BMW M3 and M4: Impressive siblings are strong, safe and mind-bendingly fast
These are both – in some ways – cars that will easily overwhelm you if you let them, but the M3 seemed to be less inclined to actually do so than the M4.
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BMW M3 and M4 |
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★★★★★ |
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from €130,089 - €146,128 as tested from €130,089 - €143,333 as tested |
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A 510 bhp dervish |
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The full German |
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Forget the naysayers, both classics |
You can never keep all the people happy all the time and BMW is all too well aware of the fact.
Take the company’s M3 model as a case in point. Since we first saw it back in 1986, it has been a hot topic for discussion among the cognoscenti, as well as those less informed who feel it necessary to impose their ignorance on anyone who’ll listen.
In essence, much of the M3’s history has been littered with searing criticism of BMW’s engineering decisions with regard to the various models (there have been six generations, including the new one) and particularly the pick of engines chosen to propel them.
The original car, the E30 to the true student of the M3, was originally intended as a homologation special to qualify it for the DTM, the German Touring Car Championship. It came with a modest four-cylinder engine which produced 192 bhp, but this was later uprated to 2.3 and 2.5 litres in size with incremental power increases to 296 and 374 bhp respectively, although these units were only seen on track and special stages.
It was a legend as a track racer and a crack rally car worldwide, as well as a street racer’s hero, but then BMW came along with the second generation E36 version in 1992 with a straight six engine which was initially a three litre which ultimately gestated into a 3.2. The critics were hysterical. BMW was betraying the faithful, they moaned.
That the car also came with an automatic transmission was also a high sin and the complainants were wracked with dismay.
The third generation remained powered by a six, which quelled the doomsters for a while, but then in 2007 BMW produced the E90 fourth generation and it had a V8 engine. The world stopped while we took in the enormity of this vicious perfidy perpetrated on humankind.
But, to those of us who simply marvelled at the extraordinary performance of the thing (414 bhp, 4.6 seconds 0-100 kph and a 250 kph limited top speed), it was much more of an engineering marvel than any display of duplicity on behalf of the manufacturer.
That was not the end of the wind bags, however. In 2014 BMW reverted to the straight six, but there was a but…a big one. To the horror of the faithful, the company had the absolute temerity and cheek to turbocharge it. Turbocharging. By God, this was proof positive that we were all headed for hell – in a violently fast handcart.
Again this was a sensational machine and I don’t care how much people want to play the dog in the manger with their endless whining and brutally uninformed opinions. This time around there was 425 bhp and the 0-100 time was down to 3.9. The bloody thing was mind blowing.
But the wafflers waffled and gurned their aimless fury into endless treatises about how BMW had abandoned the devoted. Their often halitosis-tinged breath was more of a stain on the car than anything the engineers did to it.
And now we have the new M3 – as well as an M4 Coupe which is essentially the exact same thing mechanically but with two instead of four doors – and this week we test both of them. Yet again, though, the carping classes are dissatisfied.
The main beefs this time are an increased all-round weight and dramatic new styling – especially those twin overgrown kidney grilles which have eschewed BMW’s traditionally conservative design approach and become a talking point for people with nothing else to talk about.
Believe me both these cars – and the engineers have done everything they can to ensure both have near exact handling and performance traits – possess almost inhuman levels of speed, poise, handling and accuracy. Both are demonic by design and can only be marvelled at by mere mortals like me.
Both are powered by three litre twin-turbocharged straight six engines, which is a new one and has a different cubic capacity. That means it has 510 and not 444 bhp, which is a substantial gain by anyone’s measure, but the naysayers point accusingly to the fact that the 0-100 kph time is only one-tenth quicker (3.8 seconds as against 3.9).
This is easily explained by the fact the new cars having an extra 135 kg weight gain (which includes the ‘M’ carbon bucket seats at an extra cost of €5,870) , but it does not in any way dilute from the monstrousness of what’s on offer here.
Both the M3 and M4 will only be sold here with a ‘Competition’ tag added and this means that there is no manual version on offer – instead you get a seven-speed auto that was originally seen in the 7 Series.
Again, this is grist to the mill of the alleged purists, and they may have a point as this unit seems slightly laboured and ponderous when compared to the last version which had a double clutch ‘box. But when you have an engine as ripplingly muscular as this one, you would still want to be the reincarnation of Ayrton Senna to find miniature flaws in this beastly package.
Bristling with state-of-the-art technology which allows you configure the car’s set up to almost anything you want it to be. Scroll endlessly though the mapping for the engine, the gearbox and the electronic dampers and you will keep yourself endlessly amused. Your prodding and scrolling might not make it any quicker with you behind the wheel, but at least you’ll be entertained.
The majority of the entertainment, however, does not come from the electronics. It comes from the sheer force of personality both these cars possess. Just leave it in ‘Comfort’ settings and you will still have a beast you’ll have to be in the full of your health to master.
Pages of text on the intricacies of both M3 and M4 could be filled easily, but as space is an issue, we’ll get down to personal brass tacks.
Of the two cars, the M3 four door was the one I preferred most. I know the engineers claim that the two mirror each other in performance and handling terms, but I must say the M3 felt to me to be much more sorted than the M4. It was like it was welded to the road.
The M4 was a mildly terrifying thing to drive because you felt it wanted to pitch you into the scenery were you to over-flex an arm or leg muscle. It seemed to me to be much more of a high wire act than the M3.
Maybe I’m over sensitive, or something, but the M4 did not appear to have the same seat-of-the-pants security feel the M3 did. The former seemed to be over-zealous and fussy, while the latter was a doddle to get to its handling limit and pitch it over the edge without causing unnecessary terror to you.
These are both – in some ways – cars that will easily overwhelm you if you let them, but the M3 seemed to be less inclined to actually do so than the M4.
Both are properly fast cars and both have the sort of power attributes and handling nous that will have the likes of Porsche looking in their rear-view mirrors.
So, don’t in any way take it from some know-it-all that because they are heavier, don’t have a manual option and are styled by a mule, that they are not proper ‘M’ cars.
They fully merit their status as brilliant, strong, safe and mind-bendingly fast cars (no matter what anyone says), but I’d still prefer the M3, personally.
