Category: Affordable Sports 
Price Range: £50,935 to £50,935
Rev-happy V8, styling, carbon roof, manual gearbox, minimal electronic interference.
Expensive, artificial steering feel doesn't inspire confidence, too refined.
An excellent 21st century interpretation of the M3 - not perfect, though.
This is what the M3 is all about. All the elements are there for a promising drive - large V8 up front driving the rear wheels through a manual gearbox; a paddleshift sequential manual will be offered in the future. And on the whole, the M3 performs its job extremely well. However, there is one area which could be better - the steering.
Unlike so many of today's cars which have been blighted by electronic steering systems, the M3 uses a rack-and-pinion set-up with hydraulic assistance. It has two settings, Normal - which makes the steering light for low-speed manoeuvres, and Sport. This succeeds in firming up the feel of the steering wheel, and it lets you know what the road surface is like, but there's very little real feedback. This makes it very difficult to judge at what point the tyres start to lose grip in a corner, and you find yourself constantly adjusting your line. It just doesn't really inspire a huge amount of confidence.
On a more positive note, the Michelin tyres offer very good grip, and when they break away they do so in a progressive fashion. The tail will step out if you push past the limits of grip, but can be brought back in line very quickly with a small adjustment to steering or throttle. The M3 has a variable differential lock which can send up to 100% of engine power to either of the rear wheels, depending on the surface and grip. Lurid tail slides are possible with the electronics firmly off.
The stability control has three settings - On, M Dynamic mode and Off, depending on how brave you feel at a given moment. Electronic damper control is optionally available which allows you to choose from three settings - Normal, Comfort and Sport - and changes the ride characteristics of the M3 accordingly. Unlike other 3-Series models, the M3 doesn't have runflat tyres so the ride remains comfortable over broken surfaces, even in Sport setting.
The brakes scrub off speed extremely quickly, although we have only tested the M3 with the optional Sports brake pads. There's no doubting their effectiveness on road or track: they show no sign of fading, but they do become very vocal after hard use.
The new 4.0-litre V8 is very special indeed and endows the M3 with impressive performance credentials - 0-62mph takes 4.8 seconds and top speed is an electronically limited 155mph, exactly the same performance figures as the Audi RS4, the M3's closest competitor.
Power from the two cars is identical at 414bhp, but the M3 has slightly less torque than the Audi with 295lb-ft against 317lb-ft. However, the M3's torque is available lower down the rev range at 3,900rpm instead of the Audi's 5,500rpm. This makes it stronger when accelerating as you don't have to stretch the engine too far to make good progress.
Like the RS4, the M3 loves to rev - maximum power is available at a heady 8,300rpm and the engine enjoys spending time in the higher echelons of the rev range. You can easily find yourself tanking along, so comfortable the M3 is a high speed. It's a pretty good cruiser, too: with the EDC in Comfort mode and the cruise control engaged it'll happily munch along motorway miles without fuss.
In common with the M5 and M6, the M3 has a rather anonymous looking M button on the steering wheel. Pressing it engages the special M Drive mode. You can personalise the steering, suspension and throttle settings of the M mode via the M3's iDrive control. Unlike the M5 and M6, all of the M3's engine power is on offer at all times, but you can choose how frantic the throttle response is with choices of Normal, Sport and Sport Plus settings.
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wrote on 21 09 2007