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E90 to M240 transition?
Has anyone made the transition from an E90 (in my case 2007 328xi) straight to an M240i? I’m on the verge of getting in line to place an order for a manual RWD version, but can’t get past the idea that I’ll regret trading this car in.
What I like (328): no screen on the dash, naturally aspirated, hydraulic steering, enough power when winding it out. It’s like a tank in all weather conditions. I bought it 10 years ago CPO, have cared for it well, and it’s in excellent condition (108k miles).
What I don’t like: clutch can be annoying/jerky in lower gears, heel toe downshifting can be tricky. (I have a manual 2014 Miata in which I don’t have these problems at all.)
I test drove a 2017 M240 in April, and although I didn’t disable auto rev matching to test heel toe, normal shifting was better. I’ve heard the steering is a weak point, but I honestly didn’t mind it and/or I’d probably stop noticing after a week. The M240 seemed closer to the Miata driving experience (even though I was driving 5/10 or whatever for the test drive) but more comfortable, albeit also more numb. The contemporaneous report to my wife (who wants me to just order it already), was “it’s a better car in every way”.
My motivation for buying would be to have two cars that I really look forward to driving -- I still *love* driving the miata every time after 2+ years -- to some extent the extra safety bells/whistles, plus Manual/RWD/6 cyl cars are an endangered species, and I'd like to have one that I've owned from new.
Feels like I've convinced myself by writing this out, but would really appreciate any perspective from anyone who's made this leap. Thanks.
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