BMW M3 Competition

Bavaria’s latest super sedan faces weight of expectation

- Andy Enright

ENGINE 2993cc 6cyl, DOHC, 24v, t/turbo

POWER 375kW @ 5510-7500rpm

TORQUE 650Nm @ 2700-5510rpm

0-100KM/H 3.9sec (claimed)

WEIGHT 1730kg PRICE $149,900

LIKE: Ripping straight-six soundtrack; pace; body control; clever electronics

DISLIKE: Overall weight and size; manual model is power capped

HINDSIGHT IS NEVER 20:20. More often than not, it’s an unreliable lens, surreptitiously depriving us of context. Take the BMW M3. The established narrative, moulded over time, is that the last generation M3 w as a bit of a miss, that the original E30 version was the stripped-out motorsport hero and that AMG has finally got M’s number in this sector. Viewed in the round, none of these statements are wholly true. We’re at the launch of the sixth generation M3, the G80, hoping to see how it fits into Munich’s version of history.

It’s a hugely significant car. BMW M boss Markus Flasch has already outlined his masterplan for this vehicle. At the vanguard are the 353kW six-speed manual M3 and 375kW eight-speed torqueconverter auto M3 Competition sedans, the latter of which is idling in pit lane at Phillip Island. Waiting in the wings for launch later this year are all-wheel drive versions and, for 2022, the mouthwatering prospect of the first M3 Touring. It’s building on some solid foundations. The F80 was easily the biggest selling M3 to date, shifting more units in any year of its existence than the E30 M3 did in total over its five-year lifespan. It also nearly doubled the sales of its V8-powered E90/E92 predecessor, helping BMW M better AMG’s global sales figures for the past two years.