Posted by Tom Ford at 3:00PM on Thursday 12 July, 2007 8 Comments
Ever since I drove the new BMW M3 last week, I've been checking out some of the comments from other journalists and internet commentators, and plenty of them seem to suggest that it has gone a bit soft.
Great. Because I tend to find that if you make a car that pleases the majority of motoring journalists, you're making a car for a very, very defined section of the population - and the M3 is a mass-market car, not a track special.
In my opinion, the new M3 isn't a massively aggressive, no-compromise set-up - but why should it be? It needs to be driven as a flagship car by people who only own one motor, and BMW readily agrees that there's space for a more hardcore 'CSL' version later in the model life.
So we've got a four-seater that has 420bhp, serious acceleration, both from a standstill and through the gears, and a set-up that forgives as much as it lets you play. It feels fast. It feels honed and it feels very sporting.
It feels fun. It sounds glorious - different to the yowl of the previous straight-six, for sure - but still brilliantly inspiring.
Where the M5 is the aloof express and the Z4 M Coupe the slightly over-playful puppy, the M3 is somewhere in-between. Excellent. Yes, it does powerslide - but it won't exactly chuck you through a hedge on the first corner. It's more accessible than the previous generation, though no slower, and I find that refreshing.
Truth is, I'm more for a car that's fun to drive than a car that's gained the last 10th around the track. I'm more for a car with soul than speed. The new M3, for me, has it.
Forget immediate comparisons with the RS4 and C63 and let's just soak up a really interesting car. Let's enjoy a thing of beauty without immediately getting all frothy over the fact that it laps the Nurburgring only as fast as the old version.
Am I just not competitive enough? Or are we really a Top Trumps nation?
8 Comments for "Has the BMW M3 gone soft?"
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By how many degrees do both of your eyes face off the centre? I'm going to immediately ignore any man who thinks Bangle's BMW disasters are anything but ugly, unsightly trash.
I think that Tom hits on a great point here. Often petrolheads (myself included) get too wrapped up in performance figures (0-60, bhp, top speed...) and forget that ultimately what makes a car great is the way it makes you feel.
Good blog, Tom!! Who cares if it accelerates 0.1 of a second slower, or has one less cup holder than any of its rivals? You should drive a car for enjoyment, not so you can grin smuggly at your neighbour! Some of the best cars I've driven have looked crap on paper in contrast to their 'rivals'.
Since when was a £50K BMW 'M' car a mass-market vehicle??
There's too much focus on how quick a car can lap a track these days, especially when you can buy a cheaper new car, with a 420hp V8, that will make you wet your pants every time you drive it, along with having a TV, leather seats, satnav and every other possible option you can think of.
I couldn't agree more. Journalists rave about the M3's raw attitude, but how many owners could/would actually push the M3 to the edge? BMW could have made the M3 wilder, but instead made a car that nails all the things that actually matter in the real world. And that makes this car a true winner.
Yeah, OK. But NO. Accesibility and some comfort are nice surprises, of course, but the M3 is not about that. Failing to get a better time round the 'Ring is a mistake and it will cast a shadow over the new car.
And what the hell is that bulge on the bonnet?
Driving the new M3 in a couple of weeks - so tell me, am I about to find out how good the last-gen E46 M3 was?
I've always been deeply suspicious when manufacturers upsize engines but keep the body/chassis the same size. It often seems like the manufacturer gets obsessed with what type of engine they could fit in the car, without stopping to think what engine they should fit in the car.
To me, the straight-six was the perfect engine for the M3. I know the V8 is lighter, but I'd be interested to find out how the mass is spread across the engine bay. Why? Because I love the way the E46 seems to pivot around its central 'spine'. It gave sense of stability, of control - it felt like a racing car which, let's not forget, the M3 was originally designed to be.
No wonder motoring journos like me and Tom have been looking forward to driving this car like no other this year...
This debate is going to go on, and on, and on....