Category: Affordable Sports 
Price Range: £49,900 to £55,300
Awesomely fast, comfortable, great gearbox, practical cabin and boot.
Steering lacking in feedback, thirsty, not as exciting as you would expect.
This fast but spacious saloon is a worthy addition to the M heritage.
V8s are traditionally expensive to run: the M3 is no exception. Once you get past the initial purchase price, there are the ongoing costs to consider.
Officially, the M3 will return 22.8mpg on the combined cycle, which is better than the RS4 or C63 AMG, but if you drive the M3 anywhere near its full potential that figure will easily drop into the low teens.
CO2 emissions are 295g/km, putting the M3 firmly in the top tax bracket and making it liable for the full £25 Congestion Charge in London from October 2008. Insurance costs will also be high as the M3 is in the top group 20, like its rivals.
The M3 is fitted with BMW's Efficient Dynamics brake energy regeneration system that tops up the battery's charge levels at any time the engine is not under load. This means that the alternator is used much less, which in turn frees the engine up from having to power it. There's also a shift indicator on the instrument display that tells you the gear you should be in for the best economy.
Latest Readers' Drives About the BMW 3-Series
wrote on 08 10 2007