{"id":1000,"date":"2010-09-04T22:01:12","date_gmt":"2010-09-05T04:01:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mcoupebuyersguide.com\/?p=1000"},"modified":"2011-03-21T21:19:17","modified_gmt":"2011-03-22T03:19:18","slug":"s54-m-coupe-vs-jaguar-xke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.mcoupebuyersguide.com\/index.php\/2010\/09\/s54-m-coupe-vs-jaguar-xke\/","title":{"rendered":"S54 M Coupe vs Volvo P1800, Jaguar XKE, E36 M3, E46 M3C"},"content":{"rendered":"

Don Eilenberger has had the fortune to own some very nice cars over the years including his current S54 M Coupe. Here’s how they compare:<\/p>\n

I’m on my second M-Coupe now. Had one in ’99 when they first came out, now have an ’01 S54 one.<\/p>\n

Volvo P1800<\/h3>\n

Other cars of some interest I’ve owned (or own) – lots of Volvo P1800’s (S’s and an E). A 2,700lb car with 115-130HP. 0-60 was actually respectable for it’s time, a tad over 10 seconds (fast was ANYTHING under 12..) Handling was where the P1800 came into it’s own. Even with skinny 180-15 tires on it, it outhandled almost any sports car of the era that wasn’t a Ferrari, or.. Jag, which was my next neat car. The P1800’s set me up for 2 seat sports cars, with a short overhang, and the driver seat closer to the rear wheels.<\/p>\n

1965 Jaguar XKE Roadster<\/h3>\n

Had a ’65 XKE Roadster. The view down the hood of the M-Coupe is about identical to the XKE view, except the XKE had functional\u00a0 louvers in the hood and chrome washer jets – plus 3 wipers.<\/p>\n

Handling was outstanding for narrow tall tires, ride quality was excellent due to the full independent suspension (rare at the time), and performance – the car weighed less then 3,000lbs, and had an honest 275HP 4.2Liter straight 6 in it. It did 0-60 in something like 7 seconds, outstanding for it’s time. Top speed was 150MPH, again, outstanding for the time. Mine would do an honest 140MPH with the top down.<\/p>\n

Jaguar XKE 4.2 Performance<\/a><\/p>\n

The driving experience of the XKE, bear-trap clutch pedal, direct no-power steering comes closest to the M-Coupe. It was a raw visceral car, easily capable of chirping the tires in 2nd gear at 40MPH, something I resist doing in the M-Coupe (but I’m sure it would if I turned off the DSC.)<\/p>\n

1998 E36 M3<\/h3>\n

That car started my love of I6 engines. I owned a lot of BMWs through the years, but one other favorite worth comparing to the M-Coupe was the E36\/M3. Had a convertible with the S52 engine and 5-Speed ZF. Much like the M-Coupe the grip on corners never stopped, and the S52 engine could pull like a freight train. It had a certain raw quality to it compared to the current E46\/M3 convertible, which is much more civilized than the M-Coupe.<\/p>\n

2002 E46 M3 Convertible<\/h3>\n

I now own 2 M’s, the M-Coupe and the ’02 M3C. If I was given the choice of only owning one of them, the M-Coupe is the keeper. The E46\/M3C is my winter beater.. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

There is more power in the E46\/M3C, but it’s used less effectively (more weight by about 400lbs does that..) The shifter in the M-Coupe is far superior to the M3 shifter (which was fully reworked during a clutch job recently), having a much more precise pattern. Clutch on the M3 takes about 1\/2 the effort of the M-Coupe, but the M-Coupe beats itfor feel once I removed the rubber hose (and restrictor) and replaced it with a flexible stainless hose.<\/p>\n

I saw mention of the exhaust note on the coupe – I love it. It’s deep and not obnoxiously loud. Unfortunately – I also love the “rasp” the M3is imfamous for – it’s such a great mechanical sound I wish the M-Coupe had a bit of it (although it has attracted some undesired LEO attention once or twice.)<\/p>\n

M3 radio, HVAC, seats, interior room, interior finish quality all beat out the M-Coupe, but it doesn’t actually matter. The M3 is a bit too civilized to really make my blood rush. The M-Coupe is a perfect combination of raw motoring and performance for me. That’s why I’m on my 2nd one. I bought this one after test driving one for a friend who was considering buying one, and I remembered just how much fun the M-Coupe was. It still is, and it’s usually the one I pick to drive if I don’t take my BMW bike to work.<\/p>\n

If you have a comparison to share, please send it to me at jon@mcoupebuyersguide.com<\/a> and I’ll post it.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Don Eilenberger has had the fortune to own some very nice cars over the years besides his current S54 M Coupe including Volvo P1800s, a Jaguar XKE Roadster, an E36 M3 and an E46 M3 Convertible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[52,51,47,53,48],"class_list":["post-1000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-comparisons","tag-e36","tag-e46","tag-jaguar-xke","tag-m3","tag-volvo-p1800"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.mcoupebuyersguide.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1000","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.mcoupebuyersguide.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.mcoupebuyersguide.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.mcoupebuyersguide.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.mcoupebuyersguide.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1000"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/archive.mcoupebuyersguide.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1000\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1621,"href":"https:\/\/archive.mcoupebuyersguide.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1000\/revisions\/1621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.mcoupebuyersguide.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.mcoupebuyersguide.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.mcoupebuyersguide.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}