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Wheels Magazine
September, 2007

Nothing better illustrates the staggering potency of BMW's new M3 screamer than a direct comparison with the inspired M5. Same day, same driver on the legendary 20.8-kilometre Nürburgring Nordschleife circuit, where BMW hones the dynamics of every M car.

On the basis of a superior power-to-weight ratio - 213kW/tonne versus 195kW/tonne - it would be reasonable to predict advantage M5. But no: a smiling Gerhard Richter, vice president of BMW's M Division, says the M3 is 3.5 seconds quicker than the M5's 8min 10sec lap time. "The last car we develop is always the best," Richter claims, and you know he means it. "This is where we give our cars their soul."

After frustrating months of trickled information, hands at last can be laid on the new M3 and yes, it is smaller, lighter and more agile than its V10 sibling (if bigger and 85kg heavier than its predecessor). In a straight line it's just a tad slower - 4.8sec (claimed) to 100km/h, 0.1sec off the M5 - yet capable of cutting a full second from the third-gen M3's 13.9sec 0 to 400 metres time. Speed and thrills, then, can be taken for granted from the world's newest and (almost certainly) best V8.

At the international launch on the slippery roads inland of Malaga, Spain, and the brilliant 5.4km, 26-corner Ascari circuit, the question quickly becomes this: is the grown up, more mature fourth-generation M3, fighting the ruthless more weight/more power conundrum, almost too refined for its own good?

"We know exactly what our customers want," argues Richter. And with total sales of 174,000 M3s and counting - and predicted E92 volumes of 25,000 a year - to support his claim, few would argue that this single letter 'M' and single number '3' are symbols of a hugely successful automotive philosophy.

The new M3 is based on the 3 Series Coupe, yet shares just 20 percent of components. In terms of the body, only doors, lights, boot lid and windows are common. Of the engine, gearbox and chassis, only the lower trailing arms of the rear suspension are carried over. The trademark M design cues - chin spoiler, additional radiator grilles, side gills, flared wheelarches, discreet spoiler and rear diffuser with four inboard exhausts - are obvious, but the muddy 'Melbourne Red' (one of four new colours named after GP circuits) conspires to underplay the styling.

Not so the expectation-raising view over the bulging bonnet. Sweaty palms grip the bulky wheel rim, tacho redlined at 8300rpm and speedo marked to 330km/h. What's missing are the paddleshifters that control the M5's SMG gearbox. For now, the M3 runs a conventional, BMW-precise manual six-speeder, but it will be joined in mid-2008 by a new dual-clutch transmission. Rather than a clattery, erratic exhaust note like the big brother V10, the naturally-balanced V8's idle is subtle, refined, with no hint of what's to come.

Initially, on the crowded roads of southern Spain, it's impossible to let the M3 off the leash. But so flexible is the engine, so supple the ride, that crawling through traffic is no hardship - and far smoother than the M5 in similar circumstances. The clutch is effortless and light, despite a touch of driveline shunt, and the amazing engine pulls from just 1000rpm in sixth on a light throttle. By 1800rpm the engine is alive, eager to pull, the exhaust note adopting a V8 burble at 2400rpm and, once clear of the trucks, hitting its race-car stride at 5800rpm. Best of all is the ferocious way it then pulls to the smooth 8400rpm cut-out, and the rev-by-rev precision of throttle responses. You pay for the revs, of course, in fuel consumption. We averaged 18.0L/100km and I expect any driver who exploits the V8 performance will achieve similar. Yes, we were wringing it, but wouldn't you?

Time, then, to experiment with the M3's built-in set-up complexity. With three each of EDC damper, DSC stability and 'Power' settings - plus two levels of Servotronic power steering assistance available through the iDrive - in theory the M3 offers a ridiculous 54 combinations of individual dynamic settings. Fortunately MDrive, standard (like EDC) on M3s destined for Australia, allows the driver to configure all the desired settings (throttle mapping, steering effort, suspension firmness, stability-control mode) with one memory button on the steering wheel.

The 'Power' button doesn't have anything to do with power, as on the M5 and M6, it simply adjusts the throttle mapping. But the M3 does allow specific steering and damper combinations, unlike the M5. On the V10, any EDC selection is tied to steering effort and can't be separated.

Confronting the brilliant mountains roads, our M3 is fine-tuned, via iDrive, from the original soft chassis bias to the most dynamic, near race-car mode that's surely appropriate to the conditions. Heavy steering, 'Sport Plus' throttle, M Dynamic stability control and 'Sport' dampers. Except the fine balance and fluency evaporates. We'll find out later if this set-up works on the track. On the road, it fails.

The ride turns stiff and unforgiving, with short, sharp vertical movements that punch the kidneys - a reminder of the E46-generation M3. But the real culprit is the steering. The M3's hydraulic system (no active steering for the M cars) has a variable rack, with a quick 12.5:1 on-centre ratio that lowers the turns lock-to-lock from 3.0 (of the regular 3 Series) to just 2.4. In 'Sport' the steering is accurate, if heavy, but there's a dead spot on-centre and a too obvious increase in the weighting on turn-in to corners, especially in the range from 50-100km/h. Feedback? What feedback. In Sport, the steering is computer-game artificial to prove that heavy doesn't necessarily equal true feel.

Suspicions aroused, I work back through the options from the 'race-car' set-up, starting with a switch to 'Normal' steering. Yes, it's lighter - perhaps too light for some - but the weighting is more consistent and linear, if not particularly feelsome. If it never achieves the tingly, tactile level of a 911, at least the fluency has returned.

With each change away from the sporting set-up, there is a notable improvement in dynamics (and ride comfort), and thus driver confidence. The only exception is the adoption of the intermediate 'Power' mode, which doesn't change engine output (like on the M5), only the degree of throttle response. Nevertheless, this quickly becomes the preferred power option and, along with the softest damper settings and M Dynamic mode for the DSC, we save this overall set-up to the 'M' button.

By the time we reach the Ascari track I'm convinced the M3 is incredibly (licence-losing) fast, yet practical, safe and beautifully built - a brilliant all-round package. The huge (360mm front and 350mm rear) cross-drilled compound brakes are effective, but so noisy I'm sure BMW has fitted harder pads (available from the dealer) and so it proves. But the credibility of driving to the track and back on the same brakes and tyres can't be denied.

Before venturing out onto the track, I want to know how the chassis engineers configure their test cars, both for the Nordschleife and normal driving. No difference, and to prove I've not lost my marbles just yet, their settings match those we've chosen. On the track the M3 is brilliant, with squat, dive and roll beautifully controlled. It has a compelling ability to turn quickly and confidently, which belies the lack of steering feel. It turns in and grips prodigiously on sticky asymmetric Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 rubber, which also increase the contact patch when cornering for a mild understeer bias.

Until, that is, you turn off the stability system. Courage rising, the M-specific limited-slip diff progressively transfers power from the spinning wheel to the one with more grip until it locks completely when both rears spin, and power-oversteer becomes a natural cornering condition out of second- and third-gear corners on the track. (Why not offer the M-diff on the 335i?) Too often, launching a road car on the track only serves to emphasise the understeer and diminish the performance. Here, car and track are perfectly matched.

I'm left in no doubt that M division is working on an even more focused, lightweight CSL version of the M3. Fine, for those who demand track time, but in the real world the near-perfection of the M3's refinement, performance and handling is overwhelming. I wouldn't bet against the M3 beating the Audi RS4, upcoming Mercedes C63 AMG and 5.0-litre Lexus IS-F in what promises to be one fantastic comparison.

Despite a hefty near $20K price rise to circa-$160,000, the M3 is already sold out well into 2008. With sedan and cabriolet versions to follow, Australia's allocation of 350-380 cars a year is going to struggle to meet demand.

TEN TO THE POWER OF EIGHT
M Division vice president Gerhard Richter is stating the obvious when he says: "To stay in the game we simply needed a bigger engine."

When planning the fourth-gen M3 and M5, the engineers took the strategic decision to develop an all-new 90 degree engine architecture, that would produce V8 and V10 variants of the same basic, ultra high-revving design. The idea was to add an extra two cylinders to each M car, with a significant increase in engine capacity. The commonality extends to the basic 500cc per cylinder dimensions with identical bore and stroke, including individual, electronically-controlled throttle butterflies and essentially the same silicon-alloy block.

Apart from the cylinder counts and firing intervals, the only major difference between the two engines is in the V8's use of a double, instead of single, chain to connect crankshaft and sprocket, and a low oil pressure VANOS camshaft control. The M3's MSS60 ECU has more computing power than the M5, with three 32-bit processors capable of 200 million operations per second.

Peak power of the V8 is developed at 8300rpm and torque at 3900rpm, way below the V10's 6100rpm peak. The V8's torque curve is essentially flat between 3500rpm and 6500rpm, with 85 percent of maximum torque maintained across a 4500rpm band from 2000rpm to 6500rpm.

Compared to the old inline six, the V8 has 17 percent more power, is seven percent lighter and uses eight percent less fuel. It's also 38kg lighter than the previous M5's V8.

Says Richter in a overt reference to rival AMG, whose new 6.2-litre V8 is limited to 7400rpm: "From now on anything [that peaks] below 8000rpm is not a high-speed engine."

Meanwhile, BMW says there are no plans to base a 2.0-litre four or 2.5-litre five on one cylinder bank of the V8 or V10, to create an engine for the apparently mythical M1.

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