on friday, i attended the M Town tour event at passport BMW outside of DC. i drove the M2C, M340, and X3MC...in that order. my crib notes:
- M2C: i could EASILY daily drive this car. i'm not sure why there's so much flack about the harsh ride. i put all the settings on the highest sport levels and then took the car off course for a quick spin on the DC beltway...expansion joints and all of its horrible glory. yes, it's much stiffer than my 228 in comfort mode, but wasnt 'horrible' by any definition. for reference, i'm in my late 40s with a bad back. i was duly admonished for taking the car off course, but was allowed to drive two more cars.
- M340: the power is pretty sweet and the ride nicely taut in sport mode. i didnt get this car onto the beltway to compare to the M2C but there was enough crappy road sections on their mapped course that i could tell this car would do right nicely as a daily, and give plenty of smiles during spirited back-road sessions. the biggest turn-off was the squirrely steering in sport mode...just way too jittery...and i have generally been someone who has not been as turned off as most by BMW's e-steering.
- X3MC: really fun...i almost thought about a beltway detour for this one, but decided to play nice so i wouldnt get banned from future events. the back half of the road course had a fairly straight, slightly uphill 1/2-mile section with a good sight line...so i came to stop at the bottom of that rise and then got on it goooood. i found plenty of oomph for my liking.
i'm really feeling like an M2C is in my future...probably 2/3 years from now though.