Quote:
Originally Posted by richard in NC
Not to beat a dead horse but relative to the X3M base S58 vs the S55 M2C or any other BMW I've owned in some time, "the X3M is very weak on low end torque" is an absolute statement.
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It's not the X3M per se having the low-end torque issue: it's the S58. The new M3/M4 have the same low-end torque issue.... and so will the new G87 M2 with its detuned S58. (Joe Achilles has a video on the '20 X3MC where he complains about the low-end torque; and he has a new video on his M3C where he also complains about the same low-end torque.)
The issue is something you can work around - driving in D2 is the easiest fix. Downshifting once or twice when you need to make a quick move - rather than stabbing the throttle - is also a good fix.
I've found the problem is really only annoying when you're in 2nd gear, and the S58 just does not want to shift into first gear (in fact it won't shift in D1 unless you go WOT). In 2nd gear, the relation between throttle and acceleration is not what you would expect and all of us who've driven the S58 have at least one story where we expected acceleration, didn't get it, and thought we were going to be rear-ended.
In higher gears, the car downshifts and it's not an issue.
If you are manually shifting you have to squeeze your left hand 3 or 4 times, which means your aggressive overtakes need to be thought out in advance ... which is probably safer anyway.
The big question for me is did BMW design the S58 intentionally this way? Or was this a negative effect they couldn't overcome?