40 am

andytothemax wrote: Thanks this is all excellent advice

That's what we do here.

andytothemax wrote: I see now that the shift gates are not an issue-- I simply wasn't being careful enough initially. Now I am careful and a couple of times I have felt the shifter slide into 2nd instead of 4th but I have detected it before engaging the clutch and corrected it...

Good! You're already getting used to how the car feels and how the transmission gives you feedback. Well done.

Nychold · Post by **Nychold** » Fri Jan 18, 2008 12:01 pm

andytothemax wrote:The opinion on the color is unanimous...it's "bad" if you know what I mean

To me, there's only three colors an M3 should come in: White, Black, and that color.

AHTOXA · Post by **AHTOXA** » Fri Jan 18, 2008 5:12 pm

Nychold wrote:
andytothemax wrote:The opinion on the color is unanimous...it's "bad" if you know what I mean
To me, there's only three colors an M3 should come in: White, Black, and that color.

The red is really nice, too. My friend's got the same body style in red. It's awesome!

PureLife · Post by **PureLife** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 2:35 am

Welcome to SS; good to have another BMW driver here.

Beautiful color; I'd love to own a e46m ... actually I take that back, I'd just like to take one for a drive.

andytothemax · Post by **andytothemax** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 3:48 pm

I drove it in SF for the first time this weekend. I was nervous about all the hills but I only stalled it once and I didn't have to use the handbrake method. A perfectly executed rev-matched downshift is pretty pleasurable, I must say! One odd thing that's happened is that I don't feel the need to speed like I did in my old car, because the new one feels so sporty that I have nothing to prove

Some time last week some ***hole put a huge ding on the right side, messing up the otherwise perfect paint. I hate that kind of indifference (I have never dinged someone else's car in my life), but it looks repairable without too much touching up as long as they can use the "paintless" method after touching it up. C'est la vie!

More pics and a video for drooling:

startup and revs

The brakes are neck-snappingly fierce, that's all I can say!

I can't get enough of this color!!!

Leedeth · Post by **Leedeth** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 7:32 pm

That is a crazy nice sound. I'd like to hear it from multiple angles though, such as front with hood up, front with hood down, side, and exhaust. It seemed to be drowned out by all the belts in the engine bay.

andytothemax · Post by **andytothemax** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 7:33 pm

Leedeth wrote: That is a crazy nice sound. I'd like to hear it from multiple angles though, such as front with hood up, front with hood down, side, and exhaust. It seemed to be drowned out by all the belts in the engine bay.

I will do another video just for you! It's pretty fun

Leedeth · Post by **Leedeth** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 7:36 pm

Oh also get interior! Can't forget that. With windows up and down, lol.

Bawked · Post by **Bawked** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 9:21 pm

Not using the handbrake method isn't a good thing... use the handbrake method and relax...