Finding the Magic in BMW's M Cars
By John Barker, Contributor Email


Date posted: 10-16-2007


It doesn't sink in straight away. Shock seldom does. The very latest versions of the BMW M5, M6 and Z4 M Coupe just aren't good enough and they're heading back to Germany. As the engines fire up and the sound of their exhausts finally fades out of earshot, the major mind warp revolves around the star-studded casualties of the cut. Incredibly, the remaining group of BMWs has just one current-generation M car among its number, the new V8-engined 2008 BMW M3.

We're in the paddock of the Llandow Circuit, a test facility tucked down in a corner of Wales just a few miles west of Cardiff. The track opened in 1963 and since it originally was a grass airstrip for Spitfire fighter planes in WWII, it's as flat as a bad piece of English pizza, a little more than a 1.0-mile oval with a few corners mixed in. Because of this, our test loop has also included a few passes in the low mountains nearby that are so typical of this remote corner of Britain.

The mission? To find the greatest BMW M car of all time. The car that represents the very pinnacle of the M Division's achievements. Not the fastest, but the best.

If you ask Gerhard Richter, the vice president of BMW M Gmbh, it's the new 2008 BMW M3. "The M3 stands for our philosophy," he told us at the introduction of the car early last summer. "It is the best representation of the M character, combining the feeling of a racecar with that of a normal street car."

Surely it must be the car to beat.

2008 BMW M3 (E92)
Like the classic M cars, the E92 M3 is a great engine wrapped in a well-balanced, subtle and playful chassis. And the new 414-horsepower 4.0-liter V8 really is a great engine. Forget the rumblings about a lack of torque. It's just that the fireworks at the top end of the rpm range are such that the midrange feels only ordinary. Even without wringing out the engine to its 8,500-rpm redline, the M3 is seriously, effortlessly rapid.

There's no slop in the drivetrain either. Like a Porsche 911 GT3 or a Honda Civic Type R, you can fire through upshifts as fast as you can move your hand, as the engine and gearbox are synced to perfection and there's barely a pause in the awesome power delivery.

Fortunately the M3 also gives you all the tools to exploit it. There's virtually no understeer to speak of and the front end responds very directly and feels very communicative. Predictably, there's not the steering feel of an old-school M3, and you have to have faith that it'll turn in, but once you've built up that level of confidence, the new-school M3 feels totally planted. The electronically controlled M Power limited-slip differential (introduced by the 2005 E60 M5) engages readily but doesn't lock up so tight that you must steer the M3 coupe with the rear wheels to unlock all of its speed. Instead the car feels neutral and finely adjustable.

The ride's excellent, too. On smooth roads, the 3,649-pound coupe feels brilliant, while the three-position electronically adjustable dampers allow you to tailor the M3 to its environment. On bumpy roads, leave it in standard mode; if there's any float as your pace quickens, prod the EDC button and body control is increased. For track work or super-smooth roads, the final, stiffest setting is the one.

So it's a grown-up M3. A bit smoother, a bit more refined, but it still has some M magic. And as an all-around package, it's a fantastic achievement. But that slightly remote steering marks it down and perhaps being the ultimate all-rounder doesn't necessarily make the E92 M3 the best M car.

1978 BMW M1 (E26)
It's tempting to make a comparison between the first and last M cars analogous to that of Chuck Yeager breaking the sound barrier and a Shuttle astronaut reentering the atmosphere. You'd suppose that the astronaut is the computer-cosseted passenger and Yeager more concerned about seat-of-the-pants action.

But it isn't quite like that. It might be nearly 30 years old, but BMW's only midengine road car to date isn't that far off the pace, and neither is it the dynamic handful its advancing years might suggest. True, its peak output of 277 horsepower at 6,500 rpm from the 3.5-liter inline-6 engine seems vaguely weak next to the E92 M3 V8's 414 hp, but then the fiberglass-bodied M1 (originally engineered in a collaboration between BMW and Lamborghini) weighs just 2,866 pounds, a 783-pound advantage over the rather more lard-encrusted E92 M3.

All right, the M3 will pull away from our M1 steadily on any straight, but when it was new the M1 would hit 60 mph from rest in 5.8 seconds and power on to an unrestricted top speed of 162 mph. That gives away a 1.0-second advantage to the new M3 in the 60-mph benchmark, but on these twisting Welsh roads the M1 can stay in touch without the need for Yeager levels of bravery (or standby underwear).

Fact is, the M1 immediately feels special. It's remarkably easy to drive fast, reasonably civilized and amazingly user-friendly. Lean on it a bit in a bend and you can sense how unfriendly it might all become if you wanted to drive one absolutely flat out, but you don't need to be a frequent visitor to the limit to raid the M1's goodie bag. As a low-to-medium-speed drifter, it's benign and progressive. You can feel the front start to go, then come back as you trim the throttle, which, for the most part, is where the subtlety ends.

For raw, all-senses-engaged involvement, the M1 hangs the E92 M3 out to dry. The shift action and clutch engagement are almost absurdly meaty affairs (1978 was a long time ago, remember) and the unassisted steering initially seems impossibly slow and more than a little vague (a measure to allay fears of compromised straight-line stability).

Once traveling, though, it all starts to come together with a swelling rush of satisfaction. It quickly becomes apparent that scalpel-like precision can never have been part of the engineering brief for the M1, but take up a little of the slack mentally and tune into the sublime balance and poise of the chassis and you have a dynamic repertoire that makes the rather numb E92 M3 seem two-dimensional.

1998 BMW M5 (E39)
The last M5 standing can't rely on M1-style seductive good looks to impress us. By common consent, the 1998-era E39 is the most sober-looking sedan here, its considerable V8 potency nestled beneath a plain, although attractive, wrapper. And potential there most certainly is, as this 4.9-liter V8 develops 400 hp at 6,600 rpm and 369 pound-feet of torque at 3,800, plus it has a lovely six-speed manual transmission (an exquisite antidote to the steering-wheel-mounted shift paddles of the current E60 M5's SMG transmission) as well as the early stirrings of the configurable chassis electronics. This car is the reason the E60 M5 and E63 M6 are on their way home.

Here it's just one button labeled "Sport" that delivers more aggressive response from the drive-by-wire throttle as well as an extra dollop of steering effort. Not particularly complicated or clever, but very nicely judged, as with so much else about this car.

Likewise the suspension, with conventional springs and dampers tuned for a perfectly brilliant compromise between ride and handling. Brilliant because it combines great comfort with almost absurdly exploitable driftability (once you've switched off the one-stage traction control), ensuring that driver and passengers are kept equally happy, though not necessarily at the same time.

The basic formula for the 4.9-liter V8 is very different from that of the 4.0-liter V8 in the new E92 M3, and its performance is more relaxed and effortlessly entertaining. When you drive the E39, you realize there's something utterly fascinating about such a big car going so fast. You shouldn't be able to make a big galumphing sedan feel as if it's been to ballet class, but somehow the M division engineers managed it. The E39 M5 shows the E92 M3 how you should really do the whole big-horsepower, comfy-seats thing, if that's the way you want to go.

So we have here an expression of M-ness that contrasts starkly with the high-spirited and even temperamental E92 M3. It's hard to imagine the E39 M5 winning a race, but easy to see it as the everyday wheels of a racer susceptible to the odd temptation, powersliding it with one hand on the steering wheel as he leaves the paddock gate. The new E60 M5 would leave it for dead and deposit even longer black lines on the pavement as it did so, yet seems terminally uptight by comparison.

2003 BMW M3 CSL (E46)
The M3 CSL is a completely different proposition again. It's the spiritual successor to the formidable E30 M3, the classic M car.

The lightweight CSL, built for the European market in 2003, looks absolutely nuts with its distinctive carbon-fiber roof (a feature the E92 M3 has inherited). It's a drum-taut, hard-muscled object lesson in aesthetic warfare, against which the E92 M3 comes across about as tough as a platoon of jelly babies. Sounds awesome, too. It's that Sport button again, which wakes up the throttle for this 3.2-liter inline-6 just as it does on the M5 but also gives the induction chorus a hi-fi amp and high-efficiency speakers with its carbon-fiber air box. No BMW six has ever sounded better.

By any sensible standard, this is the most hard-core M3 ever built, and all of the M Division's single-minded engineering comes through in the driving experience. When you lean on the 355 hp that this engine delivers at a stratospheric 7,900 rpm, the inline-6 really feels like it's doing an honest day's work. The rest of the car's up for it, too. You can almost hear it chanting the mantra under its breath: maximum effort, maximum conviction and maximum commitment. Step from the E39 M5 into the CSL and you might as well have donned Tour de France-spec Lycra after shedding an overcoat of Eskimo animal furs. And you'd better be ready for business.

The SMG automated sequential manual transmission is. In fact, it's so manically swift and completely on it that those of us who'd take a conventional manual transmission any old day of the week have been partially won over. Of all the M cars with SMG, the CSL makes the most sense, since it's the closest to being a racing car for the road.

The CSL is the most firmly suspended of all the remaining cars, yet the chassis tune never feels harsh or jarring. Its steering is a revelation, too — light effort yet without a millimeter of wasted motion and brimming with deliciously resolved feel for the road. Turn and the CSL changes tack instantly: no body roll or even compliance in the suspension bushings to blur the message, just lightning response, terrific precision and masses of cornering grip. Point to point, the E92 M3 struggles to stay in touch with this car, despite its advantage of straight-line speed. But then, the E92 M3 also feels as if it weighs about half as much again as the E46 M3 CSL and has been given a slug of anesthetic besides.

1986 BMW M3 (E30)
Question is, have we saved the best till last or are we about to witness a bloody massacre? How can the boxy E30 M3 with its turbocharged 2.5-liter inline-4 engine — even in its ultimate 1990 Sport Evolution configuration with 235 hp at 7,000 rpm — stand up to the sophisticated savagery of the E46 M3 CSL, the effortless mambo of the E39 M5, the supercar chops of the E26 M1 and the phenomenal pace, poise and polish of the E92 M3?

Quite easily, as it turns out. Let's make this simple: The original M3 is utterly brilliant. More to the point, it's utterly brilliant in ways that the people at M have either forgotten about or chosen to ignore. Something of the essence of the E30 is present in the CSL and the M1 — a sense of mechanical honesty, integration and purity — yet not in the E92 M3. For all its pace and grip, the new V8-powered M3 doesn't have the E30's dynamic fluency, its loose-limbed agility or its intimacy.

Apparently Formula 1 driver Jean Alesi liked his E30 M3 so much he later called it one of the most enjoyable and best-handling road cars he had ever owned. A finely balanced weight distribution of 48 percent front/52 percent rear gives one clue as to why it feels so good. This car can't rely on electronic aids, so it has to work with you and build a mutual bond of trust. It's as if the car knows exactly what you want to do. And in turn, the car's intentions and abilities are completely clear to the driver. If you can't form a close relationship with the E30, chances are you have no friends.

This original M3 from 1986, created as a homologation special for racing, is the antithesis of the new E92 M3 with its big horsepower and comfy seats. The pure connection between man and machine more than compensates for the car's comparative lack of pace down the straight bits. You can tell exactly what each of the four wheels is doing and the balance allows them to work in unison. This car is the very essence of what the BMW M Division is all about.

The Best of the Best
The E26 M1 has an essential spirit that you look for in a BMW M car, but it lacks firepower and feels old-fashioned these days, so it comes in a noble 5th in this rarefied group. The new E92 M3 doesn't have the E30 M3 magic, but its speed and ability are electrifying. That it doesn't finish higher than 4th is testament to the fact that it's up against the all-time greats here. The V8-engined E39 M5 is absurdly good fun, but the E46 M3 CSL just bests it for total sensual overload.

When we tally up the scores at the end of the day, it's the E30 M3 that beats them all. It wins because it does more with less and destroys the idea (apparently at the core of BMW M thinking these days) that if power is good, more power must be better.

If that were the case, the E92 M3 — which, on paper, is a best-of-all-worlds solution with its M5-derived V8, M3 size and M1 supercar aspirations — would represent the very pinnacle of the M Division's achievements. But the touch of the master belongs to a different era, a lightweight M3 scaled down to a package that's less about technology than the magical connection between man and machine.

Official: Pricing for the M3

M3 E92: $57,275

M3 E90: $54,575

Quote:
BMW ANNOUNCES PRICING FOR THE ALL-NEW BMW M3 COUPE AND SEDAN AT THE 2008 NORTH AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL AUTO SHOW IN DETROIT
01/13/2008

Woodcliff Lake, NJ - January 13, 2008... During its press conference today at the 2008 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, BMW announced the pricing for the highly anticipated 2008 M3 Coupe and M3 Sedan. When the vehicles go on sale in March, the Coupe will be priced at $57,275 and the Sedan at $54,575. Sharing the high-revving 414-horsepower V8 and balanced chassis designed to be "faster than its engine," this March, BMW M GmbH will offer the most powerful, best performing series production M3s to the North American market.
The all-new 2008 M3 Coupe and M3 Sedan-the fourth generation of compact sport vehicles which set the standard in minimizing any compromises between race-inspired performance and luxury and convenience-feature the first V8 in a series-production BMW M3. They also feature driver-adjustable settings for crucial dynamic controls encompassing engine response, steering, damping and stability (with an available steering-wheel-mounted "MDrive" button to store the preferences) and a sumptuous interior which can be optimized to the driver's desires including the comprehensive entertainment/navigation system operated through BMW's latest iDrive controller.

Additionally, the 2008 M3 Coupe is the first production vehicle in its segment with a carbon fiber reinforced roof. The material shares the same safety properties as steel, but is four times lighter. Weighing around 11 lbs. less than a standard steel roof and approximately 44 lbs. less than a steel roof incorporating a moonroof, the carbon fiber reinforced roof provides significant weight saving at the highest point of the car-lowering the car's center of gravity-to increase agility and responsiveness while limiting dive and roll in turns.

Racing provided the reason for the original M3's 1986 creation as the company had to produce road-going homologation versions of its 3 Series Coupe to enter the motorsports version in the German Touring Car Championship. The original M3's popularity provided the impetus to continue developing the M3, making it both a better performer and more inviting road car. The M3 has continued to evolve along with the underlying 3 Series, the company's most popular, upon which it is based.

In 1987 North Americans received their first taste of the high-rpm, naturally aspirated 2.3-liter four-cylinder M3 Coupe's 192-hp and thus was born a legend on this side of the Atlantic. The next generation arrived in 1995 with a 3.0-liter (and later, 3.2-liter) 240-hp inline-six powerplant. In 1997 the first M3 Sedan joined the family and the first M3 Convertible followed shortly thereafter. The most-recent version, available from 2001-2006 as either a coupe or convertible, again was offered with six-cylinder power, this time providing 333 hp from its 3.2 liters. This vehicle was BMW's first use of SMG (Sequential Manual Gearbox) for the U.S. market.

Eight Cylinders, Six Speeds, Four Doors

By Andreas Stahl, Contributor Email
Date posted: 02-14-2008


You can never really have too much of a good thing.

Just look at the 2008 BMW M3 Sedan. Introduced as a coupe only six months ago, now it has two more doors and added trunk space to boot. All this without any compromise in performance.

That's what we said to ourselves as the speedometer swung to an indicated 175 mph on the autobahn in Germany this week. And there was another 1,000 rpm to go on the tachometer before the rev limiter could be expected to kick in.

No compromise.

It's the Bavarian Motor Works
No matter how many doors the 2008 BMW M3 Sedan might have, an M3 always begins with its engine. The power of the DOHC 4.0-liter V8 in the 2008 BMW M3 Sedan is simply electrifying. It makes 414 horsepower at 8,300 rpm and 295 pound-feet of torque at 3,900 rpm.

Just as important, everything about this engine is an engineering marvel. It's a mix of aluminum alloys that weighs just 445 pounds (33 pounds less than the last M3's inline-6). Eight individual throttle butterflies for the cylinders combine with a very tall 12.0:1 compression ratio to deliver incredibly crisp throttle response, while the engine is capable of spinning its 44-pound crankshaft to 8,400 rpm, the highest rpm of any BMW production engine.

And believe us, the performance this 4.0-liter V8 gives to the M3 sedan is equally electrifying. BMW claims the 3,638-pound M3 sedan almost matches the M3 coupe in acceleration to 100 km/h (62 mph) with a 4.9-second run, just 0.1 second slower than the 3,573-pound two-door. The top speed is nominally limited to 155 mph, but some fiddling with the engine management system will let the speed swell appreciably. We saw an indicated 175 mph during one determined autobahn run.

This, of course, is not the first time the M3 has been given the sedan treatment. That distinction rests with the second-generation model produced in four-door guise from 1996-'98, which was a notable success in the U.S. As it happens, BMW did not follow it up in the third-generation M3 because of structural differences in front-end architecture between the E46 sedan and coupe.

The new M3 sedan is not the last of the models of the current M3, though. With the arrival of an M3 convertible just around the corner and talk of a wagon version later in the model cycle as well, there will be no shortage of M3s to tempt us.

Spot the M3 Sedan
As we've seen in the past, BMW's revered M division doesn't do things by half measures. This is fully reflected in the distinctive styling of the new M3 sedan. Rather than simply adopt the standard 3 Series sedan body for its latest model, it has concocted its very own unique version using the front-end styling treatment from the 3 Series coupe, including the kidney-shape grille, headlights, heavily contoured aluminum hood and boldly flared front fenders.

As a result, you get a car that mirrors the aggressive good looks of the M3 coupe right back to the A-pillars. From there on, though, the car receives the taller greenhouse, four doors and higher trunk of the familiar 3 Series sedan.

Added to this are all the usual M3 styling accoutrements, including a deep front fascia featuring sizable air ducts to feed the engine bay, a signature chrome vent in the front fenders, heavily chiseled rocker sills and an extended rear valance that incorporates an aero diffuser element and four prominent chromed tailpipes — all of which provide the M3 sedan with just the right touch of visual differentiation from the lesser 3 Series sedans.

The most notable clue to the exalted performance of this 3 Series sedan is its complement of visually arresting wheels and tires. These 18-inch cast-aluminum wheels feature 8.5-inch rims in front that carry 245/40R18 tires, while the 9.5-inch rear rims are fitted with 265/40R18 rubber.

Six Speeds Now, Seven Speeds Later
Still, you can forget the styling. The hardware that lies beneath is what really counts, because the M3 sedan's mechanical specification makes it virtually a carbon copy of the M3 coupe.

The centerpiece, of course, is M division's compelling new 4.0-liter V8. It is as sweet and soulful an engine as BMW has ever built, with linear, electriclike throttle response, big flexibility through the midrange and a wonderfully seamless delivery all the way up to its soaring redline.

The weak link, if it can be described in such a way, is the standard close-ratio six-speed manual gearbox. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with the action of the Getrag-built unit. The action is crisp and precise, although the throws are a little long to reduce shift effort and there's an awkward gate for 1st gear that requires a dogleg shift. Yet you can't help wondering whether this car would be quicker with an automated sequential gearbox.

And by this we don't mean the former M3's SMG transmission. BMW has just announced its new M double-clutch seven-speed transmission, which incorporates no fewer than 11 internal shift programs — five in automatic Drive mode and four in manual-shift Sport mode. This the first dual-clutch transmission designed to withstand engine speeds of up to 9,000 rpm, and BMW promises both utterly smooth shifts and an improvement in fuel efficiency.

The transmission is slated as an option for the M3 coupe, sedan and convertible. It makes each car 0.2 second quicker to 100 km/h (62 mph)

It's Actually Useful
Up to this point, we could well be talking about the M3 coupe. But the M3 sedan adds another dimension to prospective ownership that will undoubtedly make it a popular choice among those with real-world considerations: practicality.

While the coupe is capable of seating four in relative comfort, the sedan will take five at a pinch. Its rear doors also ease entry and exit to the rear, a crucial consideration for anyone who has ever fumbled with the three-point harness on a child seat (and in the dark, and maybe it's raining besides).

You can even bring more stuff along with you, as the M3 sedan affords 17.0 cubic feet of luggage capacity, although this is just a single cubic foot more than the M3 coupe.

There's a price to be paid in weight, yet the sedan is surprisingly only 55 pounds heavier than the coupe, tipping the scales at 3,638 pounds. Much of the weight increase comes from the decision to substitute a conventional roof for the coupe's carbon-fiber piece. The high cost of tooling just didn't seem warranted in light of smaller production numbers, BMW tells us.

The M Way of Driving
Not that any of this makes a whole lot of difference. On the road you can caress the M3 sedan through the controls just as you do the M3 coupe and it responds with the same deftness. There is beautiful weighting of the steering, brakes and clutch — all of which have been integrated electronically to work in delicious harmony. The driving position might be a touch higher and the windshield angle more upright, but the same responsive actions still greet the driver.

The sedan's rear-wheel-drive chassis has the same dimensions as the coupe, including the wheelbase, and it handles with similar poise and grips with similar ferocity. Its high-speed stability is staggering, allowing you to push up to big speeds with great confidence.

The nominal damping feels a little spongy given the level of performance on hand, but thanks to the adaptive nature of the dampers you can dial up a further two levels of stiffness. Leave it in Sport and you can't help but marvel at the tautness inherent in the body structure as you carve through corners at the sort of speed no four-door really has a right to.

Start looking for the handling limits and you discover there's a touch of understeer at the entry to corners, but we suspect it is only because the rear seems so well settled. BMW's remarkable M differential proportions torque to each rear wheel depending on the circumstances, and indeed the M3 is as complex as a Formula 1 car in the way the electronics adapt it for every change in driving style or road environment. In fact, you can dial it in for your own personal preferences with the MDrive control on the steering wheel.

The Line Starts Here
The 2008 BMW M3 Sedan is priced at $54,575, while the 2008 BMW M3 Coupe is priced higher at $57,275. Vehicles are scheduled to become available in March.

The M3 sedan allows you to go about your day-to-day business without having to give up the pure performance that is inherent in the M character. The M3 coupe might be slightly more focused, but it cannot provide the same level of practicality. As we said, you can never have too much of a good thing.