BMW introduced its legendary M3 in 1986. The $64,000
four-door basically created the then-novel “sport sedan” segment. In
the years since, it has maintained its dominance with supreme handling,
punch-perfect power, and businesslike good looks—and has rightfully been
embraced by wealthy professionals as the best drivers’ sedan you can get for
the money.
Last year BMW sold roughly 63,000 “M” vehicles total, a
record-setting increase of 40 percent over 2014. The M3/M4 models, which are
traditionally counted together, represent the majority of that number, says
BMW.
Yet this ubiquity has a downside: It’s so good, it’s almost
boring. It's the modern Rolex of cars, if you will. Those looking for something
distinctive may pass it up. That'd be a mistake.
Here's why 31 years after its debut, the 2017 M3 sport sedan
is still as relevant as ever—and easily made your own.
1. Manual (Still) Comes Standard. Thank you, BMW,
for remaining one of the few manufacturers that (1) make any sort of
manual transmission at all and (2) offer it as standard. The 2017 M3 comes with
a six-speed manual as standard or a (faster) optional seven-speed dual-clutch.
Take your pick, as long as you choose the manual. Anything less is sacrilege.
2. New Color Ways. Attainable only on new models with
special badging, unique paint jobs are one the easiest ways to separate
your own 2017 M3 from the myriad others running down the road. The one I drove
came coated in a $700 “Austin Yellow” paint job that BMW employees repeatedly
corrected me on when I called it green. I didn’t particularly like it, but it
worked like a charm to get people’s attention. (Choose the $700Marina Blue or, better yet, the $1,950 Tanzanite Blue Metallic if you want something a little
less outré.)
3. Sports-Car Blood in a Sedan—With an Upgrade. If you
buy the 2017 BMW M3, you must choose the $4,750 Competition Package as part of
the purchase. The car just isn’t the same without it—and with it, everything
you want to do on the track on the weekends becomes a reality. The M3
Competition Package on the car I drove included 444 horsepower (up from the
425hp that comes in the standard model), adaptive M-tuned suspension, and
special shadow trim with 20-inch forged wheels on the exterior that set it off
as markedly distinct from other, lesser M3s. The contact it has with the road
feels like what you expect from a coupe, not a four-door, 3,600-pound sedan.
What’s more, the Competition-spec seats are firm and ergonomic like the inside
of a supremely comfortable jet; they contribute none of that stress in the
shoulders and hips that poorly designed seats often do.
4. Hate to See It Leave, but Love to Watch It Go. Not
to be crass, but the rear of this car is hot. It always has been. Credit its
standard quad tail pipes and chrome sport exhaust nestled under the
perfectly arched rear lip on the trunk like some dang David. Pair those chrome sport tips with a darker exterior
color (blue or slate, see above) for maximum effect. It’ll be anything but
ubiquitous.
5. Lag-less Turbo. Plenty of resentment among track
buffs still exists toward turbo-charging technology. They decry turbo-lag and
the sort of gutless acceleration that emasculates men and dilutes what were
once perfect driving cars. Some even go so far as to say that BMW’s M3 coupe,
which had a naturally aspirated engine and two additional
cylinders on its V8 engine, was among the last great production cars in
the world. But the modern 3-liter twin turbo inline-6 engine here has more
power and better efficiency (17 city mpg/24 highway mpg) than previous models,
with no lag
6. Luxury-Level Options. Often race-car makers put all their
thought and resources into making the machine as light (and therefore as
fast and nimble) as possible, sacrificing other things in the process—the
quality of stitching, the elegance of the materials, the subtlety of seat
design. With the M3, these luxury-level details are not mutually exclusive to
dominating performance. The 2017 M3 has optional carbon fiber mirror caps
($1,040), special blacked-out kidney grills ($430), M-spec Carbon Ceramic
brakes ($8,150), and butter-soft merino leather ($3,600), among other
subtleties.
7. Only the Essential Tech. Consider this car the
Goldilocks of sport sedans. BMW’s excellent iDrive system (controling audio,
climate, Bluetooth, and other wireless functions) comes standard and sits on a
blessedly minimal dashboard. Beyond that, a $3,900 Executive Package nails the
sweet spot of tech-enhanced creature comforts—Park Distance Control, Rear View
Cameras, Heads-Up display, retractable headlight washers, Wi-Fi and wireless
charging for mobile devices—that are immediately practical and quickly
indispensable without distracting from the task at hand, which is ...
8. Aggressive, Exhilarating Driving. Driving the M3
Competition is to experience the sublime joy of physics—how space and time affect
matter (the M3). This superior, variable driving experience comes from
BMW’s adaptive M suspension and myriad steering, damping, stability, throttle,
and transmission-calibration settings. Again, splurge on all the extras you can
afford here. BMW doesn’t offer these things frivolously; they greatly enhance
the experience.
9. Pure Speed. With a zero-to-60mph sprint time of 3.8
seconds and a top speed of 155mph, the 2017 M3 is eons faster than the smaller,
lighter 911 Carrera (4.4 seconds) and, more closely, faster than a Porsche Panamera (4 seconds), which is considerably
more expensive. It is also lighter and faster than the M5 sedan while retaining
virtually all the practicality of its bigger sibling. In the Competition
Package you’ll have no trouble dropping pretty much everything else you see on
the average highway road; the unfortunate downside to that is you may also need
to set aside a speeding ticket fund—this kind of fun gets expensive.
10. Winning Value. The MSRP on the new 2017 M3 sedan is
$64,000 (plus destination and handling fees). With the tech, comfort, and
performance options on the car I drove, the total price hit just over $88,000.
This is considerably less than the $146,900 Porsche Panamera Turbo and the
$144,700 Mercedes-Benz AMG S63 sedan, two options near the M3 in
performance and luxury. Cadillac’s CTS-V comes closer to the pricing of the M3
but can’t quite match the handling or interior quality; Audi’s S6 approximates
the pricing, too, but can’t match the speed.
Still unconvinced? Drive it for yourself and see why it has
won legions of fans. No harm in experimenting. Just stay away from that neon
green—uh, Austin yellow—paint job. Some things are best left untried.
source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-11-11/2017-bmw-m3-review-10-reasons-the-sport-sedan-is-as-good-as-ever
by Hannah Elliott
http://www.boscheuropean.com
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