This is the new BMW M3 saloon, which has been unveiled alongside the two-door M4 coupe. Let’s get the grille thing out of the way with first. As you can see, it comes complete with the massive gaping snout that debuted recently with the 4 Series Coupe, as opposed to the slimmer, more discrete grille of the standard 3 Series. For better or worse. You decide.
Power and performance are the most important things here though, right. We’ll only get the Competition version in the UK, powered by a twin-scroll turbo 3.0-litre six-cylinder engine with 503bhp and 650Nm, good for a 0-62mph time of just 3.9 seconds. Top speed is limited to 155mph, unless you pay more to specify ‘M Pro Package’ which will bump it to a smidgen over 180mph, among other things.
We’re not sure how much that package costs, but it’ll be on top of the £74,755 asking price of the car. FYI, the same money will get you two and a half bog standard 3 Series 318i saloons.
Those power and performance figures make this, the sixth generation of the model, a full 65bhp more powerful than the outgoing M3 Competition, which took four seconds flat to get to the benchmark speed. An eight-speed automatic gearbox is standard and there’s no manual option…for now. It will almost certainly happen at some stage. It’s rear wheel drive for now too, but we’re told that a four-wheel drive (xDrive) option will come, albeit a rear-biased one.
The styling, then. You’ll notice that it’s quite…erm…aggressive. Apparently that’s because existing M3 customers were concerned that there wasn’t enough visual or performance distance between their cars and the 340i repmobiles that the inferior folk drive around in.
So, aside from the massive grille the M3 gets a completely redesigned bumper incorporating vents to help cool the brakes, a bulging bonnet with more fancy metal work than an Iron Maiden album, a set of ground-hugging skirts all the way around, M3 badging on the flanks, a pair of distinctive M Division double stalk wing mirrors and around the back, of course, quad tailpipes. It’s pretty amazing, isn’t it?
As we reported a few weeks back an Estate is coming too, a production first for the M3 model, although quite when isn’t clear.
The interior is dazzling, distinguished as a proper M Sport model with specific aluminium pedals, proper badging on the gear selector and centre console (which you won’t find in a 318d M Sport), sports seats, Nappa leather interior trim in some bright shades, and a pair of red buttons in front of the gear select paddles named ‘M1’ and ‘M2’.
Those levers denote the pre-set sportier modes you can put the car in, although much of the drivetrain is adjustable, including the gear shifts, the damping, the throttle mapping, the traction control and the brakes. Because, of course, the M3 isn’t just about shorhorning a massive engine into a 3 Series and tarting up the styling. This is basically the sharpest driving experience that BMW’s M Division is capable of, in saloon form. And all the while also capable of being, well, a repmobile. Such is the M3’s remit, and it was ever thus.
It’s available to order now, with first deliveries coming at the beginning of 2021.
Keyword: The brand-new BMW M3 is attached to this grille