New M3

I was over at Battersea BMW yesterday getting the winter wheels swapped back off, and there were two new 4-series coupes parked there.

They aren't better in the metal.

The front does not offend me as much as the standard 4 series nose as at least it's two holes in the bodywork rather than a stuck on afterthought. But the standard 4 series is such a low bar, that being better than that does not really help much v the general ugliness of the front. 

I think the M3 has now tried to cover so may bases that it falls straight into the gap between all of them. Time was an M3 was a faster, well engineered, understated 3 series. You want the best 3 series? Buy an M3. I think the understated element was lost in the last model (especially at the back) but this one also fails on every other count too.  Too expensive; suspension too hard for UK roads; too chavvy. It's like a track car that escaped.  

Now if you want the best 3 series, you buy an Alpina.       
 

I saw a new 4 series coupe last weekend down the quayside. It was in a dark blue and with the grille in black. It looked OK, actually, and not as offensive in the flesh as in the photos.

Harris rather liked it didn't he but I don't think he's able to bad mouth a BMW so that might count his thoughts out as relevant. Biggest issue for me is the price which just launches it into a completely different market to the old one.

I'm growing more comfortable with the nose each time I see one and the UK's hideous number plates help quite a lot in disguising the looks. Once the deals are out in a year or so, if you could get a an M3 touring in IOM green or Tanzanite for 5K down and less then £600 a month I can see it being a very tempting offering. As it stands I'll have a Giulia QV please.

I think an M4 in black almost looks good. Which isn’t saying much because the ugliness is disguised!

It does seem immensely capable. The way it can now do a sprint to sixty in the 3’s without much effort is impressive, without 4WD. It is pricey, but no more than the RS5 or C63. The weight is disappointing. The people who have drove it claim it doesn’t feel that heavy, if it weighed 1600kg, I would hope they would notice. I wish they would produce versions of both the M3 and M4 which look less aggressive and obvious. The appeal of M cars for many years and until recently, was they had hints of being the flagship, without them looking fussy and chavvy. BMW will claim all of the jewellery is necessary so you can lap the Nordschleife in two seconds. But in reality, the customer just wants a fast car that they can park on their driveway without getting keyed. With the price increase and the optional packages, the monthlies are surely going to be a lot more than the outgoing M4. Big deposit contributions will need to be thrown in, they do it with the X3 M…

I will be in a small minority, I quite like the way it sounds. Bit similar to an E46 M3, which had a great metallic rasp. Far nicer than the S55-engined cars, the old M4 sounded dreadful. I cringe whenever I hear one.

This isn’t a fair comparison, but for the cost of a new M4 I couldn’t look past a 991.1. Perhaps a 991 because it’s naturally aspirated. It might not be as fast as the M4, but at that price I would want a car to be special, not a 4-Series.

I really hope the next M2 is decent. Smaller, hopefully lighter with the same S58 unit. Could be good…

Thanks to M Performance, it’s now possible to balance the ugliness front to rear…..

Jesus wept. That photo can't show an official M Performance exhaust, can it?
Today I've been at the local BMW dealership because my M3 was having its MOT.

They had two new M4 Competition XDrive Coupes in the showroom, plus a new M3 Saloon. The most expensive of the three had an RRP of just under £89k, which struck me as being quite a lot. Even the M3 Saloon's RRP was over £75k.

The interiors look really good and much of the exterior isn't too bad. The grille, to me, is becoming less offensive with familiarity but I've only seen one or two new M3/M4 cars in the wild. A darker colour helps it.

The new XDrive version has received strong reviews about how good it is to drive, but my own car is fast enough, nice enough to drive, an a million times more elegant. I'd love a go in the new XDrive version but have absolutely no desire to make the change.

Fuck a duck. What in the name of all that’s Gran Turismo is that shit?

That's just laughable. Beyond parody.