BMW M3 COUPE
The M3 Is Back, But Is It Really The Ultimate Driving Machine? Andy Enright Finds Out If It Does Exactly What It Says On The Tin
With all three generations of BMWs favourite M-car before us at the
BMW M3 launch, the crowd voted with their feet. The majority gravitated to the latest E46 M3, a significant gaggle clustered round the original bespoilered E30 M3, but like the problem second album or the disaffected middle child, the sober suited E36 M3 received little attention. With its successor, the latest E46 M3 Coupe, BMW have tacitly admitted that subtlety didnt work and have returned to wings, wheelarches and wantonness.
In order to understand the significance of the latest M3, its important to understand how it was brought into being. The first E30 M3 was a homologation special, a car built in limited numbers for the road solely to allow BMW to race them in Touring Car competition. This granted the M3 a certain kudos amongst motorsports cognoscenti, and its appeal grew. The four-cylinder model went through a variety of guises, but an indicator of where BMW saw the M3 brand going was provided by the E30 M3 Convertible, a model frowned upon by most as sullying the cars hardcore reputation.
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The second generation continued this theme, yet still proved to be the most popular with UK buyers. The E36 M3 was a vastly more powerful car, its six-cylinder engine developing 321bhp in Evolution guise, but it never developed the cult following of the old car. This was due in no small part to its understated looks and crushingly competent chassis that ironed a lot of the fun out of the driving experience. Many
BMW enthusiasts felt the car didnt warrant the M designation, feeling it was a softer-edged model that was more deserving of something like the Bavarian companys traditional CSi branding for sporting coupe models.
Available in coupe, saloon and convertible models, the E36 M3 was a sales success without ever challenging for a place in the hearts of fans of the marque.
"The M5 now has a faded wash of penultimateness about it as the M3 takes the best bits and distils them into a more concentrated bundle of malevolence"
The latest generation E46 M3 looks set to rectify this issue, both as a Coupe and a Convertible. Dealing a double knockout of more power and sledgehammer visual impact, the car generated universal approval at its first showing during the 1999 Frankfurt Motor Show. Displayed in a titanium finish, the detailing on the show car was beautifully judged. Big front wheelarches that bulged outwards like gym-toned muscle, a deep front spoiler, chromed side intakes and big wheels shod with an unapologetically anorexic sliver of tyre acted as an unambiguous statement of intent.
Whereas most of the rawness gets rubbed off show cars when they become productionised this hasnt happened with the E46 M3. Nonetheless, its not really a car you can easily lose your heart to. In many respects its a Michael Schumacher of a car; extravagantly talented in a swaggering, strutting, self-satisfied manner. "BMW stands for automotive perfection", claimed one senior suit at the launch press conference, echoing the car's massive superiority complex. If one were to pick fault with the M3, the primary issue would be the cars braking performance. With 343bhp on tap, the ability to scrub off speed assumes an enhanced significance, and the brakes, whilst improved over the previous model, still fall some way short of the overall excellence of, for example, a
Porsche Boxster or
Honda S2000. The gearchange is not without its detractors either.
The SMG semi automatic box is surprisingly competent but, for most, the standard car will be more than enough. The engine, the interior and exterior styling, the handling and the packaging are all exemplary, but perhaps the most surprising aspect of the M3 is the noise. For drivers who are used to the silky 3 Series coupes, the M3 will administer a sonic battering; the sugary 3.2-litre engine note turns into an insistent drilling right up to the 8,200rpm red line.
Unlike the old 321bhp unit, the new six-cylinder engine doesnt make you work to access that power, its present and correct at every dab of the accelerator, but still avoids its predecessors off-throttle jerkiness. Depress the Sport button for even more responsive throttle reactions, seemingly hardwiring you into the cars nerve centre. For those who may feel tempted to drive hard with the Dynamic Stability Control system switched off, ponder for a moment why BMW saw fit to incorporate it in the first place. With all that power passing through those rear wheels, the rear of the car is lively in extremis if a leaden right boot is used.
True, a clever differential and an excellent chassis will help to recover a wayward back end, but who in the car's target audience will be quick or skilled enough to catch a sideways M3 when it starts sliding with some serious physics behind it? Whoever they end up being, these drivers will love the new car's pit-bull posture even more, with its taut bulges, tarmac-tickling front air dam and shark-fin roof aerial. But they are not the target audience that BMW had in mind. And therein lies the rub. The M3 is a spectacular achievement; a car which makes a Porsche 911 feel lightweight and a
TVR Tuscan appear positively prehistoric.
The BMW roundel on the front of the car is supposed to be a signal of your deep appreciation of engineering excellence, an exemplar of dynamic purity, but with the M3 it now signifies something else. A £41,155 bargain for the committed conspicuous consumer.
FACTS AT A GLANCE
CAR: BMW M3 Coupe
PRICES: £41,155 - on the road
INSURANCE GROUP: 20
CO2 EMISSIONS: 287g/km
PERFORMANCE: [M3 Coupe] Max Speed 155mph / 0-60mph 5.1s
FUEL CONSUMPTION: [M3 Coupe] (Euro average) 23.7mpg
STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Twin front, side and head airbags / ABS / DSC
WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: Length/Width/Heightmm 4488/1947/1369
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