Motive Magazine: M3 Sedan article

[Zeiss]

words: Stu Fowle



To say I've driven Laguna Seca isn't exactly a lie, but it isn't exactly true, either. While laps at the iconic California raceway have evaded my arms and legs for my half-decade in this business, my fingers and thumbs are seasoned veterans here. Much of my study time in college was spent power-oversteering race-prepped Vipers through Turn Two, flinging GT-Rs through the Corkscrew, and hot-lapping the Suzuki Escudo rally car with no regard for apexes, course edges, or my virtual opponents. But now I'm really here, sitting in the pits, where it reeks of rubber and clutch and the sounds are no longer inaccurate digital recreations. No, these high-strung BMW V-8 hums are very real, as indicated by the hairs standing tall on my neck, as if magnetically drawn to the four-door M3 idling behind me.

The M3 sedan is, of course, mechanically equal to the coupe we drove and wrote about last summer. So what's the big deal, right? Who cares and why would BMW haul us out here just for two more stinkin' doors? Hell, I could be home playing video games right now. The truth is, those extra two doors are a big deal. Forgive the pun, but they open the M3 up to a market that's been shopping elsewhere since the E46 M3 was introduced, as coupe and convertible only. These are people who can't live with hard-to-access rear seats, whether for reasons of small children, business clients, or belonging to a family of six-footers. And with the Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG, the Cadillac CTS-V, the Lexus IS-F, and the now-discontinued Audi RS4 all prowling the streets of 2008, it's clear that the practicality of a sedan and the awesomeness of a sports car can be found in the same place. It's a damn good time for the M3 sedan to return from a ten-year vacation, I'd say.

But the extra two doors giveth, and the extra two doors taketh away. The M3 sedan is, like the regular 3-series, actually 1.4 inches shorter than its two-door counterpart, though a half-inch wider. Overall height rises 1.2 inches. The weight change is minimal, with the sedan twenty pounds up on



the coupe. That change doesn't come from adding doors, but from ditching the M3 coupe's carbon-fiber roof panel. BMW is convinced that sedan buyers don't want the boy-racer look of the exposed carbon weave. The coupe's body is a claimed 80-percent revision of the regular 3-series, with only doors, glass, and lights making the jump. That number's slightly higher for the sedan, which grabs a set of headlights from the M3 coupe.

None of those details are on my mind in Laguna's pit lane. I hit the steering-wheel-mounted "M" button, which tightens down the dampers, improves throttle response, and gives the Servotronic steering a more direct feel, then mash the rightmost pedal. The resultant noise won't be familiar to previous M3 drivers, who are probably more accustomed to the mechanical din of chainsaws under the hood; this motor sounds more like the M5's ten-man band on the day its two worst members quit. (It is, in fact, a 4.0-liter V-8 version of the M5's bedplate 5.0-liter V-10.) Power comes on immediately and builds linearly right up to the 8400-rpm redline; the experience feels amazingly similar to the way speed mounts as you wring all the revs out of an Audi RS4. The only gripe is a touchy throttle tip-in that makes it almost impossible to execute a graceful launch, but a few laps worth of acclimating my foot amends the issue. Those laps also start cooking the brakes.



When we first drove the M3 coupe in Spain, we wrote that, "once the hot laps start, the center pedal goes as soft as an L.A. judge on a celebutante." The culprits in that case were the single-piston front calipers, and we noted that, "there's simply no excuse for them on a car that is an otherwise perfect track-day weapon." I'm sticking to that assertion, though while Laguna Seca's corners have me digging deeply for brakes, there always seems to be adequate bite lurking in the pedal's nether regions. Nevertheless, it's a situation that doesn't inspire confidence on a fast track.

The braking issue is my reminder that the sedan shouldn't feel much different than the M3 coupe, as their specs are separated by only a couple of pounds here and a few millimeters there. After five laps in each body style, the only noticeable difference is the seating position. The sedan feels upright and business-like, and the view from higher up raises the perceived center of gravity more than the steel roof and extra height physically change it. The coupe's more relaxed driving position brings the bulbous hood closer to your sightline — reminiscent of looking over a muscle car's hood scoop — and provides a more traditional sports car vibe. Inside the cabin, the sedan's squared-off and upright design doesn't evoke the same performance-car feeling as the coupe, especially with the cheesy "carbon leather" trim, a $500 option that replaces the standard brushed aluminum with a carbon-fiber-patterned leather weave — you might remember it from various SRT products.



The morning drive at Laguna is short (isn't any track time too short?) and I exit out to Carmel Valley Road, a roaring rapids of pavement that gets lost between vineyards before trailing off into the subdivision community of Greenfield. The route provides a chance to experience the first V-8 M3 ever (and the first four-door version of this decade) on real roads where the brakes aren't likely to go soft and the car's workaday personality can be evaluated. The added doors and cylinders culminate to make the M3 sedan feel more like a dieting M5 and less like its coupe predecessor. While a smaller, more focused M5 isn't too shabby, the experience just isn't as visceral as it should be. With 414 hp on tap and a chassis that M engineers describe as "faster than its engine," the car is — to paraphrase the M3's German masterminds — faster than our roads. Even the piece of coughed-up spaghetti I'm sliding along. Third gear has full control over a majority of the speedometer, the steering works like a laser pointer, and stability control is so sensitive that I'm cursing the warning light when it occasionally flashes quickly. "Oh come on," I plead with it, "I didn't even do anything wrong there!" Whereas M3s of the past could be pushed hard without wondering how inconvenient a reckless-driving charge might be, I'd be in the electric chair before this latest rendition could break a sweat. It is simply too good, too potent. The four-door's family-style cabin layout may be all for naught, because the M3 isn't a safe place for children; the second Junior tells Mommy how fast Daddy was driving, that "practicality" excuse will never work on her again.

Then again, the M3 can be a very effortless cruiser, so long as the driver can practice restraint. Like the bigger M5, this car's roaring personality turns to a whisper on the highway, while the previous M3 was never able to fully hide its bad attitude. At 80 mph, that car's raspy engine buzzed through the body structure and the suspension crashed over expansion joints. Even without the optional electronic-damper-control system, the new car's two personalities are able to coexist in a way that's rare among the cars in this class (I'm talking to you, IS-F and C63). This makes the sedan a classic wolf in sheep's clothing, its few bumps and gills and styling convolutions notwithstanding. Less car-savvy passengers can ride along in total comfort, never realizing that this thing can run with Ferraris.

And so I pull back into the raceway parking lot where my day began many gallons of fuel earlier (thankfully the EPA requires only city and highway ratings, and not a third classification for "constant abuse"), and think back to my Gran Turismo glory days. The latest M3 would fit perfectly into a world of racetracks, where the clocks only display lap times and no amount of power is too much. In the real world, the M3 has gotten too good at everything. Too good at going fast, too good at being forgiving, and with the sedan, too good at offering mass appeal. Being too much fun on the street, well, that is something this latest M3 has moved beyond.

http://www.motivemag.com/pub/feature/first_steer/Motive_First_Drive_2008_BMW_M3_Sedan.shtml

[Big Windy]

great read...thanks.

[mkoesel]

+1 Great article.

I am really looking forward to driving this car.

[the_stranger]

Very good review. Thanks for posting

[Epacy]

Too good at everything?

What is left then?

[southlight]

Thanks!

this motor sounds more like the M5's ten-man band on the day its two worst members quit.

Best regards, south

[ruff]

Stu is a hater. Everyone on this forum will tell you single pot brakes outperform multipot brakes any day, by simple fact that the M3 doesn't sport multipots like the lowly 135.

[Breyton E36]

Did anyone notice the seat bottoms here are not the same as the press photos? They look like regular e90 sport seats the bottom half.



Here is the sedan press shot.

[ruff]

Originally Posted by Breyton E36

Did anyone notice the seat bottoms here are not the same as the press photos? They look like regular e90 sport seats the bottom half.

Nice find.

[Johndoe]

thanks for posting article - good to finally read about the SEDAN....I read somewhere BMW made the suspension slightly more forgiving than Coupe...but the article says it all

[mkoesel]

Originally Posted by Breyton E36

Did anyone notice the seat bottoms here are not the same as the press photos? They look like regular e90 sport seats the bottom half.

Yep. Its been discussed. US M3s (of any type) do not get the M3 specific seat bottoms. We are too fat apparently.

[JEllis]

Nice article... I live Motive

[devo]

I am sure I am the minority here, but I prefer the CL Trim to the aluminum no matter what color the interior is. I still like aluminum but not as much.

[geoff2010]

this is such a great line: "Less car-savvy passengers can ride along in total comfort, never realizing that this thing can run with Ferraris."

really says what the M3 sedan is all about

[devo]

Originally Posted by geoff2010

this is such a great line: "Less car-savvy passengers can ride along in total comfort, never realizing that this thing can run with Ferraris."

really says what the M3 sedan is all about

What Ferraris? A dated 360. These mags/RAGS crack me up. If someone here posted that phrase, they'd be to death!

[///M3]

Thanks for the good read!

Cheesy carbon fiber leather trim? Whatever, I think it looks fantastic!

[Blip Bavarian]

Originally Posted by mkoesel

Yep. Its been discussed. US M3s (of any type) do not get the M3 specific seat bottoms. We are too fat apparently.

that sucks

[Simple1]

Originally Posted by Blip Bavarian

that sucks

+50000000000000000000

why the hell would I want seats that the regular 3 series has, I'm paying over 20K more (m3 sedan I want is 68K, my current 335 48K) for this car, give me the facking seat I don't care about fat Americans, lose weight if you want to drive the m3 or get the CTS-V!! (yes I know the new CTS-V is faster than the new m3)

[hks786]

Originally Posted by mkoesel

Yep. Its been discussed. US M3s (of any type) do not get the M3 specific seat bottoms. We are too fat apparently.

I noticed it too and thought wtf? That must be SO fustrating for US buyers!!!!! The interior alread looks just like the 335i !