BMW M3

Just bought a normal M3? Oh dear. You really should have waited, because now you're going to be upstaged by your M3 Competition Pack-wielding friends.

While you're twirling your ‘standard' M3 keys, your mates are going to be boasting about how the £3,315 upgrade on their cars gives them 10mm lower ride height, a new Sport setting on the dampers and a reprogrammed ESP system. Oh, and new 19-inch alloy wheels, and a new matt, metallic paint finish that makes the M3 look even more menacing. Something we never thought possible.

But there are other changes they won't be crowing about. They'll probably skip over the fact that the ride is a touch firmer than in the normal M3, meaning that over bumpier roads the car skips around. And they're unlikely to mention the fact that using the Sport setting on a normal road makes journeys unpleasantly bobbly.

They'll gloss over all that and try to taunt you by gloating about how all M3s now get a range of Efficient Dynamics upgrades.

They'll vaunt the stop-start technology and other fuel-saving measures - both the manual and the dual-clutch transmission now cut out at traffic lights. They'll likely wax lyrical about the six per cent fuel saving and the drop in CO2 emissions from 285g/km to 263g/km. And they'll forget that no one likes a show-off.  

Piers Ward

On your drive for: £1,396pcm
Performance: 0-62mph in 4.6secs, max speed 155mph, 25.2mpg
Tech: 3999cc, V8, RWD, 414bhp, 295lb ft, 1655kg, 263g/km CO2