2008 BMW M3 Review

Specifications

I’ve spent a lot of extremely enjoyable miles behind the wheel of a number of M3s over the years. It started with a Euro version of the E36 M3 back in 1994, a car powered by a 286-horsepower 3.0-liter six that was never sold here in the U.S. I never got a chance to take out the North American version of this car that arrived the following year, although I’ve been told it was very good. I’ve yet to play with an E30 M3 either, which now enjoys a cult-like following (if you’ve got one let me know as I’d love to do a “classic” story on it), but then again I put the E46 M3 through its paces on many weeklong occasions, in coupe and drop-top form, and other than occasionally cursing its SMG shifting mechanism I always left the driver’s seat smiling.

Now BMW’s got me anticipating the new E92 M3 I took a seat in at the Frankfurt auto show in September, and more recently at the LA auto show. It looks fabulous and appears to have all the right ingredients for superstardom amongst its compact luxury rocket ship peers, but I’m going to save my guffawing for the test drive. You see, I named the current M5 “ultimate sport sedan” before driving it, because the three previous generations were so fabulous I couldn’t conceive of a way BMW would mess up the formula, and while the new M5 is ruddy talented at blasting to 60 mph and beyond while tackling right-angle corners at otherworldly speeds, the SMG-equipped example I drove felt as if it was doing all of the work on my behalf and that I was just along for the ride, rather than an integral part of the man-machine relationship. I’m hoping that this new V8-powered M3 takes over where the old M5 left off, and that I’ll immediately feel connected and therefore at one with the vehicle.

No, I’m not going to start chanting “Om” right now or imitate a leap for joy by yogic flying, but I will take a moment to run over a few items that give me hope for the new M3, and the first is the return to a four-door configuration. BMW hasn’t done this since that previous-generation E36 model I mentioned earlier, and being that this was such a revered model I think that the move bodes well for the new car. OK, so I’m pushing spiritual connections a bit with this one. After all, whether the car has two doors or four probably won’t make a giant difference to its overall performance or whether it does a better job than the current M5 at conjoining with its driver, unless the company’s engineers manage to take advantage of the four-door’s inherently stiffer body structure and improve its handling over the coupe.

What will matter more to M3 fans is the sinfully daring 414-horsepower V8 with a full eight throttle bodies, double-VANOS variable valve timing and a fly-by-wire throttle control system mounted under that subtly sculpted hood, breathing through chrome-vented nostrils at its bulging center, extruding heat via another set of M5-like vents just aft of the front wheel cutouts and exhaling through four fat pipes at its rear. They’ll also appreciate the innovative new active differential, as they will the slick-shifting six-speed manual gearbox, and some will thank the stars their beloved SMG paddle-shifters are still optional, attached behind an all-new ultra-thick leather-wrapped steering wheel framing a moderately revised gauge package over the regular 3, and a richly appointed leather covered dash. The exclusive M3 seats seem wonderfully supportive too, something I quickly learned while on the show floor and look to confirm over a longer test. And those sitting in the rear of that new sedan version will find it much more accommodating than the old E36 M3’s back seats were.

This new four-door received a great deal more engineering work than a quick glance might do service to, being that everything but the trunk lid, doors and body structure is new or at least heavily remade. This is obvious visually, although mechanically, while completely updated from the regular car, there’s really nothing different between any M3 variant. I like the fact that a regular automatic version will be available, not that I’d buy one but it certainly doesn’t make sense to penalize those who’d rather have a modern, sophisticated electronic automatic shift through their gears for them. And with SMG soon sporting a dual-clutch mechanism similar to Audi’s S tronic (previously DSG) called M DCT, I’d probably find myself questioning if I really wanted to live day in and day out with the DIY gearbox.

What about the naysayers who are worried about the V8 engine ruining the seemingly ideal balance of the old car’s weight distribution? After all, won’t two additional cylinders add ungainly weight to a car that purports performance as its number one ideal? In theory this should be true, but in reality it isn’t. The new larger and more powerful V8 is actually 33 pounds lighter than the outgoing inline-six, for a total of 445 pounds. What’s more, a V8, at only four cylinders deep, is shorter than an inline six, allowing it to be pushed back towards the car’s middle for a more mid-ship configuration, resulting in even better balance than what could be had in the old car. So much for unfounded worries.

And another thing, this car comes very well equipped with goodies, but I’m only going to mention a few here due to their importance. The first set is safety related, and includes six airbags, three-point inertia-reel seat belts on all seats, belt latch tensioners, belt force limiters, plus bi-xenon dual headlights. Adaptive headlights are optional. An option I’d spend good money on would be the BMW Individual High End Audio System sporting a nine-channel amplifier and 16 high-performance speakers.

One of the unique points sedan buyers will experience that coupe owners won’t is the four-door’s added weight. Most won’t give a moments thought to 110 pounds of extra mass, although some will find anything that increases an M3’s poundage heresy. It shouldn’t be difficult to figure out where the weight went, of course. Those rear doors and their reinforced cutouts took up the majority of gains, while a larger rear bench seat is heavier than the smaller two-place coupe seats thanks to the need for three abreast accommodation. I suppose the sedan’s plebian roof material adds to its girth too; it’s simply pressed from steel rather than formed out of woven carbon fiber. Of course, this last fact should make the sedan the value leader, being that the reinforced composite roof will be much more expensive to manufacture and therefore should make the coupe pricier. The retractable hardtop version will be priciest just because it’s a convertible.

I, for one, would opt to save money by buying the sedan and then hope that the four-door’s potential for greater structural rigidity would win out in the long run. The fact that my dear significant other would never support me buying a car with merely two doors might also add to the motivation in going for the sedan, but then again there are other factors to consider when dropping a sum that will most likely be higher than the $48,000+ BMW asked for the previous coupe.

The first would be whether this new M3 is as good as others in this class. After all, when the E30 M3 came out it was in a class of one, and the E36 version certainly didn’t endure the same level of competition the E92 is up against today. Soon, the king of the compact luxury hill will be Mercedes-Benz’s outrageous C63 AMG, another super-sedan sporting even more power than the new M3, and Audi’s sensational RS4 is certainly no slouch off the line either, thanks to a 420-horsepower V8 of its own. American iron fans will be quick to point out that Cadillac’s upcoming CTS-V is expected to come to market with something in the neighborhood of 500 horsepower, and let us not forget Lexus’ upcoming IS-F with a V8 boasting over 400 horsepower. The fact that BMW has shown up with a four-door variant to fight these super-sedans head to head is a good start for sure, but this is hardly a time to remain brand-loyal simply because a bunch of savvy marketers managed to coin the phrase “Ultimate Driving Machine” for the Bavarian marque some 32 years ago, a slogan BMW dropped last year as it is. If the new M3, in coupe, sedan or retractable convertible form expects to regain superiority over its rivals, let alone maintain perceived authority, then the new version had better show up to the party with something truly astonishing.

I’m certainly readying myself to be impressed, and promise to hold my superlatives to a minimum if BMW delivers the goods as expected. Will they do it? I’ll let you know as soon as I get into one …