I got into a nasty accident at the end of June which forced me to bid farewell to my old Dakar Yellow G80 M3. Long story short – 800whp and RWD with DSC off while trying to flee from car thieves in a plateless Dodge Charger makes for a bad time. The drivers side front was completely caved in and there was significant damage to the structural components, suspension, etc. on top of damage to the actual S58, so it just wasnt salvageable.
As a result, I decided to go with something less shouty and more relaxed/classy this time around. Specs as follows:
2025 G80 M3 w/ 6MT
Individual Maldives Blue II Metallic on Tartufo full interior
Executive Package
Parking Assistance Package
19/20" M Dual-Spoke Silver Forged 825M Wheels
Carbon Fiber trim
Drive Recorder
Galvanic controls
M Carbon Bucket Seats
M Drive Professional
M Shadowline Lights
Huge thanks to Bens at BMW of Rockville for getting everything approved! The Tartufo buckets require the CA to put in a specific request in order for it to be considered and approved/denied and Bens was able to do it. There are several other CAs out there that can do it so be sure to ask before being told "no" by your CA simply because they cant put it in through their normal means.
The silver 825Ms look perfectly at home with the Maldives Blue paint. The best way to describe the paint is that it looks like Atlantis Blue but a bit less saturated/less intense hue. It does change colour a bit depending on the sun/lighting condition. The metallic flakes all around look splendid and overall, I wouldnt change a thing on this build.
Thoughts on pre-LCI vs. LCI: The headlight DRLs are less iconic vs. the pre-LCI but they still look good, Id be happy with either tbh. I also prefer the graphics of iDrive 7 but do like the large screen of iDrive 8.5. For example, I feel like the old iDrive 7 heads up display had a better rev counter that looked better/was larger vs. the new one. If I could use the graphics of iDrive 7 on the larger screen of iDrive 8/8.5 – thatd be heaven. The galvanic controls offered on the LCI are an absolute must – they feel and look great. The sound system is also improved to the point where I dont feel like I need to code in the B&W sound profile from BimmerCode to make it sound decent. I do recall needing to dial in the 6-8 band EQ (I forget how many there were) to make it sound decent, no such issues on the 25 as it sounds great out the box; just changing the built in EQ to my music preferences has left me very happy. Its also nice that there is M tri-colour stitching on the shift boot leather as well as the seatbelt, as my old 22 did not have these (perhaps due to being a 6MT or parts shortages). I personally am not the biggest fan of plastering the M tri-colour on everything but its there now whereas it wasnt before – just an observation. I also absolutely love the new steering wheel as it looks so much sleeker than before.
Ive also noticed certain buttons/switches are a bit tighter/more taut. The indicator stalk, buttons everywhere, etc. all feel much tighter and better than my 2022. Maybe my 22 G80 was a Friday afternoon car? Either way, I am 100% enjoying the LCI G80, but should iterate that no one should upgrade to the LCI unless they are forced to as both the pre-LCI and LCI are both great. The only con: theres nowhere to mount my cell phone. I will eventually tune this G80 and would like to keep an eye out for car data displayed on the bootmod3 app, so I need a mount, but there doesnt appear to be any good mounts for the LCI yet.
Enjoy some pics All photos shot on a Canon EOS R8 with either a Sigma Art EF 24-70mm f/2.8 or a Sigma Art EF 50mm f/1.4.
First off: the last shot I took of my old Dakar Yellow G80:
Then the first of the new Maldives Blue II G80!
