KMII
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Last of the (German) dinosaurs - some thoughts on the M3 Competition
As asked by Captain Scarlet, I wrote up some additional thoughts on the current BMW M3 Competition Touring. While I made some initial observations / a comparison to the other estate in our household (to be found here: www.watchprosite.com if you want to have a look), in the meantime some thousands of km have been added and more experiences had.
A disclaimer to start off with. The car has been used only on public roads, so no track use, and while I might count myself amongst the 90% of men who believe their driving skills are better than average, for sanity’s sake DSC was always on (especially after the early experiences with intense twitchiness on wet roads, in spite of AWD). It might turn into a completely different car without but I will not be able to comment on that 😊 So that means autobahn (where high speeds are allowed), as well as many a country road and the odd mountain pass, on which the impressions are based.
So, what is it like? Before I answer the question, a small detour into automotive history. Just like 1990 was a seminal year for the Italian super car makers - with the Honda NSX showing what can be done - so was 2007 for the Germans, with the Nissan R35 GT-R more or less steamrollering everything in its path (at the price point at least). It wasn’t subtle - not like the NSX before - but it was brutally effective with speeds down any road at levels previously unimaginable for most road cars.
Why am I bringing this up? Because a lot of German performance cars changed as a result. None were a copy of the GT-R (just like Ferraris didn’t turn into copies of the NSX) but quite some principles got taken over.
Massive acceleration, massive grip, turbocharging, all wheel drive all slowly entered the game, to the point where they are now ubiquitous. In some ways this also reduced the variety of approaches to performance cars available (Porsche still standing out somewhat due to their sports cars having a different layout).
So while Audi for a long time did the AWD turbocharged wagon thing, Mercedes played the sledgehammer V8 drag racer and BMW the NA high rev scalpel, BMW and Mercedes then both added AWD and turbocharging and while this doesn’t mean that they are all completely indistinguishable, they are closer than before.
And in some ways AMG and M changed places - with the AMGs now performing better against the clock (at least the C63 did against the M3 comp in German car mags) but the BMWs winning on ‘character’ - I.e. the 6 cylinder engine versus the 4.
The current M3 in the current form is probably the culmination of this development. While it has some of the signature BMW elements, such as the inline 6, it doesn’t really feel like an M3 of old.
The turbocharging is well executed, making it feel like a larger natural aspirated engine but the last couple of hundred revs add little and you might as well up shift a tad before the red line for the torque lower down in the next gear. It’s an effective engine and you’re never left wanting for power but working it to within an inch of its life is not the same fun as it used to be, nor as necessary to make progress (blame it on the inflation of power and torque to weight ratios, without a consequent change in roads where they are driven on).
The next aspect is grip. On dry roads with DSC on the car is neigh on unflappable, unless you are getting into truly silly territory. It will rotate a tad around you when carving corners and is fun on a twisty road as a result. Fun without any sweaty palms and if the corners are well sighted you can overtake where others would fear to thread - the grip is phenomenal. For the rear to really come out to play you will probably need to switch all gadgets off and still take liberties in the dry - it really is superbly planted.
Another aspect of the car is the noise. The first compliment goes to the exhaust - what you see is actually what you get, with no fake exhaust tips. It sounds angry most of the time, and while in the regular setting with a light throttle your ears will not hurt, any of the M-modes are loud. Where the AMGs have become quieter due to the current emissions regulations, BMW doesn’t seem to have followed the same playbook. If you enjoy a gruff and angry engine tone, the car will deliver all the time.
Looks are a very personal choice and while not conventionally pretty it certainly makes a statement and has, what the Germans would call overtaking prestige (i.e. people vacating the overtaking lane on an autobahn faster with it in the rear view mirror).
Last but not least - practicality. This historically has been the weak suit of BMWs in general and especially the 3 series ones. They were relatively cramped and it took BMW ages to get the seats right.
The next aspect is grip. On dry roads with DSC on the car is neigh on unflappable, unless you are getting into truly silly territory. It will rotate a tad around you when carving corners and is fun on a twisty road as a result. Fun without any sweaty palms and if the corners are well sighted you can overtake where others would fear to thread - the grip is phenomenal. For the rear to really come out to play you will probably need to switch all gadgets off and still take liberties in the dry - it really is superbly planted.
When it’s mildly wet it still works, where it doesn’t is with even a small bit of standing water. As written in the other thread, it will aquaplane much sooner than the E63, in spite of having a similar amount of rubber. So high speed autobahn driving in the wet is a very twitchy experience. The electronics will keep it in check more or less but the steering wheel in your hands is like an unpredictable, wild animal 😉 In this respect both the RSs from Audi and the AWD AMGs are still a better all weather weapon.
On a dry autobahn it will accelerate to 300 and while the shorter wheel base will make it twitchier than the E at these speeds it’s still surprisingly easy to be driven so fast for a regular driver. Sure, you need to work the steering wheel when doing an emergency braking maneuver from such speed but it’s not going to leave emotional scars while doing so. So a very accomplished autobahn cruiser.
One thing it doesn’t do, however, is shrink around you. On a country road it always feels like a car at least as large as its physical dimensions - a hot hatch it ain’t. What surprised me most in this respect is that the C43 AMG we ran just before it actually felt smaller and nimbler on the tighter sections in spite of being objectively similarly sized. It probably wasn’t faster against the clock but you felt much more involved (haven’t tried the current C63 to make any comparison there).
Another aspect of the car is the noise. The first compliment goes to the exhaust - what you see is actually what you get, with no fake exhaust tips. It sounds angry most of the time, and while in the regular setting with a light throttle your ears will not hurt, any of the M-modes are loud. Where the AMGs have become quieter due to the current emissions regulations, BMW doesn’t seem to have followed the same playbook. If you enjoy a gruff and angry engine tone, the car will deliver all the time.
One aspect that is not as convincing is the gearbox. It will be a willing partner through any wilder shenanigans and will both upshift and downshift appropriately. Where it seems to miss a trick is during more sedate driving, when you need to squeeze in an overtaking maneuver. It will downshift as needed but then stay in the low gear for much longer than necessary, making you appear a bit juvenile. Sure, you can help yourself by using the paddles but it’s something not needed in the Mercs (there I hardly ever feel the need for manual shifting).
Looks are a very personal choice and while not conventionally pretty it certainly makes a statement and has, what the Germans would call overtaking prestige (i.e. people vacating the overtaking lane on an autobahn faster with it in the rear view mirror).
Quite some of the detailing is a bit artificial and to my eyes unnecessarily butch but it seems to appeal to many - with no other car have I seen so many men take pictures of it, or if they have the power (police, customs…) stop you on some pretense, so that they can look at it in more detail.
Subtle it ain’t - again a change from Ms of the past. The massive kidney grille and wide wheel arches are about as stealthy as a punch to the face. Where this used to be the preserve of AMG, nowadays most of the saloon or estate based ones are a lot subtler than the M3 - the C43 or E63 never having raised any eyebrows from the general public.
Last but not least - practicality. This historically has been the weak suit of BMWs in general and especially the 3 series ones. They were relatively cramped and it took BMW ages to get the seats right.
In the meantime the interior is large enough for two adults and two pre-teens and I am sure four adults would not cry abuse of human rights on a 3-4 hour journey. It is as large as 5 series used to be before, so that’s at least exterior growth transforming into usable interior space. The boot is still not large (non hybrid Cs will have a much more usable one) but in another reversal of positions it’s now larger than the comically small one in the C63 (the battery eating up the rest there).
The seats are comfortable and will grip you well enough (not quite track ready but there are more extreme ones on offer from BMW), as well as allow 10 hour journeys without a speed dial to a chiropractor.
The interior seems cheaper than one would hope for at this price point, and while the plentiful carbon fiber is supposedly real, it looks plasticky and a lot of the buttons (quite some functions still accessible without playing with the touch screen) are not exactly high rent. In that way it kind of reminds me of Imprezas of old - all the bits related to driving are spot on, otherwise it feels very much like lowest bidder. Sadly a general development, which only gets a tad better in the vehicle class above.
The infotainment is good and the Apple Car Play integration better to my eyes than in the Merc. The satnav also has a Google Maps quality matching traffic information system, which is not universal.
Final verdict? We certainly enjoyed our time with it and it is definitely a sports estate one can recommend. My problem was the E63 parked in the garage next to it. While the BMW was competent everywhere, it didn’t do anything noticeably better and in the end the Merc has a lot more space and is more comfortable and practical. I know these are not the criteria most often used when writing about sporty cars, the Merc in the meantime just became so much fun and so competent that the M3 doesn’t stand out as much as it once did.
So why last of the dinosaurs? Together with the RS6 and RS4 it’s the last German car with this concept, and the Audis are in the final throes before getting the chop. And as shown by the M5 and C63, all successors will be hybrid and hence different - tax reasons alone will not allow for anything else. If you exclude the even more extreme and more limited M3 CS Touring that is yet to come, no others will follow. Ever.
So if you’re partial to the concept now’s high time. Apart from a slightly pre-loved E63 Estate (and possibly one of the final edition RS6s) there’s nothing quite like it from Germany.
Or you can take a walk on the wild side and step half a generation back with the Alfa Romeo Giulia QV, where you lose the AWD and about 300kgs, some hundreds of a second against the clock but gain some fluidity and feel of old. And that one will stay in production probably one year longer than the M (to be honest that’s the one I would like to park in the garage next).
I am sure car testers will wax lyrical about the M3 for years to come and it will probably take a generation or two until the new powertrain concept (whether hybrid or fully electric) will be perfected to the same degree as the current one is here.
Now whether that guarantees certain price increases? 🤷🏻♂️ But we don’t talk about that here 😁
Hope you enjoyed the amateur ‘review’ and looking forward to hearing your experiences 👍🏻
Last of the (German) dinosaurs - some thoughts on the M3 Competition
As asked by Captain Scarlet, I wrote up some additional thoughts on the current BMW M3 Competition Touring. While I made some initial observations / a comparison to the other estate in our household (to be found here: if you want to have a look), in the ...
Absolutely loved reading your post! You could work for Top Gear!
I’ve been driving wagons for 10 years plus and have to say I love them, definitely more on the roads in Europe than the US. Had an MB E63 for 4 years, now the Audi RS 6 and sort of eyeing the M5 wagon, so it was with much curiosity to read the conclusion....
Not yet tried the new M5…
It will come in wagon form again and still has the V8. But in spite of adding ca. 100hp and significantly more in torque, it doesn’t accelerate faster than the old one (weight being an issue). But the estate is said to have 570 liters of boot space, which...
You probably still had the RWD E63?
The AWD one of the last generation is very difficult to get to unstick 😊👍🏻 The green is Isle of Man Green and is available on the new M5 as well 👌🏻
It’s a lovely, if rather ‘loud’ color 👌🏻👍🏻
In the M5 you can pair it with a Kyalami orange interior, if you want the maximum effect 😁
Great write-up.
The post-naturally aspirated M cars -- i.e., the true M cars, not the M230iX-drive1Sis or whatever -- are real performance upgrades from their predecessors, no doubt. But the genuine motorsport feel seems to have departed the range. Faster, yes. Better su...
I hear what you’re saying…
But try as we might, we’re probably not seeing the likes of the E90 returning 🤷🏻♂️ I also agree that a 3x premium is steep for performance that you might not use most of the time. As said - all a side effect of the GT-R the way the genre has developed an...
No doubt the likes of the E90 aren't returning.
Gone for good. Too much easy power to be made via forced induction.
Indeed - practically everyone does it…
The US manufacturers and Toyota being the last ones still offering naturally aspirated V8s 😊🤷🏻♂️ But none in a car like this (I believe there is a Lexus ISF but that no longer makes it to Europe)
Long gone, though 🤷🏻♂️
Replaced by the forgettable B48 2 liter turbo. Not BMWs best, sadly 🙁
Agree 100%
I am still driving my 2010 e92 with a stick. A dinosaur by today's standards, but a real hoot to drive.
Wonderful Review! But really....
....do you really expect 'practicality? Did they fix the steering feel?
As a matter of fact…
In an estate I do expect it - it’s not a 911 after all 😉 Sure, a weekend trip away is feasible but a week is a bit of a stretch (at least the way it’s packed in our household). Glad you enjoyed the review 😊🙏🏻
As for the steering feel…
It’s certainly not a Lotus 😉 You will know roughly what the wheels are doing but then again the grip is so prodigious that you learn to trust it, even when the steering is not providing detailed information on where you stand 👍🏻
Lovely write-up and photos
A most impressive machine for sure. I thought you were an editor at one of the major car magazines 😎 I mean that in a good way 👍🏻 As you managed to convey your experience perfectly and in an extremely detailed manner, to your audience . Well done ...
Thanks so much - no such luck 🍀🤷🏻♂️
Wouldn’t mind having a more regular experience of driving different cars, though 😉🤞🏻
Assuming the motor is the same as the M4 Competition, I would highly disagree on the sound.
From the outside, not bad. From the inside? The most offensive part of the car, especially if you turn on the "enhanced" exhaust mode. It is absolutely dreadful. Even without the enhanced exhaust activated, BMW pipes in fake sounds through the speakers. I...
Thanks for sharing this 😊👍🏻
And I expect the engine is 100% the same 👍🏻 You are right that there is artificial sounds piped in - nowadays sadly a standard. As far as artificial sounds go it’s not the worst in my opinion. Without would be better but to be honest, opening the window d...
It could be they toned down the piped in sound on newer models.
Mine was a 2022, and everyone hated it. Maybe BMW got the word. Replaced with a manual transmission CT5-V Blackwing. I went from one of the most bland "sports" cars to the widely established most visceral smile machine sedan known to man It is that fun to...
That may be the case…
The Touring was launched later and quite possibly some of the artificial sound was dialed out - if the feedback was as you describe (sadly do not have an older M4 to compare). As for the Blackwing, read gushing reviews of it - also from the British press,...
Superb owner review👍🏻👍🏻
Having gone thru 2 gens of lexus LS, i wanted to give the germans a try and test drove Audi RS6, S8; BMW M5; Alpina B7; and Benz S63. In the end it was between the S8 and B7 considering my family needs and my want for something that has to surpass the lex...
Very interesting 👍🏻
First of all you probably mimic the experience of quite some Lexus owners - the product started disappearing, forcing the customers to look elsewhere. We used to be a Lexus family for a long while but the ones my parents drive now are probably the last on...
That it most certainly is 😁👍🏻
With probably one not hundreds having been built of any generation 🙌🏻
Thanks - and glad you enjoyed it 😊👍🏻
If you have a moment I would be very interested in your opinion of the F10 M5 - that one somehow passed me by (came out when I was not living in a car friendly place) 🤞🏻
What would you like to know?
I have had mine for 5 years. Flawless reliability and a great family car as well. I have the competition pack so a bit lower, more hp (575) and a sports exhaust. It’s a twin turbo and you do notice the turbos. The gearbox is sublime.
Thanks so much - was just looking for your impressions 👍🏻🙏🏻
When you say you do notice the turbos, do you mean lag, or a turbo kick, or the noise? First BMW with the hot V turbo setup, right? A generation I have not been looking at so far but maybe going some years back is the solution 😊👍🏻
Thanks so much for these additional details - much appreciated!
As said - from an era when cars were not keenly followed by me 😊👍🏻🤷🏻♂️
Thanks for the great write-up! Something
like a German dinosaur myself and driving an M440i Coupe, now I know what I'm in for should I choose to upgrade. (Actually I'm fine with what I have.) Cheers Marc ...
As written in another response…
There’s still the Alpina B3 or B4 that will look a lot more like yours yet have the performance of the M. Glad if you felt the review was helpful 😊👍🏻🙏🏻
What a fantastic review not to mention all these artistic photos
This is definitely not out of place in a Top Gear publication. I have a soft spot for BMW 3 series station wagons. My first BMW was a 2000 323i in burgundy. I loved that car. I still think it is one of the best looking 3 series ever. It had around 185 hp,...
It’s a very valid point 😊👍🏻
The car certainly has more performance than can safely be exploited on most roads and definitely more than all but a handful of owners will be able to command. There used to be an adage that if you feel you need a faster car, a driving course will probabl...
Great review 👍…
Thanks for this genuine owner review ! I find most car reviews are written by people that don’t own them and live with them over a long enough period. BMW’s have always had an interesting reputation in the wet but I was hoping that the four wheel drive M3...
Not quite sure…
I would assume the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S* it originally came with should be a solid choice and the Merc does significantly better with the Pirelli, which have a somewhat wonkier reputation 🤷🏻♂️ Putting it on the Conti SC7 would probably clarify that - ...
Interesting…
The Michelin Pilot Sport 4S is a good tire. I spent a day hammering an M3 round a circuit in mixed conditions and playing with the traction controls. I came to the conclusion that the car relied heavily on “the systems” to keep the car heading in the righ...
So it’s not only me then? 😁
As for the RS6 I am surprised. But then the whole theft thing is a non-issue here and the insurance companies also don’t hike the premium to the impossible for specific vehicles as a result 🤷🏻♂️
Talking of handling in the wet …
I kept a Golf R, amongst others, as it was superb in the wet. It always felt in any conditions rock solid, pivoting beautifully around your hips. I remember a particularly wet late night drive home, I was in a hurry and it was an epic demonstration of jus...
Considering what to get as a second car at the moment 🧐
It needs four seats and should be fun. Beyond that pretty open 😂
This could be a good challenge …
I’m looking for another daily that will be a fun drive 🤔
The Civic Type R and Yaris GR both appeal…
Probably being the last of their kind, as does the Giulia QV. But some left field choices have also started exerting a draw 🧐 Could end up being a CLA45S, haven’t tried that one yet, either… On the electric front I would like to check out the Alpine A290 ...
Interesting 🤨….
I’ve had similar thoughts … Having been lucky enough to be a serial Group B style owner, the Yaris GR is really appealing, especially with a few carefully selected subtle modifications. I feel it’s a true successor to cars like the Delta Integrale. The A2...
The second gen of the GR seems to be even better (according to the car mags at least) 😊👍🏻
So several Group Bs - impressive 🙌🏻 As for the Macan GTS - for some reason I still try and stay away from SUVs as well as I can 😊🤷🏻♂️ I am sure it will be accomplished but t had it been an estate it would have been better 🤷🏻♂️ ...
Sounds great…
The only downside being that the current generation dropped the wagon 🤷🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️ A great one irrespective 👍🏻
Overkill !!!!!!!
A good friend of me works at a BMW dealership and every time he takes an M3 out he's blown away but at the same time he doesn't like it. The big 'flaw' in his opinion is that it is simply to potent ... I can understand him, coming from a time where we wer...
You make many valid points 👍🏻
And thanks for taking the time for that really considered response. I’m considering different options after the M3 (technically there is no need for a second car but it would be nice). Today I was at a oldtimer restorer by accident and he had some cars to...
Gazoo Racing
I had a short go in the Yaris and this is again a fun car but pretty fast. The Type-R is considered the best hot hatch ever, together with the Megane 3 RS. Both Yaris and Civic are manual and turbocharged, great cars. You could also consider the Megane 3 ...
The Megan’s is definitely on the list 👌🏻👍🏻
So what were your impressions of the Yaris? 😊
Yaris is also very potent ...
.. but would defy prefer the Megan 3 RS ! There's something about the Yaris that makes it feel a bit ... vulnerable ... maybe just my feeling.
Yes ...
.. I think I read about a few engine issues .. blowing up :-(. Also I'm not really a fan of the 3 cilinder sound.