a lot of people I've spoken to, who have driven both the 3.0 and M, preferred the 3.0, especially as a daily driver. The M doesn't make its power very accessible, and is meant to be quite harsh.
They make cracking buys, though - tax/petrol/credit crunch ***
Bingo. The M is a crazy car and as a weekend car or track weapon it is an absolute stunner. The power it puts down in such a tight, compact and sorted platform is a bone fide recipe for brown trouser fun.
However, day to day on Britains road this is not so. As you say, to use a Z4M to it's potential on a daily basis would be nigh on impossible. Well, I suppose you could but you wouldn't have your licence for very long. After driving both the M and the 3.0Si and after months of deliberation, I decided to go for the 3.0. For fast road (but still at legal speeds) driving, it is much more pleasurable to drive. You can take it right up the rev range with your foot to the floor without ending up at ridiculous speeds. You can take it round a tight roundabout in 2nd, plant your foot on the exit, get the back end out and still come out the other end in a sensible fashion.
I liken it to my motorbike days. The most fun I ever had on motorbikes was on my 2 stroke 125's. You could rag them to death on the roads, drive them to their absolute limit and have an absolute hoot. You just can't do that on a big I4 jap bike without killing yourself. Obviously this example is more extreme than the difference between the two cars in question but it goes some way to highlighting my opinion and getting my point across.
Then with the M comes M running costs. An Inspection 2 service can easily soar into 4 figures. Tyres, brakes, insurance, petrol etc. If you use the car as a daily driver these costs can soon become very significant. That would be all well and good if the M provided a significantly improved and more exciting driving experience but....it just doesn't. Not on Britain's roads anyway.
You may consider my opinion heavily biased given that I own a 3.0Si and that's fair enough but remember that when I bought my car earlier in the year, I could have had a <1 year old Z4M Coupe for the same price as my 3.0Si. I wracked my brains for months trying to decide which to go for and after 6 months and 10k miles in my 3.0Si, I'm happy that I've made the right decision
Obviously you should drive both to form your own opinion, though.
Also, don't get a silver Coupe. My neighbour owns one and it looks crap when parked next to mine in the car park. She even said so herself!
Is there anything in particular you'd like to know?
