BMW M3 Saloon (2008-) Review

Comfort and Equipment

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The M3 Saloon is a very comfortable car, with a superb driving position that will suit drivers of all dimensions, thanks to electrically adjustable seats and steering wheel.

The ride is also very compliant for a car as sporty as the M3, especially if you opt for the Electronic Damper Control (EDC), which means you can choose between Comfort, Normal or Sport settings: without EDC, the standard M damper setting gives you something between Sport and Normal.

There's also a fair bit of room in the back, with enough head- and leg room for most adults, and a 450-litre boot, which should be plenty for most journeys, even when four-up.

There's a gamut of gadgets and BMW's iDrive infotainment system, which has loads of options, but it lacks an intuitiveness found on those in cars from some rival manufacturers. It just takes too many jogs and clicks to get to where you want to go in each menu: you get used to it, but a truly useful system should work without you having to resort to the manual for even the most basic of functions. The basic hi-fi is excellent, but there's also the option of upgrading to a Logic 7 set-up with 13 speakers, should you need some extra pumping bass for a smiling face.