Some hardcore M3 purists will find that a little hard to get used to. And they will be missing a key point about this car: that it has more depth to it -- more layers of expertise -- than any previous M3. It might seem a little too well mannered, but it is faster around the Nurburgring Nordschleife than the V-10 powered M5 sedan, says M GmbH boss Gerhard Richter. How much faster? Precisely 3.54 seconds a lap, says Richter, who adds the new M3 will turn an 8:10 lap without raising a sweat: "I could do that while talking to you as I drive." That's no idle boast, by the way -- I once saw Richter horse an E36 M3 through a fast, looping turn at the Miramas circuit in southern France, totally sideways with the rear tires on fire. Not many senior auto industry execs can drive like this guy.
Richter talks a lot about building what he calls "M character" into BMW M car. What he means is precision, feedback and response rather than raw power. "It's too easy to make horsepower," he says with a wry nod to a certain rival in Stuttgart. "That's not a challenge." Instead, says Richter, M is focusing on building cars that are lighter and have high-revving engines.
Some 80 percent of the M3's components are new or redesigned compared with the regular 3 Series coupe, for those very reasons. The new M3 is the first volume-selling car with a carbon fiber roof, and most of the suspension is made from aluminum. It has an aluminum hood, and plastic front fenders. The 4.0-liter V-8, a close cousin of the M5's 5.0-liter V-10, is 33 pounds lighter than the smaller straight six of the old car. Richter says the new car would have been about 180 pounds heavier if it had been built using the same technology as the E46 version.
Why have a V-8 that doesn't deliver its peak power -- 414 horsepower -- until a dizzying 8300 rpm? "When you drive on the limit, a higher revving engine allows the driver to more finely adjust the torque to the rear wheels," says Richter. "It gives more sensitivity." Peak torque is only 295lb-ft at 3900 rpm, and the delivery is so linear -- 85 percent of that figure is available across a 6500 rpm rev range -- that the engine just doesn't seem to punch as hard as a you think a V-8 should. The sensation is deceptive, however: look down at the speedo and you'll almost invariably be going 10-to-20 mph faster than you think. On almost any given stretch of twisting blacktop this M3 is 911-fast.
Like the M5, the new M3 offers drivers the ability to "tune" their cars. Buttons on the console allow two different throttle sensitivity settings, three different shock rates, and the opportunity to switch off the stability control. But dive into the iDrive system, select the Mdrive menu, and you're given even more choice: an additional throttle sensitivity setting, the option of sport or normal modes for the Servotronic steering, and a race-face setting for the stability control system that allows fun stuff like power oversteer, but still intervenes if it senses things are getting out of hand. Select the settings you want, and they can be accessed with a single press of the "M" button on the steering wheel.
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