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The best-balanced, most track-happy M3 yet
DAN PROUDFOOT
July 12, 2007
MARBELLA, SPAIN -- Like the seafood paella taken on the Mediterranean beach patio much later in the same day, the fourth-incarnation BMW M3 perfectly fits its setting, with scorching laps of a private race track in the midday sun high above the Costa Del Sol.
Each was more piquant than anticipated. Stronger spices heated the paella than typically come from the kitchens of Toronto's Spanish restaurants, and the M3's V-8 revved as freely as many a race engine on its way to a peak output of 414 horsepower at a joyous 8,300 rpm. BMW boasts that this V-8 betters the earlier inline-six-cylinder engines made famous by the company's M-sport division with 17 per cent more power, while weighing 7 per cent less and improving fuel consumption by 8 per cent. All to the good.
As Gerhard Richter, vice-president of of BMW's M division, noted wryly in conversation, "Ours is not a big block V-8, you know," acknowledging that an American-style eight-cylinder would have been out of character in the M3.
This 3,999-cc V-8 is designed for top-end performance: even its peak torque of 295 lb-ft is attained at 3,900 rpm, considerably higher than in a typical V-8 (although 251 lb-ft are on tap as early as 2,000 rpm and 85 per cent of max torque is generated over a range of 6,500 rpm).
Worry no more, M-buffs who obsess over new models of your favoured cars growing ever larger and more luxurious to the detriment of sharpness and communicative handling. A first impression from this global press preview is that beyond being the most powerful, the 2008 M3 is the best-balanced, most rewarding, most track-happy M3 since the 1986 original.
And, it was nearly as exhilarating on the corkscrew mountain roads to and from Race Resort Ascari, the 5.4-km, 26-corner circuit with a luxury hotel and a 400-car garage carved into a valley twixt mountains as the realization of a rich man's dream.
Although disproportionate numbers of M3s participate in BMW Car Club of Canada advanced driving courses at Mosport, others choose these cars for cross-country touring glorying in their sure-footed agility: for them, the roads in the environs of the Moorish fort of Ronda nearing Ascari were so astonishing as to be worth travel to Spain.
Not obviously flashy, as per M-car tradition, these M3s nevertheless are instantly distinguishable from the current 3-Series coupes both visually and aurally. Most obviously, the carbon fibre roof stands out because it's clear-coated rather than painted body colour in order to showcase the material manufactured in the same facility as components of the BMW Sauber Formula One cars.
To the ear, the hyperbuzz of the engines at high rpm (or drone, or bellow, depending on throttle pressure electronically commanding individual butterflies fuelling each cylinder) sounds like no inline-six ever did.
That the carbon fibre roof weighs five kilograms less than the steel roof , lowering the car's centre of gravity, is one of many measures enumerated by M-division engineers as pivotal in achieving this M3's agility.
It's heavier than its 2001-2006 predecessors, to be sure, as a consequence of the current 3-Series coupe being larger and carrying more safety equipment.
But the aluminum engine hood as well as the carbon fibre roof lowers the centre of gravity, and weight paring at the ends of the car pay dividends of their own. "The thermoplastic front bumper core weighs three kilograms less, the rear bumper four, and these weight savings have a tremendous effect," said chassis specialist Klaus Schmidt. "If you turn the barbells (110 kg) in our exhibit back and forth, you feel the inertia of the extra weight of the regular bumpers. The whole point is to concentrate weight in the centre of the car."
Nearly all suspension components - double-arm strut in front and five-arm in the rear - are newly designed with the goal of improving road-holding while reducing weight.
One driveline innovation that's worth some additional weight, however, is the variably-locking differential that apportions power between the rear wheels. Up to 100 per cent of engine power is delivered to the wheel with the most grip, "enhancing the positive qualities of rear-wheel-drive to a new, unprecedented standard," BMW claims, with the benefits apparent on mountain passes, off-camber turns at Ascari or, it's expected, in Canadian winter driving.
Despite all of the above, BMW acknowledges many buyers are prepared to sacrifice some performance in order to make themselves comfortable. Thus, those who insist on their cars having sunroofs will be accommodated with M3's manufactured with steel roofs, not carbon fibre. In fact, BMW is guessing 70 per cent of production will be traditional tin tops, although it'll certainly be the 30 per cent with the F1 construction that will establish the image of the new model.
The power-assisted steering, dubbed Servotronic, has a normal mode with boosted assistance for easy riders, and a sports mode with more direct feedback for more involved driving. Optionally, Electronic Damper Control adjusts ride/handling among normal, comfort and sport with dramatic results.
The iDrive control can be used to adjust not only the steering and shock absorbers, but three different modes of engine management. Yet another option provides an MDrive button on the delightfully meaty steering wheel that, with one touch, delivers the driver's preference of all of the above.
Clearly, a multitude of details differentiate an M3 from a 3-Series coupe. The outgoing six-cylinder M3 commanded $74,400, whereas the current 335i coupe sells for $51,600. Pricing on the new M3 - expected to go on sale in the first half of 2008 - is yet to be determined, but optioned as were the cars at the international journalists' preview, they probably can be expected to fall in the $85,000 range. Or more, given that Audi's rival RS4 starts at $92,000.
No word yet on the estimated arrival of convertible and four-door models, but in previous generations, these followed the coupe.
Similarly, BMW's sequential M gearbox is said to be under consideration, but, for the foreseeable future, every M3 is fitted with the six-speed manual - a perfect partner for the engine that's relegating inline-sixes to M3 history.
2008 BMW M3 COUPE
TYPE: Two-door coupe
BASE PRICE: Not available
ENGINE: 4.0-litre V-8
HORSEPOWER/TORQUE
414 hp/295 lb-ft
TRANSMISSION: Six-speed manual
Drive: Rear-drive
FUEL ECONOMY
European standard, 12.4 L/100 km
In test driving, track and road, 17.8 L/100 km
ALTERNATIVES: Audi RS4, Mercedes-Benz C-Class AMG, Jaguar S-Type R, Cadillac CTS-V
Like
Steering immediacy, feel
Super-safe handling
Comfort
Sound
Throttle response
Don't like
iDrive control complexity overriding buttons
globeandmail.com: The best-balanced, most track-happy M3 yet
DAN PROUDFOOT
July 12, 2007
MARBELLA, SPAIN -- Like the seafood paella taken on the Mediterranean beach patio much later in the same day, the fourth-incarnation BMW M3 perfectly fits its setting, with scorching laps of a private race track in the midday sun high above the Costa Del Sol.
Each was more piquant than anticipated. Stronger spices heated the paella than typically come from the kitchens of Toronto's Spanish restaurants, and the M3's V-8 revved as freely as many a race engine on its way to a peak output of 414 horsepower at a joyous 8,300 rpm. BMW boasts that this V-8 betters the earlier inline-six-cylinder engines made famous by the company's M-sport division with 17 per cent more power, while weighing 7 per cent less and improving fuel consumption by 8 per cent. All to the good.
As Gerhard Richter, vice-president of of BMW's M division, noted wryly in conversation, "Ours is not a big block V-8, you know," acknowledging that an American-style eight-cylinder would have been out of character in the M3.
This 3,999-cc V-8 is designed for top-end performance: even its peak torque of 295 lb-ft is attained at 3,900 rpm, considerably higher than in a typical V-8 (although 251 lb-ft are on tap as early as 2,000 rpm and 85 per cent of max torque is generated over a range of 6,500 rpm).
Worry no more, M-buffs who obsess over new models of your favoured cars growing ever larger and more luxurious to the detriment of sharpness and communicative handling. A first impression from this global press preview is that beyond being the most powerful, the 2008 M3 is the best-balanced, most rewarding, most track-happy M3 since the 1986 original.
And, it was nearly as exhilarating on the corkscrew mountain roads to and from Race Resort Ascari, the 5.4-km, 26-corner circuit with a luxury hotel and a 400-car garage carved into a valley twixt mountains as the realization of a rich man's dream.
Although disproportionate numbers of M3s participate in BMW Car Club of Canada advanced driving courses at Mosport, others choose these cars for cross-country touring glorying in their sure-footed agility: for them, the roads in the environs of the Moorish fort of Ronda nearing Ascari were so astonishing as to be worth travel to Spain.
Not obviously flashy, as per M-car tradition, these M3s nevertheless are instantly distinguishable from the current 3-Series coupes both visually and aurally. Most obviously, the carbon fibre roof stands out because it's clear-coated rather than painted body colour in order to showcase the material manufactured in the same facility as components of the BMW Sauber Formula One cars.
To the ear, the hyperbuzz of the engines at high rpm (or drone, or bellow, depending on throttle pressure electronically commanding individual butterflies fuelling each cylinder) sounds like no inline-six ever did.
That the carbon fibre roof weighs five kilograms less than the steel roof , lowering the car's centre of gravity, is one of many measures enumerated by M-division engineers as pivotal in achieving this M3's agility.
It's heavier than its 2001-2006 predecessors, to be sure, as a consequence of the current 3-Series coupe being larger and carrying more safety equipment.
But the aluminum engine hood as well as the carbon fibre roof lowers the centre of gravity, and weight paring at the ends of the car pay dividends of their own. "The thermoplastic front bumper core weighs three kilograms less, the rear bumper four, and these weight savings have a tremendous effect," said chassis specialist Klaus Schmidt. "If you turn the barbells (110 kg) in our exhibit back and forth, you feel the inertia of the extra weight of the regular bumpers. The whole point is to concentrate weight in the centre of the car."
Nearly all suspension components - double-arm strut in front and five-arm in the rear - are newly designed with the goal of improving road-holding while reducing weight.
One driveline innovation that's worth some additional weight, however, is the variably-locking differential that apportions power between the rear wheels. Up to 100 per cent of engine power is delivered to the wheel with the most grip, "enhancing the positive qualities of rear-wheel-drive to a new, unprecedented standard," BMW claims, with the benefits apparent on mountain passes, off-camber turns at Ascari or, it's expected, in Canadian winter driving.
Despite all of the above, BMW acknowledges many buyers are prepared to sacrifice some performance in order to make themselves comfortable. Thus, those who insist on their cars having sunroofs will be accommodated with M3's manufactured with steel roofs, not carbon fibre. In fact, BMW is guessing 70 per cent of production will be traditional tin tops, although it'll certainly be the 30 per cent with the F1 construction that will establish the image of the new model.
The power-assisted steering, dubbed Servotronic, has a normal mode with boosted assistance for easy riders, and a sports mode with more direct feedback for more involved driving. Optionally, Electronic Damper Control adjusts ride/handling among normal, comfort and sport with dramatic results.
The iDrive control can be used to adjust not only the steering and shock absorbers, but three different modes of engine management. Yet another option provides an MDrive button on the delightfully meaty steering wheel that, with one touch, delivers the driver's preference of all of the above.
Clearly, a multitude of details differentiate an M3 from a 3-Series coupe. The outgoing six-cylinder M3 commanded $74,400, whereas the current 335i coupe sells for $51,600. Pricing on the new M3 - expected to go on sale in the first half of 2008 - is yet to be determined, but optioned as were the cars at the international journalists' preview, they probably can be expected to fall in the $85,000 range. Or more, given that Audi's rival RS4 starts at $92,000.
No word yet on the estimated arrival of convertible and four-door models, but in previous generations, these followed the coupe.
Similarly, BMW's sequential M gearbox is said to be under consideration, but, for the foreseeable future, every M3 is fitted with the six-speed manual - a perfect partner for the engine that's relegating inline-sixes to M3 history.
2008 BMW M3 COUPE
TYPE: Two-door coupe
BASE PRICE: Not available
ENGINE: 4.0-litre V-8
HORSEPOWER/TORQUE
414 hp/295 lb-ft
TRANSMISSION: Six-speed manual
Drive: Rear-drive
FUEL ECONOMY
European standard, 12.4 L/100 km
In test driving, track and road, 17.8 L/100 km
ALTERNATIVES: Audi RS4, Mercedes-Benz C-Class AMG, Jaguar S-Type R, Cadillac CTS-V
Like
Steering immediacy, feel
Super-safe handling
Comfort
Sound
Throttle response
Don't like
iDrive control complexity overriding buttons
globeandmail.com: The best-balanced, most track-happy M3 yet
