04-23-2020, 12:59 AM | #1 |
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The road (back) to BMW and my personal Halo Car a 2020 BMW M8
The road (back) to BMW and my personal Halo Car a 2020 BMW M8
To say I am a car guy is an understatement. I have loved cars my entire life. Matchbox, hot wheels, RC, slot cars and finally – REAL cars. I have been fortunate to now have owned cars from Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Mitsubishi, VW, Mercedes, Porsche, and of course BMW. I have spent far too many hours at car shows, online car forums, washing and waxing my cars, at racetracks all around the country either driving in events and/or photographing them. A more accurate word for my relationship with cars is OBSESSION. My road to the BMW M8. I live in Memphis TN and we are fortunate enough to have a track here called Memphis International Raceway. Years ago, I started tracking my wife’s Boxster S there with the local Porsche club (GREAT group of guys). I progressed quickly and like all car guys wanted to go faster. The need for speed was on. My criteria for a car have always been tough and very specific for any car. My criteria were; it had to be track worthy out of the box. That is, I didn’t want to have to upgrade everything on the car to get it to perform. The brakes had to be solid, it couldn’t overheat on scorching hot days in Memphis, and it had to allow me to win the only trophy that mattered to me when driving my car on a track – a car that wasn’t wrecked – my own. It had to have enough of a trunk to allow me to put a set of wheels and tires in the car to take with me to the track. Eventually more criteria were added – it had to have enough of a back seat for my future race car driver my son, Christian. My criteria put me on a path to own a 2012 BMW M3 competition with a glorious sounding, high revving V8 motor. I have done more track days in this car than any of them. Eventually almost everything was upgraded. Stoptech Brakes, KW ClubSport suspension, exhaust, Schroth harness, HANS for protection, etc. The only thing this car left me wanting more of was torque. So, enter the torque monster: The M4. After years of reading mixed reviews about the M4 I finally was on board with the competition version. I later saw a post with pictures of a Ferrari Red M4 and thought to myself: if I ever buy one it HAS to be in THAT color. Then suddenly, a loaded Ferrari Red BMW M4 appeared on Auto Trader within driving distance. I had to “just see” that car in person. If you are a car fanatic, you know these are famous last words. Of course, I brought it back to Memphis and the upgrades began. It wasn’t long until the saying you don’t know what you got until it is gone hit me. The M4 was a much faster car, BUT there were two things my M3 had that the M4 didn’t have – great sound, and amazing steering feel. I own a business and lease my cars. Off and on for the next 3 years I was considering my next car when my lease would be up. Reaching for the Halo It is not an exaggeration to say that I looked at and considered what car to buy 3-7 times a week for the last 12 months of the lease of my BMW M4. My son was now 5 so the car had to work for my entire family for the next 3 years, and I had come to the realization that this would probably be my personal Halo car. That, is this would be the highest I would be willing to reach financially so I better choose wisely. My loving wife and my CPA had given me permission to “go for it”. So, I did. Set out to buy my Halo car. The final cars on my list were: • Porsche 911 in various forms – GT3, Turbo, Turbo S, 992 4S, Targa 4 GTS, etc. • BMW M8 • Mercedes AMG C63s • Audi RS5 Sportback • Corvette Grand Sport or manual Z06 (I didn’t want an automatic as they overheat) I had an overall budget in mind and had also considered a combination of cars with having a dedicated track car. IE: RS5 daily and a Corvette track car, or a BMW M3/M4 track car etc. Because of lease, tax, and storage reasons I narrowed it down to one car. This ultimately left me with a decision I think a lot of people considering a BMW M8 would be considering: BMW M8 vs a Porsche 911 First let me state that a Porsche 911 has always been a bucket list car. No one can deny how good a driver’s car a 911 is – for the driver and passenger. For luggage and the person in the back, not so much. It is a car that is aware of its compromises and the buyers are either aware of them or soon will be. This is where the M8 comes in. I didn’t feel like I had to compromise on anything. Looks are awesome. Especially the rear of the car. I am in love with the wheels especially. At the same price point in the 911, the wheels were OK to good. The wheels on my M8 are outstanding. As far as technology, the 911 I was looking at didn’t have wireless charging, it didn’t have wireless Apple Car play (if you have ever had this you will understand it is a big deal), you couldn’t even control Apple car play via the steering wheel. The M8 has a HUD with navigation as well as tachometer built into the display. It doesn’t have the best rear seats in the world (excluding the 4-door version, the M8 gran coupe). When my wife sat in the back seat of the 911 her head was tilted because of lack of headroom. She can get in the back of the M8 as long as the seat is pushed forward and be comfortable. The M8 has luggage space, and even a kick to release trunk. One of the most important things the M8 has over the 911 is it is new and exclusive. I drove the car to a Cars and Coffee after having it a couple of weeks and people crowded around the car. There were a lot of 911s there and some drew a crowd (GT3rs etc.) but there isn’t much new to see, even in the new 992 version of the 911. The steering-feel is back in the M8 over the M4. The car is so well connected to the road while also giving a smooth ride it is truly amazing. It is a heavy car however it seems to purge the weight while pushing the car hard. The car turns in very quickly, you feel the weight of the car and then it just vanishes. It drives like a lighter c¬¬¬¬ar. The M division really did their work on this car. I have had the car now for a few weeks and the one package on the car that I originally wouldn’t have spent money on is the Driving Assistant Pro package. I am glad the car has it, however. The Pro package allows the car while in cruise control to stay in the middle of the lane. It will even steer itself around curves, change lanes, etc. I recently had a 2-hour highway drive and used this feature and it very much helps counter fatigue. My top 10 reasons for Choosing the M8 over the 911 1. Comfortable, Luxurious AND trackable 2. Usable back seat 3. New and more exclusive 4. More usable trunk space 5. V8 soundtrack 6. More advanced technology 7. Almost everything you want is standard not extra 8. WIRELESS Apple Car Play 9. More comfortable (the seats are amazing) 10. Better financing My experience with Roadshow BMW in Memphis, TN I have purchased M cars now from roadshow and the experience has always been excellent. The service has always been excellent. My service advisor Houston Hagewood has always been excellent. The M service department head Nick McGavic has always been excellent and is also very much a BMW enthusiast. My salesperson Stan Blount was about perfect to deal with. He spent time with me, wasn’t pushy, got me the information I needed and help facilitate a great deal on my car. He is who you want to buy a car from. During this process I also got to know the General Manager Karen Lombardo. She like everyone else at the dealership exceeded my expectations. She was very friendly, understood my passion and worked to make sure I stayed a BMW fanatic. They made the process an experience – NOT a pure financial transaction. I was taken seriously and treated with respect the entire time. A very different experience than multiple Chevrolet dealers where they wouldn’t let me even drive a Corvette. The M8 has already proven to be not just a great road car but a great race car as well. It recently won the 2020 Daytona 24 beating out the Porsche 911RSR the year before at the same race it beat out the Ferrari 488GTE. I am looking forward to seeing the car race at the 24 hours of Le Mans starting June 13th. M8 in a drag race? To get an idea how fast an M8 is watch it drag race and BEAT a v12 Ferrari and a tuned Nissan GTR: Nurburgring Lap Time – Under 7:30 As far as how fast it will lap the Nurburgring we will have to wait for official numbers but BMW has stated it is the fastest production car to lap the ring which means it is faster than the BMW M4 GTS that had a lap time of 7:27:88. This would mean a BMW M8 would have a lap time faster than super cars such as: • Ferrari 812 Superfast • Porsche Carrera GT • Lamborghini Huracan LP 610-4 Roadshow Inventory Current Inventory of new 8 series and M series cars available at Roadshow BMW Photos credit: Mica Partain Savvy Studios Memphis Photo Credit for Track Picture - John Green Last edited by ccondo; 04-23-2020 at 08:44 PM.. Reason: add photo credit |
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04-23-2020, 09:57 AM | #5 |
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I am working on some more shots.
The car is fairly "base". It has full black Merino leather,and the advanced driving assistant option. I track the car and didn't want ceramic brakes. I didn't want to spend money on the Competition because I will eventually do coil-overs. My he only thing I would have maybe spent more on would have been the B&O system. |
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04-23-2020, 11:57 AM | #6 |
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Congrats...many miles of smiles to ya!
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04-23-2020, 12:49 PM | #7 | |
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Well I guess this answers my question (on facebook) about you tracking the car. Glad you will enjoy it on the track. It's not a TRACK car, per se, but any performance car still should be tracked to fully enjoy it, IMO. At least a couple times. Congrats again, beautiful beautiful beautiful car! Matt
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04-23-2020, 08:47 PM | #11 |
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More pics attached.
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04-23-2020, 09:11 PM | #12 |
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Congrats on your new whip! Enjoy in good health.
Interesting to see a non-comp version. Compared to the M5, the M5 Comp is a bit lower. The M8 on the other hand seems to be at least as low (or high) as the M8c. |
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04-23-2020, 10:02 PM | #13 |
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Absolutely a fantastic post! Loved reading through it all and the logic behind the decision. Enjoy the M8 coupe and all that it delivers in bringing the smile to your face every time you are behind the wheel all of us 8-series owners know and appreciate. As for tracking the M8, you are golden as it can handle that no questions asked as long as you are willing to step up for the maintenance required (based on your post that is a no-brainier decision as well). Enjoy the drive!
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04-24-2020, 01:56 PM | #15 |
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04-28-2020, 06:37 AM | #16 |
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Nice write-up, thanks for sharing. I too have a car obsession. To be brief, I have had four 911s (964, 993, 996, 997 and 991). OK, that's five. And a Boxster. The Boxster is a better driving car (compared to the 991.1, and if equipped with the proper 6 cylinder engine and manual transmission).
I had the pleasure of driving an M8 this past weekend. Awesome car. If I were to buy it today, comparing it to the 911 and Corvette (which I've also owned numerous examples of) there is no question that I'd go with the Bimmer. Of course, the C7 Corvette is half the price, so if money were an object I'd pick the plastic wonder, but since I've BTDT and got tired of it smelling like a model airplane, I'd pick the grown-up car. I'm curious why you decided against the ceramic brakes, especially since you plan to track it. I'd expect the opposite.
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04-28-2020, 08:21 AM | #17 |
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Congrats on your new ride, and thanks for the write-up. you mentioned that you did a lease on your M4 that you found through auto-trader. i'm assuming it was a new car lease - is that correct? I've always wondered if you could do a lease on a slightly used BMW and if it would be worth it. just curious.
Last edited by tracythorne; 04-28-2020 at 08:22 AM.. Reason: typo |
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04-28-2020, 08:27 AM | #18 |
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at the risk of taking this thread off on a tangent - (but since so many of you seem to have experience with "competitions") - for those with experience driving competition M5, M6, and M8's - is there an appreciable difference in ride quality between the "competition" and the base M? in the past i flirted with the idea of an M6 competition but was dissuaded by my experience with an AMG Mercedes that had such a harsh ride - i had to give it up.
I happily settled in on an 850gc - and it has a fantastic ride - but just curious for the future. Thanks! |
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04-28-2020, 09:15 AM | #19 | |
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Also the true m8 has twice as much maintenance as the M850i. |
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04-28-2020, 09:59 AM | #20 | |
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The carbon ceramics are better but the cost is much higher. If you're racing for a prize pool, you can recoupe or recover that cost. If it's just for fun, it's too expensive for most guys. |
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04-28-2020, 03:29 PM | #21 |
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What a great post to read. I'm glad you're enjoying this beauty of a machine. Congratulations!
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04-28-2020, 09:29 PM | #22 |
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love it, I ordered the same wheels, ironically the stock comp wheels are actually more expensive to replace.
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