Porsche 986 vs BMW Z3 M
 

Porsches suck BMWs rule :matchup:

LOL! I had to get that out of the way just to get everybody's attention LOL! I stated in an earlier post that I recently sold my Porsche 986 and replaced it with a BMW Z3 M. Actually I'm a big Porsche fan and I think they are AWESOME cars. I just thought, now that I've had the chance to drive my Z3 M for 400+ miles, some of you might find it interesting to hear my opinions on the two similar cars.

First let me say I'm not a expert on the topic but I have owned my share of sports cars and back in the day I spent my share of time on the track.

To be fair to the Porsche I must state that my 986 was the 2.5 and my new Z3 M is a 3.2 (honestly not a fair comparison).

Handeling - This goes to 986 hands down. The 986 handles like its on rails. Not to say the BMW isn't awesome it's just not "stuck to the ground" like the Porsche. When driving the Z3 hard into corners, you can feel that the rear-end of the car would easily come around if pushed. I honestly never had this sensation with my 986 (horsepower could play a part in this). If a person drove a Z3 M without ever driving a 986 they would say it was on rails LOL.

Acceleration - Hands down goes to the BMW Z3 M. This is not really worth noting due to the HP difference. It would be a much better comparison if I had owned a 986 S.

Overall performance - I find this very subjective. This very much depends on your personal style / skill of driveing (be it on the track or street). When I raced, you wouldn't call me a finness type of driver LOL. In my openion, finness drivers are more skillfull and this is where the Porsche 986 shines. The 986 is a finely tuned car that is almost track ready off the shelf. The BMW is more of a sliding around the corners, foot in the gas, smoken the tires roadster. I would have loved to have had my 986 and my Z3 M at the same time and run about 5 laps with each of them and compare my times. I would guess that my times would be better in the Z3 (because of my driving style). That being said, I think better drivers would probably turn better times with the 986. I'm going to call this a draw LOL

Everyday street driving - I give this to the BMW. This is also very subjective but the overall drivabilty of the BMW bodes well on the street. The Porsche needs to be wound up to get the true potential of the car. On the street this is not always possible and honestly many times not very practical. The BMW has a lower end grunt that is more street friendly / useable.

Comfort - The cockpit of the 986 seems much more roomy and with the frunk you can't beat the storage space (BMW has a very small trunk). I have to give BMW the edge when it comes to the seats. The seats in the M wrap around you like a glove. Actually they wrap around you so well, the bolsters almost stick out to the point that it makes it slightly hard to get in and out of the car (or maybe that just cause I'm 44 years old LOL) The ride is very similar, they are both roadsters so if your expecting a Cadilac ride forget it LOL.

Fit and finish - Let me say that I'm not a fan of the interiors on the standard Z3 but the Z3 M (in my opinion) has a much nicer interior than the 986. It just has a much higher quality feel to it. From the seats, dash and gauges, the BMW just has a fit and finish and overall quality to them that beats the Porsche. I have always thought that Porsche has fallen short on thier interiors. The exteriors on both cars are ecellent. Porsche and BMW pay great detail on smooth lines and consistant gaps between body panels. It is obvious that both cars are very high end but I feel that BMW pays a little more attention to detail.

Convertable top operation - HANDS DOWN PORSCHE 986. I know there can be a lot of problems with the 986 convertable top mechanism (I had to work on mine). Honestly, once you understand the 986 mechanism, it's a simple concept. The biggest downfall of the 986 top is all of it sensors. I'm basing this on totally functioning tops. On the BMW Z3 you have to unlatch 2 latches and then hold the top up the first 8" - 10" before the motor will engage ( I had to read the manule to verify this was standard operating procedure). In my opinion, if you have to hold the top up while waiting for the power top to engage it's kinda just a pain in the a$$ and might as well be manual. I have owned 6 convertables over the years and the BMWs is by far my least favorite.

Investment - The BMW Z3 M is a much rarer car than the Porsche and due to all the negative publicity that the 986 has gotten over the last few years the price contenues to fall. Though this makes them a great value, I feel it will be a long time before they will be considered an investment car.

Wow factor - Knowbody can deny the wow factor of Porsche's gold badge! Porsche's amazing racing pedigree and rich history proceeds itself. People would stop and point at my 986 thinking that they were gazing apon a $70,000 car. I know this will not happen with my BMW. I've had a few people say nice car but my Porsche would draw a crowd. I've already had a few people say you sold a Porsche for a BMW??? Unless your are a car enthousiast you would look at my car and say....look it's just another Z3.

:cheers:

I can agree on some of the points of the BMW (can't on the others due to no experience). My brother has a 1996 Z3 1.8, and the roof on his is completely manual. It's not a bad car at all, I liked driving it. It seems that BMW made improvements to the quality of interior materials since then as his seems to be subpar to my Boxster (and even to my 1980s-designed Mercedes).

Great write up, thanks for sharing! When I bought my 986 I also considered the Z3 but never got around to driving one. This forum sold me on the 986 so I have always wondered what I may have missed. I should say I have zero regrets with my 2001 S. Two years later and I am still thrilled to drive it! Yesterday I was at Home Depot(in my Tundra) and saw a Z3 M drive by, I smiled since I had just read your other thread on saying goodbye. Enjoy the new ride!:cheers: There are lots of other cars that I would love to own, but with limited resources, and garage spaces, I would have to give up my Boxster and I am just unable to do that:D

I think of the 'M' version as old school with respect to drop a powerful motor into a small light weight body
Something a kin to the Ace Cobra monsters
I have read that these 'M' car can be a bit of a handful with that extra power easily breaking the rear loose on demand
I too would think of one of these as an alternate to the 986 S
Enjoy

If I had to have a bmw, it would be one of these, a z8, an old 8 series, or the previous gen m6. Not much of a fan of modern bmws, but the older they get the more i like them. What really makes your z3 great is that it was as good as it could have been haha. *cough cough Porsche, where is our 3.8 boxster"

I have always like the Z3M
 

and most of the 2.8 and 3.0 Z3's are pretty good looking too. My dad recently has been shopping somewhat half heartedly for a convertible and was looking at the Z4 3.0si and C5 convertibles. I have been trying to push him toward the bimmer and even more so a Z3M as the earlier smaller engine cars are pretty affordable. I am particularly fond of the blue with the two tone blue/black interiors and came close to getting one before getting my 986. The fat fenders and dished wheels really make the car look aggressive and the interior is so much nicer than the normal Z3's (and even the Z4 IMO).

Since we're giving out opinions of the BMW Z - here's mine- I don't care for them. Wah Wah. If I was forced to drive a BMW again- it would be the lowest optioned 3 series. Everyone I know has problems with their BMW's and I sure had plenty with mine.

Now I've got to get back to reading about Porsches and IMS...

Why not talk him into a 986?

As I mentioned, I have a 986 S and a Z4M coupe. This is, IMHO, the most accurate and proper comparison between the two. Courtesy of TopGear:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqOv29FxyBA

These cars are so apples to oranges that to compare them is kind pointless. Pretty easy to find limits on the BMW (when the back end breaks loose) Zero to sixty is a nice stat but how much speed you take off to make a corner is much harder to engineer. BWM is pretty to look at but I love the used, worn away bar of soap look of the Boxster. Come on down to Indy and we can have a road race and a beer or six.

The 986 has "negative publicity"? Last I recall it was at or near the top of every roadster list, which the 987/981 have continued..

Prices have fallen because of excessive supply, the double-edged sword of a successful sports car.
Pure supply and demand economics. There are simply not enough buyers in the second-hand Porsche world to sustain prices with that much water-cooled inventory..

If you're referring to the negative publicity of the m96 engine among the enthusisasts, the average first time Porsche buyer knows little about it, has never heard of an IMS nor cracked heads, d-chunk, etc. And I'm not sure that most current m96 car owners are anymore informed on these issues. I would wager most only hear of the IMS issue when they go in for clutch job and their mechanic sells them on what it is and why they should upgrade.

that's a lot of "LOL" that story!

Yeah... I test drove a Z3 before I bought the 986. Not impressed. ;)
Not to mention that cartoonishly large schnozz.

Different strokes for different folks, I guess.

I was driving my fully restored 1979 Alfa Spider about two years ago, and I saw a 2000 BMW Z3 M for sale. I drove by it a couple of times, and I finally made the call to take a look at. I took it for test drive, and I was very disappointed in the feel of it,and the way the transmission shifted. I later drove a 1999, and I found that it shifted much better. A couple of months later I found an 04 Boxster S for sale, and I took it for a test drive. I immediately found it was so much more enjoyable to drive. I did not buy it, but I became serious about looking for one. I now have 2000 S. We love it!!!!

The M looks OK, but the Z's in general are just not appealing to me...nose too long. But thanks for the write up!

Say is the car front mid or normal front engine. Is the engine behind the front axle like in the s2k

The BMW Z3 M is your typical front engine roadster. BMW did an excellent job with the weight distribution being 51% on the front wheels and 49% on the back.

The answer is "D" all of the above. It is a straight 6, another reason I have never craved A BMW although I have allways rated handling as highly as power. The BMW straight 6 is so smooth & linear with it's power delivery it reminds me of my mom's sewing machine. Next of course is the interior. I test drove 2 Z3s & a Z4 before buying my Box. Every BMW 3+ years old I drove had delaminating vinyl surfaces & the tiny control buttons remind me of small plane interiors. Also drove a 99 M3 conv which was nice but I had driven many Boxsters at that point so it was not a contender. Oh, when the 1st drifting competition in the USA came to CA in 2003 I rented a 2003 330I conv for the competition. Like most BMW's it seemed to have the ultimate combination of comfortable ride & great handling suspension. I had a blast drifting it, but had to withdraw from the last round when I saw cords showing on the inside edge of the RR tire. Since that time I have driven several BMWs, mostly 5 or 7 series, & the newer the BMW the greater the loss of feel to the driver. Mostly throttle, steering, & transmission response time.

Wow - you must have some deep pockets, as the Zed 8's typically are very collectible and cost beacoup $$$.

Haha I never said it would be feasible, thing is I don't think people knew how expensive these would turn out when they were new, If I remember right top gear gave a review of the alpina version calling it one of the worst cars ever, but boy do they look good.