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In Reply to: e46m3 vs m5, 0-60 market issues (m) posted by rca on December 30, 1999 at 22:45:41:
: Motor Trend has the m5 at 4.7 for 0-60 and the car listed for $71,000.
: .3seconds is considered (by Road and Track) as a signficant difference in 0-60 sprints.
: Even if the new m3 was technically capable of going 5.0 or less, how could BMW possibly put it on the market tuned to go that fast given a 45-50K price tag?
: Consumers would read the numbers as the m3 and m5 being statistically equal performers, at least as far as the 0-60 sprint.
: My opinion, e46m3 will be tuned to go at least .3 to .4 slower than the m5. So I will be very happy with a 5.0 or 5.1 reading.
: If anyone sees the marketing issue differently, please advise.
: rca 328i automatic (7.2 sec)
: steel blue
If the rumors are true and the new M3 motor puts out 340HP then it's power to weight ratio is about 9.7 (3300 lbs / 340 hp). The M5 is 9.5 (3800 lbs / 400 hp). Whether that is a marketing direction or simply a reasonable technical limitation of the 6 cylinder engine is unclear.
I personally find it hard to believe that the M3 and M5 have the same market audience even if they had the same straight line performance. One is a heavy sedan and the other is a nimble sport coupe. How much market cross-over can there be?
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