The new BMW M3 V8

The M3 has been always something special in a sporting division of BMW M GmbH .Thanks to its active life in the motor sport, customers always buy it with a piece of racing history. Every of three generations of the most powerful 3-class always capitalized this legacy on the track and this made it something more than an ordinary vehicle. The fourth generation isn’t an exception and continues in this tradition.

The newest elaboration of M3 comes from the recently introduced BMW 3 Coupe and this defines main visual characteristics of the body. The perfect work is most visible on the exterior, of course, and especially on the bottom part of front bumper with massive air inlets in a typical M’s design.

All identifications such as headlamps or side profile are identical with ordinary Coupe. But I need to say, that I’d like to see the M3 based on saloon version, because its look is unbeatable.

But that doesn’t mean that the new BMW 3 has no aggressive visual that can pump your heart to the max.

In addition to the changes on the front, other modifications are in the case of immutable hood with air openings, aerodynamic rear mirrors, beautifully embedded heat sinks behind the rear wheels, more massive side sills, and of course amazing finishing of rear part with four exhaust tips.

Traditionally, we can find a specific design of wheels in case of the BMW M3s. There are 18“ forged alloys with dimensions 8.5“ width in front and 9.5“ at the back.

Maybe it’s not visible at first sight, but there’s a black roof panel made of carbon fibers with transparent paint. Particularly the visible carbon structure reveals connection with motor sport where this material is often used.

An unsprung weight, the deadliest enemy of all suspension tuners, is eliminated by aluminum parts of most parts of suspension.

A specific shape of arms and technological process of forging in combination with aluminum save about 2.5kgs on the undercarriage.

Engines are maybe the most important parts of the models of BMW M GmbH. And in case of the new M3, there are more reasons than we think.

After 15 years of six-cylinders in two recent versions and „Engine of the Year“ title, now there’s a 8-cylinder engine inside of this beast! The V8 engine has 3999 cm³ and it can produce 309kW (420hp). So we have 77.3kW (105.2hp) per liter and BMW proves that it’s an elite among naturally aspirated engines.

Its construction maturity can be seen on the fact that the peak performance is available at amazing 8300rpm.

Its maximum torque is 400Nm available at 3900rpm. More interesting is that 85% of these 400Nm are available in the range of 6500rpm and that’s astonishing. This is sometimes more important than a value of peak torque. So practically, you can use 340Nm at 2000rpm and count with them till its redline. It’s great that despite of more cylinders and bigger volume, the V8 is 15kgs lighter than the V6 from its forerunner.

The power is transferred by a 6-speed manual transmission with double clutch plate to the rear axle on 265mm wide tires. There’s a brand-new variable M differential lock made by BMW M GmbH.

Besides compensations of right and left rear wheel revs, t can lock differential whenever it’s necessary for optimal traction on any surface.

Driving style can be actually modified thanks to the function Mdrive. This extension of well-known iDrive system can easily and fast change settings of all dynamic driving attributes to your own taste. For example, the driver wants more adrenaline to his veins, so it can set-up sporting profile of suspension, deactivate DSC stability control, power-steering Servotronic to the Sport mode, remap the ECU to fastest option - this everything can be saved to the iDrive. Whenever he wants to drive to the limits, he can push the magical M button on the multifunctional steering wheel and unleash the power immediately.