Easy for him to say. He didn’t have to worry about safety regs like BMW has to now. I remember when the new Miata came out, the message boards were full of people upset about the weight gain of, like, 30 pounds. I understand that you can’t repeal the laws of physics, but a little compromise from the “enthusiasts” would lead to a better overall car, IMO. First things first: sort out the ride.

The previous gen E46 was great in every way, no flaws to that car at all. In terms of M-ness the CSL version is a worthy adversary to the first gen M3.

The problem they had with the new one is that they were forced to give it a V8, since they couldn’t make the car better otherwise and since Audi and Mercedes were offering more power, no matter how well and purposefull a car might be engineered, many people are going to look at the numbers and think it’s inferior. Bolting on a turbo definitely wasn’t an option for M because it is too easy and compromises the engine character (although, the Toyota turbo-4 in the Elise seems to prove that turbo-engines can still have a high-rpm redline and peak power output).

As for the the 335; the European rating is 306 HP, with the maximum output of the same engine without turbos is currently at 272 HP. Apart from whether or not these are correct numbers it’s obvious that they could get a lot more out of it with the turbos, but that wasn’t the point.

In spite of the notions from the German carmakers that the HP-war is at its end though, I believe that Reithofer (who isn’t a car guy) was mainly aiming at the V8 diesels, that are btw really not that popular in Europe because performance gains usually aren’t that great in practise, but fuel consumption is much worse, and the approximately 4 models in which they are offered usually are much more expensive to buy in the first place compared to their 6 cilinder siblings, so how big this news really is seems unclear at this point.

I think the e46 was 3400lbs.

Regardless – the car is not light by most people’s measure and I think the hallmark of great sports cars are that they are light.

If you are looking for a GT or a highway cruiser the weight might not be an issue – and it may even add some comfort – but get the car in transition and weight is a negative – there is no amount of horsepower or gadgetry that can compensate for that.

I’m all for lightness, but the old M3 wasn’t light. It weighed 3400 lbs with only 330 HP. The new one is 3600 lbs with 420 HP.

I don’t think it’s a departure. I’d rather have the new one.

I’m no (recent) BMW fan, but many of you aren’t giving the new M3 enough credit. It’s hugely impressive. And we’re not here to judge the drivers, who only speak Powerpoint, but the car itself. It’s faster than any previous M3, dynamically superior to any of its competitors. Why are we complaining? How many 400+HP cars can you get these days with a manual for less than $80k? Other than the Corvette, GT500, and RS4 I can’t think of any.
- sean362880

I don’t think any of us think that the new M3 is the Mustang II.

Rather it is a marked departure from the previous cars.

The new car is heavy – no it is really heavy. 3650lbs. To give that number perspective the Corvette Z06 weighs 3132lbs.

Colin Chapman supposedly said, “Adding power makes you faster on the straights. Subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere.”

I think anyone who has driven a Lotus or a Miata can tell you the joy of “adding lightness”.

I hope the trend is back towards handling and lightness, and away from ever more HP and luxury.

It’s not that the 335i is sandbagged. There are three things to consider:

1. The 300 hp, 300 lb ft of torque that BMW quotes is a lie. The reality is probably closer to 330 horsepower at the crank, possibly more.

2. When the 335i went on sale, the M3 was still the naturally aspirated 333 hp model. They wanted to protect the M’s sales and residual values.

3. You can’t just look at peak hp numbers from other manufacturers. BMW’s torque and horsepower curves are FLAT from 1500 rpm on upward.

The competition’s 6 cylinder engines just don’t compare when you lay chart over chart. Consider the Infiniti G37. Check out the first graph posted, which shows the G37’s dyno results:
http://www.automobilemag.com/reviews/0705_2008_infiniti_g37_dyno_charts/index.html

Given some more thought he may even conclude that iDrive, run-flats, SMG, active and electric steering as well as a whole host of other BMWs useless electric gizmos suck.

A turbo charged M? It’s not traditional but as long as there is no lag and the engine still revs to 8K I really don’t care.

The 328i and the 335i are probably a little sandbagged. Aftar all, that 3.0L N54 we had before the turbo-I6 came out made 255hp. The 328i is just running a detuned version of that. I’m sure the 335i could be tuned to make A LOT more than 300hp. Rumor has it 300hp is a low estimate anyway. But I’m not sure how much more you can get out of a boosted engine without ruining the smooth torque curve. No one wants to be throttle steering around a corner when the turbos spin up. Hello throttle-induced oversteer!

It’s faster than any previous M3, dynamically superior to any of its competitors. Why are we complaining?

The same ol’ “It’s not what I think it should be, so they must be doing it wrong” twaddle.

But they do name Interstate Highways after inline engines! :D

Every once in a while I still look around for a well preserved example of one of these cars because it was just the perfect embodiment of raw 4-cylinder performance.

They might has well kill the manual options and change their name to aMg.

It appears to me that since BMW can squeeze a lot larger margin out of luxed-out M series, they do. Nothing more to it.

Besides, as my wife (who has a Mustang GT) reminds me, “They don’t name vegetable juices after inline engines”.

Bob