[191Le]

I bought my 6spd black metallic M4 w/comp pkg brand new January 24, 2018. I love this car and after some modifications 😉 it’s fast.
With that said, after driving my buddies 2018 Zl1 I was blown away by the muscle performance! So leas than two weeks ago, I got a bought a new 2019 6spd black Zl1 1le.
Initial thoughts: the 1Le car looks menacing next to the BMW and the stock performance is no question on another level. With that said, the BMW has a sexy factor plus can hold its own on the road but has no chance vs this Camaro (which is still in break in period).

With that said, the interior on the BMW is cleaner and I think will hold up longer vs the camaro’s alcantara trim. Like I mentioned, I’m still breaking in the Zl1 had its 500 mile oil change yesterday. Can’t wait to really open it up👍.

Anyone else make the switch from German to American muscle?

Thanks!

[Rayvan]

I still have my Benz, but it's not high-performance like your Beemer. (300C). I was going to sell it, but now that I've had the Camaro for awhile, I can see a reason to have both. Not knocking the Camaro, it's a total keeper, but it's really a second car, for sure.
Benz is a lot quieter inside, as it's loaded with sound deadening. . Sometimes that's nice. Going back to it after a few weeks in the 1LE, and it's SOOOooooo different.

[JK001]

Many on this forum have switched from M and P cars. The 1LE and ZLE are on another planet when it comes to performance for the 2-3x less the money. Just wish the interior and build quality was a little better, but hey, can't always have everything...

Enjoy your car!

[TRZ06]

Originally Posted by 191Le

I bought my 6spd black metallic M4 w/comp pkg brand new January 24, 2018. I love this car and after some modifications �� it’s fast.
With that said, after driving my buddies 2018 Zl1 I was blown away by the muscle performance! So leas than two weeks ago, I got a bought a new 2019 6spd black Zl1 1le.
Initial thoughts: the 1Le car looks menacing next to the BMW and the stock performance is no question on another level. With that said, the BMW has a sexy factor plus can hold its own on the road but has no chance vs this Camaro (which is still in break in period).

With that said, the interior on the BMW is cleaner and I think will hold up longer vs the camaro’s alcantara trim. Like I mentioned, I’m still breaking in the Zl1 had its 500 mile oil change yesterday. Can’t wait to really open it up��.

Anyone else make the switch from German to American muscle?

Thanks!

Maybe they have made some changes to the comp. M4, but my 16' M3 was crap compared to my SS 1LE in every way except interior and power-train.

The M3 had crappy rebound control and the shock damping curves were embarrassing for an M car. The car struggled for traction even with super sticky extreme performance tires, the stability/traction control (even in MDM mode) was very over zealous and worked against you. The rear-end would get all sorts of out of whack with any hard braking that wasn't in a straight line. I felt the car was so unstable, I moved to Ohlin coil-overs (which then made the ride not as daily driver friendly, however it did tame the rear-end and fix the poor damping.

My brake rotors would get pad deposits on them with any hard braking, which would cause vibrations (poor pad material selection mated to the steel rotors). All 4 door seals creaked over any driveway and bumps (not an issue in the M4). After a failed attempt of replacing all the seals, them ended up 3Ming all the contact points.

The only positive thing I can say about the my M3 was the interior was MARGINALLY nicer (I did not have the extended leather option), and the drive-train paired with the DCT was on point.

I paid 69K for my M3 and felt I over paid and it under delivered after a 5 hour drive back home and confirmed after break-in when I started really pushing it.

Fast forward 3 years to the M3 lease-end. I paid $47K for my 2018 SS 1LE and thought I under paid and the car over delivered with my 5 hour drive back home, confirmed by when I started pushing the car after break-in.

Everything is on-point on the SS 1LE, brakes that stop on a dime and have no vibrations, mechanical grip for days and a chassis able to handle it and the power. The e-diff that allows you to corner harder, and I stability/traction control system that was designed to work with you and the PTM modes are just icing on the cake. The MRC shocks that are well controlled and smooth.
The car looks the part from the get go. Proper wide wheels/tires, little wheel gap, wheels that are flush with the fenders, wheels that rival the aftermarket.

The interior that is much quieter than the M3 ever was. The only weak point of the SS 1LE was the rear cradle bushings that allowed some rear-end movement, I took care of that with the ZL1 1LE solid rear cradle bushings.

Since you have the ZL1 1LE, which is even more capable than the SS 1LE, you are golden.

Can you tell I still have some pretty strong feelings about my M3 experience?? LOL

The SS 1LE and ZLE are a couple of classes above the M3's in every performance category. You made a great move.

[TrackClub]

To the OP: plenty of folks have switched from Bimmers and Pcars as past threads will attest. I dont recall a single post regretting those decisions, albeit i have nothing against other marques. But i do enjoy passing most of them

Now TRZ06 post made me smile when i read his "drive home" impressions. I still recall when i took a test drive in my Vette many moons ago. It was a 5 yr old, super clean car with 12,000 miles on her. Coming from a heavily modded Stang GT i was blown away and bought her on the spot. Fast forward over a decade, while the Vette got transformed into a dedicated track car. But i missed driving her on a street. Then SS 1LE appeared and i took a test drive. I had asked the sales guy to help me set it to PTM Sport1 and i was blown away how it FELT. It only took about 15 mins. I will never forget how well balanced she was. I ended up buying one via email where i spend summers. At the end of this year, i will either order a 2020 SS 1LE, or a ZL1. We shall see...

Amazing cars for the price. Bar none! I drove my good bud's GT350 all day long on Arizona twisties and it just doesn't compare feedback wise. And the price is very high because Shelby. It was nice, but simply not as good.

Randy Pobst said in one of his vids: Camaro makes me a better driver. He nailed the whole Gen6 merit with this one comment.

[Reddy1LE]

My last performance car was a E92 335i (2010, so i had the last twin turbo )

The interior in that car I would say is much better than the camaro but performance... completely different level. I was stock with the 335i, no jb4 or anything. The ride is much better in the camaro to thanks to the mag ride. Cabin noise I would say is the same... if not a bit worse in the camaro.

Theres still something inside of me that wants a E92 M3 ZCP....

[191Le]

@Trz06 couldn’t agree more with what you said. Spot on analysis!