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A long weekend in the latest version of BMW's iconic sporting four-door is equal parts bliss and torture. Bliss, because few automobiles of any kind are so well-rounded and flat-out thrilling to drive. Torture, because the whole time I had it I kept remembering that soon I had to give it back.
The new M3 is that good. I simply love almost everything about it. (Okay. It seems you can't write a BMW review without knocking iDrive, and I won't skirt the issue here. BMW appears to have simplified some of the iDrive functions, but it's still an annoying interface. Anyone who tries to tell you "you get used to it" is just trying to stand out from the crowd.) But let's forget about iDrive. I assure you: Spend a half-hour behind the M3's salami-thick wheel, and you wouldn't care if the nav/audio interface were a soup can on a string.
The 4.0-liter V-8 has to be experienced to be believed. Around town, it's as polite and smooth as BMW's vaunted inline sixes -- albeit with a touch of intriguing edge in the exhaust note. Step on it, though, and it races up the tach as if it's never going to stop. The technology under your right foot is breathtaking: a separate throttle body for each cylinder, ultra-fast variable double-VANOS cam timing, a 12.0:1 compression ratio, a highly rigid crankshaft that weighs just 44 pounds. At 6000 rpm the engine is screaming and your hair looks like you've just bumped into a Van de Graaff generator -- but you're nowhere near the redline. Keep your foot down hard, don't grab the shift lever, watch the tach needle keep climbing. There's no drop-off in acceleration whatsoever; in fact, the M3 is pulling harder and harder. Peak power arrives at a staggering 8300 rpm (suddenly, you're Nick Heidfeld driving an F1 BMW Sauber). A tick later, at 8400 rpm, finally you nip the redline. Finally you shift. Almost unconsciously, you check that all your limbs are still intact. The car has not exploded. In fact, the engine sounds absolutely delighted to be set free; it's charging for the redline again. Check the speedo. With luck you're on a race track, because by now you're undoubtedly breaking every speed law in the country.
The race-bred M3 obliterates the magic 100-horsepower per liter mark, delivering 414 naturally aspirated ponies from its 3999cc. Torque is a relatively modest 295 pound-feet, but almost all of it is on tap from 3900 rpm to 6500. The M3 loves to wind, but you don't need to wind it. Never once while driving it around town did I feel like I was piloting a "peaky" machine. Like Mt. Everest looming above base camp, you can thrill in the climb to the engine's lofty summit, or simply bask in the joy of knowing it's there.
Ah, and then you realize you're only driving in "comfort" mode. Press the center console button, and the M3 snaps into Sport. Instantly, you can feel an urgency in the throttle, a responsiveness that feels as if a 500-pound cheetah is pushing you from behind. Wow. Now the M3 is even faster. What a phenomenal car.
Handling is nothing short of brilliant, with surgical steering feel, an unfailingly planted suspension that manages not to beat you up, and a Variable M Differential (which delivers up to 100 percent locking action) to put the power down without a ripple. The close-ratio six-speed feels solid and sturdy yet almost springs from gear to gear by itself (stay tuned: a DSG is coming). Huge compound disc brakes (over 14 inches in diameter up front and nearly as large at the rear) stop savagely hard yet modulate effortlessly. The seats hug you like a loving aunt. You, as the driver, feel like you're operating in a vat of syrup, every control input smooth, every vehicle response a steady surge of torque or shifting mass. This is automotive performance at the highest level -- approachable, utterly usable, polished, perfected, thrilling. BMW is one of a tiny handful of automakers that could build a car like this. Maybe the only one.
And then . . . Monday. The near-perfect sports sedan slips out of my hands and into the warm embrace of another oh-so-fortunate pilot. All I can do is . . . check the bank account. Naturally, a spare $56,000 isn't there.
What A Weekend: Three Days In The 2008 BMW M3 | Editorial Blog at Motor Trend
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