Went to Mckenna BMW last weekend to drive an E92 M3. Mind you, I just got done taking extended test drives in a 2009 Cayman S and a 2008 997 C4 earlier in the day. walked into the dealer, asked a sales associate abbout the new M3. He took me to the storage garage. Opened one up, turned it on...I then reached into my wallet to hand him my driver license, he then replied "sorry we have a policy to not allow test drives in M3s" WTF ?!. I really think I'm done with BMWs now...this guy lost a possible sale...

 

So they dont have demo's on M3's I dont think there is anything wrong with it. We all know how people treat cars on demo drives.........I wouldnt buy a M3 demo would you? You can't even drive the car hard since its not broken in. However, if you were serious about buying an M3 in their inventory you could have demo'd one.

 

I was already leaning towards P-Car...I just had to at least ride in a new M3...wasnt planning to tear it up or anything...besides the Porsche dealer insisted I try "launch control" on the 2009 Cayman S and I laid down 20 feet of burned rubber on the street!

 

So you're going to drop $60k on a car you haven't driven?

That is NOT your problem as a buyer. The dealership can find ways to not have their people let you redline a brand spanking new M3 on test drives. If the issue is people wanting to drive the car, dealers can use some creativity.

But to expect someone to buy a car like that without driving it is ridiculous.

 

How quick did the 09 Cayman S with PDK feel?

 

I agree. I'd never buy a car that I haven't driven. I walked into a MB dealership a couple months ago and they let me test drive their only C63 on the lot. In this market you'd think dealerships would bend over backwards to get you to buy a car.

 

Same thing happened to me a couple weeks back. My mom was looking to pick up a DCT M3 and I found a dealership that had 3 of them. I decided to take the drive out with her to check them out. We showed up at the dealership and I asked to speak with a sales advisor. Of course we get most quite and non knowledgeable salesman in the show room. I explanied to him that we had just been test driving a 6 speed e93 M3 a couple days prior but that she wanted a DCT. I told him that I had a cheque in my pocket and if everything went well we would be signing a deal that day. First off, as with you, we had to go to their "special storage garage" but no one in the dealership actually knew how to get into the garage. Finally get into the garage and start looking at the cars. My mom ask if we can take it for a test drive while I am on the phone with my old man and the salesman says "We don't normally allow test drives on M3's because people in the market for an m3 don't need test drives and already know what they are buying." My old man hears this on the phone and tells me to walk out of the place right away. I get off the phone with my old man and tell the sales man that I have never be denied a test drive on any car be it porsche, bmw, mercedes and that I would never entertain buying a car that I have not driven. Furthmore I am an M customer ( we took my z4 mcoupe to the dealership... which the sales was looking over and remarking on before we went to look at the m3) and I want a test drive. He responds with "well you know every kid comes in here and wants to drive an m3 blah blah blah." I am no kid and furthermore it is my mom asking for the test drive. I finally told him that if there is no test drive there is no way there will be a car sold today. He said he is going to make a couple calls and finally comes back with a set of keys for the car. I get it out on to a main road which is a 50mph and when I go to accelerate up to the speed limit the car stops at 30mph.... It was still in transport mode! Either way went back to the dealership and told him to give me a cash deal price on both the car they had on the lot and one ordered to our specs. He says he will "email" us! Needless to say we walked out of the dealership and went and purchased a 09 DCT e92 M3 from our local dealership the next morning. I now know why we buy all our cars from our local dealership. We are picking up the M3 on may 7th at the performance center!

 

^its the opposite for us. our local BMW Dealership is crap. when my dad wanted to buy his 330i in 2006 we bought if from them but they messed up every service, they didnt write the appointments down, and we had to reschedule. needless to say when he bought his 08 335i from the dealership down in agusta. there a lot better. and its a nice plesent drive too!!

 

not that an M3 is a F430, but you don't get to test drive F-cars either. If that's their policy, then so be it. Only time will tell if it works to their advantage or not.

And to be fair, when I had my 3series, i'd try to go to Dealers to find used/leased M's to tool around in. No interest in buying.

 

I had to drive a friend's e92M prior to getting mine, but that was back when most dealers didn't have more than one or two. These days there are a lot of used e90/92Ms for sale at dealers, at least here in Houston, and I'm more than sure that you could test drive one of those.

 

My old man was offered a test drive in a 430 when we were at Ferrari of NJ about 8 months back. Clearly when I say we are ready to buy today it means I am not just looking to get an m3 to tool around it.

 

It's very odd because, I have been to several dealerships looking at there M3 inventory. I was clearly denied a test drive of an E92 M3 at Center BMW in Southern California. They had the exact car I wanted and it had me upset I couldn't even take it for a spin! (Mind you I have an E92 335i right now I was going to trade in and walk right out with the M3).


Oddly enough, it was basically got into my head that no dealers were going to let me test drive these cars. As I went to New Century BMW to see what they would offer me for the 335, they had an identical M3 as the last dealer (as in everything was perfect to my specifications), and, he handed me the keys and told me to take it for a spin!



Weird, I guess you just got to get lucky with a cool sales guy?
I'm am still pending the sale of my 335 but will definately be getting the M3 from New Century just because they let me drive the car.

 

whats better, buying a car from a dealer knowing he hasnt let every tom dick or harry take it out and beat the crap out of it or buying from a dealer who makes sure the car is not driven and abused until its sold

obviously i wouldnt want to buy a car without a test drive but part of me respects a dealer who wants to take car of his inventory

i heard absolutely no-one could get a test drive of a z06 when they first came out

 

it really depends on how high up the echelon that model is for that marquee and the dealer inventory. the more limited the model, the less chance the dealer is going to let anyone go for a test drive. but i figure e92 m3 is a dime a dozen.

fwiw, my local bmw dealer let me test drive an e39 m5 years ago when it was brand new. back in its days of glory. then a couple years ago at the local porsche dealership, they wouldn't even let me test drive a used 996 gt3. go figure.

anyways, test drives don't really mean squat unless you're 'driving it like you stole it'.

 

I was prolly gonna get an M3...that is...until I drove the p-cars . I do not want to commit to Porsche untill I at least experience the new M3...The E36 and E46 cars i had/have were great.


The PDK Cayman S was really quick utilizing the launch control...she just blasted off the line like a bat out of hell...tire smoke and all...the rest of the time she bahaved like a regular automatic/steptronic