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BMW M3 in the test: once again full throttle

2021-03-19T04:07:40.991Z


CO2 limit values? No matter. Electrical support for the six-cylinder turbo engine? Oh, what for. BMW's new M3 relies fully on old values. This is somehow consistent - because it is probably the last of its kind.


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Away there, here I come!

The new BMW M3 sports sedan has a martial appearance.

This is of course wanted in a car of this caliber.

Photo: Uwe Fischer / BMW

The first impression:

Oh dear!

The M3 was the first BMW sedan to have the grimacing front with huge kidneys.

He didn't need the showmanship - thanks to the wide flared fenders, gills on the bonnet and the extra-wide rear, you can see the muscles of the M model anyway.

This is what the manufacturer says:

When BMW product manager Hagen Franke speaks of the M3 and the two-door offshoot M4, he often uses the phrase "Icon of M GmbH".

No other Kraftmeier has a reputation like the tuned mid-range sedan.

All the more they fear for its future at the headquarters of M GmbH in Garching.

Because it may well be that the generation presented now will be the last of its kind.

In times when society is calling for a change to electromobility and Brussels is punishing failed CO2 targets, doped combustion engines hardly fit into the picture.

The CO2 fleet target for BMW was 104 g / km last year, the M3 emits significantly more than twice as much.

After all, BMW recently undercut the fleet target value with 99 g / km.

"You have to want to afford a car like this," says Franke, referring less to the customer than to the manufacturer.

For M GmbH itself, one thing is clear: It lives splendidly from such cars.

But the BMW headquarters looks at such models in a more differentiated way: The M3 does indeed make money that is used to finance the fuel-saving technology of other cars.

However, it increases fleet consumption and the risk of a CO2 penalty.

"In the end, the tongue on the scales has to point in the right direction," says M development chief Dirk Häcker about the balance between reason and pleasure.

Product manager Franke is relieved to note that the bill has paid off again for the M3.

"Maybe we came just at the right time," he says with a view to the upcoming pollution regulations such as Euro 7. Now he has some peace and quiet before the manufacturer has to ask himself again in a few years whether he wants to electrify or disarm the classic .

Häcker and Franke see with the competition that the future of cars like the M3 is uncertain: Audi Sport is building the first Stromer and has retired the eight-cylinder engines of the RS4 and RS6.

And when the new Mercedes C-Class comes onto the market as an AMG model, the previous 4-liter V8 engine will probably give way to a plug-in hybrid drive.

Mild hybrid drives are also already available from BMW M.

Later this year, a tuned version of the i4 electric car will show what an electrified powerhouse can do.

We noticed that:

attack!

The M3 is also programmed to attack the drive.

The six-in-a-row engine, constructed without electrical assistance, craves gas.

The M3 drives brute, fast - and much more intensely than sporty electric cars.

It remains controllable for a surprisingly long time, almost unshakably it lies on the street.

If the Bavarians have already made a leap with the new normal 3 Series, it becomes a leap in the M3.

He storms even more confidently over the track, thanks to mixed tires, new axle kinematics and more snappy brakes.

He seems more relaxed on a fast straight, screwing his way through harassment as if by himself.

He acknowledges the load changes without nodding or swaying.

Unfortunately, the M3 gained a few pounds during the generation change and has grown a little again.

But the driver doesn't feel any of it at the steering wheel.

Without the fiery red M-buttons, carbon applications and the bucket seats, he could forget that this is not a Porsche.

But the M3 is also suitable for everyday use and reasonably comfortable.

There is plenty of paint and leather and all the assistance systems that are available on the production models.

It is a tradition that you still have to work more in the M3 than with the competition.

The last of its kind is the new M3 with manual transmission.

"We won't let that be taken away from us," says Häcker and speaks of a unique purism.

But the Bavarians bow to the trend elsewhere: They offer the M3 with all-wheel drive as an option - as Audi and Mercedes do with their competing models.

You have to know that: available to order

since last autumn, BMW is now starting to deliver the M3 and M4.

The prices for the sedan start at 82,500 euros, the two-door car costs 2000 euros more.

Those who order the even sharper competition variant add another 7,000 euros.

The drive is taken over by a three-liter six-cylinder, which has 480 hp in the basic model and 510 hp in the competition version.

With a torque of up to 650 Nm, the car accelerates to 100 km / h in 3.9 seconds at best and reaches a top speed of 290 km / h.

To make the investment worthwhile, BMW is launching further body variants: in the summer the M4 will be available as a convertible and later - for the first time in recent history - an M3 Touring, i.e. a full-throttle estate car.

We will not forget that:

yes, the engine is scrap metal in the eyes of electric car fans and the option of a manual transmission is an anachronism.

But if you look at the digital instruments, use the mobile phone as a key or use an app on the screen to help you drift, you will see that the future has begun for the M3 too.

It just hasn't reached the exhaust pipe yet.

Thomas Geiger is a freelance author and was supported in his research by BMW.

Reporting is independent of this.

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Source: spiegel

All tech articles on 2021-03-19

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