BMW M3 manual 2007 review

It has never been the biggest, the fastest nor the most expensive, yet during the past 20 years the BMW M3 has become one of the most desirable of the “real world” performance cars.

Just what has made the M3 so special is something of a moving feast. What has remained constant is the unwavering insistence that M cars would never be run of the mill. Engineering over marketing.

“Of course there was going to be comment on the move because of the iconic status of the six,” BMW Australia's Toni Andreevski says. “It was the same when we went away from the original four-cylinder engine. People screamed that it was sacrilege but it didn't take too long before the engine was all but forgotten and the straight six was regarded as a classic.

“I believe it is going to be similar with the V8.” The engine is a spanker with power output of 309kW at 8300rpm and maximum torque of 400Nm peaking at 3500rpm and hanging around right through to almost 7000rpm.

The raw power and readily available urge through a six-speed manual; the seven-speed double-clutch automatic that BMW will not confirm, it is expected around the middle of 2008; giving the M3 a Jekyll and Hyde character.

Power is fed to the rear wheels through an M limited-slip differential ensuring the 18-inch light alloys, shod with 265/40 ZR18 rubber, get the maximum opportunity to transfer the power to forward momentum. The single piston calipers working on vented and cross-drilled discs do an outstanding job of dragging speed off the car.

The full suite of electronic minders are standard as are leather sports seats; disappointing in the lack of contouring around the upper body, which needs all the help it can get.

In raw performance numbers the M3 is impressive. It does the 0-100km/h sprint in 4.8 seconds, can respond to the need of mid-range attack with an 80-120 overtaking run in

4.9 seconds in fourth gear, and is only restrained at top rack by the convention of a 250km/h limited. Stroke it gently and the car will play happily in city traffic, burbling along in company with the daily grinders.

Stir the pot and hang on tight. The siren song of the engine and exhaust in concert will draw many an enthralled driver beyond the boundaries of Australia's speed limits.

In the right environment, a racetrack perhaps, the M3 will allow as much or as little fun as the driver can stand. In full minder mode the car is frighteningly quick in a straight line but the electronic interventions step in to modify areas the driver won't, or can't, take under control.

Sharpen the electronic damper control; the first time an M3 has had such technology; and take on the sport mode for sharper steering and more aggressive throttle, the M3 becomes less of a granny and more the wide boy. There are several layers of traction and stability control working feverishly away but, like the duck on the pond, it's going on below the water while the casual observer there is an air of calm control.

If your confidence is up, then the M button, with factory settings or self-loaded, may be just the ticket. A press of the steering-wheel mounted button engages the pre-set parameters, mostly having to do with getting the car into a maximum attack frame of mind, which can be all the way to having every electronic minder take a nap.

It would be a brave driver who, having tipped in the $157,000 purchase price, took the maximum route; even BMW leave the stability control functioning, if only in a mild form.

Pleasingly, BMW has not ignored the less adrenalin-inducing aspects of the new car.

Despite representing the peak of 3 Series evolution, the M3 shares a miserly 20 per cent of common parts with its less exotic siblings. Apart from the glass and some lesser body panels the exterior is unique to the M3. It may look similar but isn't and the story is the same under the skin.

The differentiation from the previous M3 is dramatic. BMW says the only part shared by the two cars is a single lower trailing arm on the rear suspension. Surely the zenith of trailing arm (lower) engineering.

If you are determined to undo the work of the M Division engineers you can specify the no-cost option of a sunroof, replacing the sexy, functional carbon-fibre roof and add 20kg. It is like putting sunglasses on the Mona Lisa; unnecessary.

See this car at the Australian International Motor Show