BMW M3 (2007) CAR review

You’ve driven the new BMW M3 then?

Oh yes. The E92 model is the fourth generation of the M3, a car that first arrived in 1986. Back then it had a four-cylinder engine with around 200bhp. The new car doubles that with a V8 and 414bhp, but the basic ingredients remain the same: rear-wheel drive, a limited slip differential and a motorsport-inspired engine that revs to a whopping 8400rpm. When it goes on sale in the UK in early September, the M3 will cost £50,625 and will, at first, be available only as a two-door coupe. A convertible and four-door saloon are expected to follow next year, while a Touring wagon is under evalution but less likely to make production. All in all, the broadened range will help break (hopes BMW) the 100,000-unit barrier for the first time. The last M3 – 2000’s six-cylinder E46 – is a tough act to follow, however.

So M3 grows up, gets two more cylinders. Didn’t that end in disaster last time around?

Not disaster, no, but the purists weren’t pleased when the second-generation E36 arrived in 1992. But it was a brave move and something that transformed the M3 from a niche motorsport product to the international icon it is today. The last car’s 3.2-litre six-cylinder wouldn’t meet forthcoming emissions regulations and rivals – including Audi with the RS4 and Mercedes with the C63 AMG – upped the game with V8s, leaving Munich with little option but to match them. The American market has been a big consideration too, 50 percent of all cars expected to go Stateside. This, then, is the first time the M3 has changed significantly since 1992.