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Wednesday 29th March
Long-term review

BMW M3 - long-term review

£56,505/£64,560 as tested
Published: 02 Sep 2019
 
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SPEC HIGHLIGHTS

  • SPEC

    BMW M3

  • ENGINE

    2979cc

  • BHP

    431bhp

  • MPG

    34mpg

  • 0-62

    4.1s

Lighting up

Toothless has illuminated badges on his seats. I think ‘his’, rather than ‘her’ – it’s the first time that’s come up. Anyway, they are not a good thing. Not so much for the weight and cost they must add, but for what they say about the M3. They’re a bit... tinselly.

And that makes me fearful – if BMW decided glowing M badges were essential, what other curious un-M bits might the marketing department have included?

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I’ve found some. Engine noise is piped through to the speakers. The gearbox kicks artificially with each shift. I get lost with all the modes I have to choose from.

This all concerns me. It’s like the M3 cake has been iced with a tasteless layer of flimflam that it would be better off without. And yet, I’m starting to fall for the car. I love the fact that, unlike the TTS I had before, I can’t use all the power, all the time. It’s a challenge. And when I concentrate, I forget about the illuminated badges.

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