Germany's Sport Auto magazine has tested them head to head. Taken from another forum:

E90 vs E92

0-100km/h: 4,9 / 4.8 sec
0-200km/h: 15,9 / 15,7 sec

Hockenheim: 1:14,6 / 1:14,3 min
Slalom 18m: 68,6 / 69,2 km/h


The E90 M3 sedan is a touch heavier than the E92 M3 coupe, but the performance difference is almost negligible.

Why did I make this post?? Because I'm tired of people complaining how a 2 door M3 should not be compared to a 4 door C63 AMG. To me, it's ALWAYS been about the top of the line 3 series (M3) vs the top of the line C-class (C-AMG car). In the previous generation E46 M3, there was no sedan, so the E46 M3 coupe was the only car to compare to the 4 door C32/C55 AMG. But now there is a E90 M3 sedan and it doesn't lose much in terms of acceleration or handling compared to its coupe brother.

So whatever the recent reviews have concluded about the E92 M3 and C63 probably applies to the E90 M3 as well.

Bottom line:

What the C63 does do very well is smoke the new M3 in straight line acceleration......and this advantage has widened much more compared to the C55 and E46 M3. For many people, this may be enough to justify buying the C63 over the E90/92 M3. But there are other aspects to look at.

The E90/92 M3 with adjustable dampers rides better than the C63 (without the performance pack) and is a more comfortable car on bumpy roads. Historically, this was the C-AMG car's claim to superiority as a more comfortable daily driver. M3 has won this claim now according to almost every review out there. And with a 4 door M3 available with optional 7 speed dual clutch gearbox, there is NO PRACTICAL ADVANTAGE the C63 has anymore.

The E90/92 M3 is a faster car on short tight tracks (Evo magazine, Top Gear, Fifth Gear, etc). Not a huge surprise to me here, but the gap has WIDENED compared to the E46 M3 vs the W203 C55. The C32 was a quite a bit behind the E46 M3 in terms of laptimes and handling, but MB/AMG managed to close the gap significantly with the C55 such that it's laptimes were always within striking distance, while still maintaining a more comfortable ride for everyday use on the streets. The only thing missing is what time Sport Auto will achieve with the C63 on the long Nurburgring track. We should find out in the next few months so that we can compare to the E92 M3's time of 8:05 minutes (with R-compound tires).

Sure, the C63 is better than the C55 in every aspect (except perhaps ride quality), but the problem is the E90/92 M3's improvement over the E46 M3 is even more impressive.

 

Can you post a link to that test, I can't find any reviews of the M3 sedan at any of the main car magazine webpages or even through google. BMW haven't even done the media launch of the sedan they have only released photos. I hope next years facelifted E90 the M3 sedans front it really improves the looks of the car.

 

I am assuming that the M3 sedan was a manual. With DSG gearbox, the M3 will be quicker again both in acceleration and track time, which narrows the gap between it and C63, while increases the gap on the track! No doubt, C63 isn't the track car an M3 is...

 

Thanks for this, now we can eliminate a lot of emotion from the discussion.

 

FINALLY! Now maybe everyone will shut the EFF up!

 

If MB had given us a decent interior for the C63, that would have been a least something of a reason to go with the C63 over the M3.

Basically, its looking like the only reasons to go with the C63 are
a) exterior styling
b) three-pointed star

c) straight line acceleration? Pleeeeze. So the C63 is a little faster than the M3 at a stoplight.

 

That void is going to get smaller as well as soon as BMW's new tranny is released. Another gear and quicker shifts? Thanks. I still think the C63 is a better looking car, and has overcome a lot of the stigma against the C-class as being inferior to the long-reigning 3-series, they still have a few steps to go to bridge that performance gap.

 

What new tranny? Educate me please!

 

The DSG 7 speed.

 

How is it compared to previous trannies? I was in a 2003 SMG M3 a few years ago and I hated how "jerky" the trans felt in auto mode. I love the idea of SMG/DSG but hated the lack of smoothness in the shifts when just cruising and not worrying about agressive driving.

 

DSG is very smooth. It's uses two clutches, one for even numbered gears and the other for odd. Audi have used it for years on their smaller 2.0 and 3.2 engines. It combines a smooth auto mode with the option of switching to a fast paddle shift mode.

As regards SMG, the M3s came with SMGII. SMGIII on the E60 M5 is far superior in every area but it is still not smooth like DSG or a regular auto. Spend time with it though, and provided you bought the car for the performance not the image, it connects you to the car the way drivers of many other marques can only dream of.

 

Thanks! This is good news to me...

 

When will the M3 sedan be in showrooms?

 

Believe or not, friend of mine sold his six months old 335i E92 for a new Maserati GT because he really hated the E92's poor interior styling and quality. He has really appreciated the fine quality of AMG leather/seatings on my C55. People get the same sports seats whether he gets a 323i or a M3.
Have owned a 330i E90 for 2 years, one thing I am pretty sure, the 3er seatings are not any comfortable, even we only do very short trips here.
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It almost seems as if the auto manufactures are spending more R/D and money on their engines and beginning to pay less attention to the interiors of these fine cars. The C63 interior is a joke and I haven't heard anything special about the M3 as well... On the other hand Audi has the weaker engines but better interiors...

 

Stop comparing these cars on paper. The C63 is an incredible machine.

 

Check out the discussion forums re the new S5. Stories of all kinds of wacked out problems with the new model coming from new buyers.

 

I doubt this will be much of an issue, I think people who will buy the E90/92 M3, first thing they'll probably do is put a 'dropped' suspension on it and +1 wheel/tire. So its really a moot point.

The C63 will be amazing. I'm sure there has feedback from some people they want something more hardcore, I think AMG is just meeting that request.

 

Its not DSG, its DCT.

 

YO pictures don't do c63's interior jusctice trust me , my friend has a c300 with navy , it looks gorgeous and the quality is just out of place , ofcourse it's not S or cl interior but for small saloon it looks really cool it feels very nice when you sit in it because of the quality , MUCHHHHHHH better than his slk350 he got rid of , muchhhhhhh better

 

As well as acceleration from a standstill the C63 crushes an M3 with the in-gear times also, so 95% of the time the cars are being driven the C63 will be the winner.

However times are just a part of it, from what I have read the driving experience of the M3 is ahead of the C63, but both are good.

Finally the M3 exterior looks like a 335i or similar. The M3 interior looks like a 335i or similar. Something you cannot say about the C63. The M3 does not look like a £50k car because of this.

Nowadays you cannot say one is definitely better than the other as it depends on what each person weights their preferences.

Regards

Andy

 

A little issue on the W204 is the Seats Memory Buttons feel pretty fragile and are squeezed together which was felt quite slippy with my fingers on.
I know everyone says the dash looks too 'plastic'.
( Guess I can find a Carbon Fibre replacement of the really plastic looking steering wheel cover )
I will skip aluminium trims and take wood trims for sure.

I won't kiss the C63 interior, but I don't hate it like many do about the E90.

 

The steering wheel/gauge cluster are beautiful, but the rest of the dash just doesn't do anything for me. Too much plastic and vinyl on sweeping featureless surfaces. The seats look comfy but they don't come in red, and that's pretty much become a necessity for me at this point (just my opinion). I don't have many nice things to say about the E92/90 interiors, the 3-series just has bland interiors but at least there's a minimum of plastic.

 

Christ. It's the same thing but VAG already had the DSG name hence the different moniker. tata.

 

I wasnt disputing that it was the same or similar, I was correcting you on what its called. tata