2015 BMW M3 First Drive

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2015 BMW M3 First Drive

The BMW M3 is everything a BMW 3 Series is supposed to be: faster than baby sports cars, more luxurious than lower BMWs. A car that makes a strong statement about its owner. But now the M3 stands alone as a four-door sedan.

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marcos9

Well done BMW! Love the new designs - this M3 is beautiful. Make mine an M5 touring though. =D

imolaredzhp

Maybe a nitpick, but a sunroof as an option on a carbon fiber top??? Why would BMW go thru the trouble to put the CF roof on the sedan to save precious few lbs and lower CG, then offer a sunroof option to put the weight back on (and possibly more)??

If you want a sunroof on the M3/M4, then you probably shouldn't buy a M3/M4.

christople

Wow they got the weight down. Now it's your turn 2015 Mustang GT

rdollie_

imolaredzhp, I hear you but I think BMW is being smart here. I have a M3 sedan ('09) and the 99% of the time I'm not driving it on a track I'm happy to have the sunroof. There's a reason these cars come with leather, A/C, navigation, etc. and that's because they're also meant to be daily drivers.

I'm sure if there's enough demand for a track-focused edition BMW will be happy to make a CSL variant without sunroof, A/C, radio, etc. for twice the price...

If I were that serious about a track car I'd probably buy a 911 or Z06 and strip it, put in a cage, etc.. But at my age (45) I have no illusions of being a professional racer...so I'll keep the sunroof

imolaredzhp

@rdollie,
I understand your point, and for the M3/M4 intended market it's still a "luxury" car that needs luxury car amenities. I'm being a bit of a hypocrite as my ZHP also has a sunroof

I thought the CF roof cannot be made easily for th

joefrompa

Imolaredzhp - The Carbon fiber roof on the M3 does not allow for roof attachments (the attachment points are fake if you see them in pictures, fyi). Therefore, some might like a sunroof and/or the ability to mount a roof rack on their m3/m4 and thus would need to opt for the sunroof.

I don't like it either, but wanted to offer that up.

markinnaples_

Good night, that is one beautiful BMW. As far as aesthetics are concerned, that's a homerun by BMW.

bankerdanny

Interesting. I was about to argue that the 3 series cannot really be called small any more. Then I decided to actually do some research before running my mouth (fingers) and was quite surprised to find that the current 3 series is within a couple inches of the 2014 Civic and Chevy Cruz and that it is 9 inches shorter than a Fusion. So while it may be the size of an 80's E28 5-series, by today's standards it still is a small sedan.

marmotking

Hey, a round steering wheel! A small victory to be sure, but since the M3 is a benchmark for pretty much every actual and would-be competitor let's hope this is the beginning of the end of the flat bottomed wheel. |||| This is a very good looking car (though BMW's jagged tail light treatment still baffles me) and is shown off beautifully in the pictured blue. Instrument panel perfection. Also I loves me a straight 6.

gam2

My Grandma had a 1973 Dodge Scamp that color. Hideous!

scott325

I was the local BMW dealership last night trying to find a M235i without a moonroof and both the salesperson and the sales manager said that they would never spec a vehicle without a moonroof. That is, they couldn't sell the car unless it had one. (Of course, they were happy to order me a M235i with moonroof delete.)

agentorange

I will never, EVER, understand the love for sunroofs. I was in a M-B dealership a few years ago and asked about getting a C-Class coupe without that awful glass roof. You would think I had suggested boiled beagle for dinner.

dokterv8

Does anyone remember an article a few years back with a BMW bigwig who was saying they would never use turbo charging because it interferes with the driving experience? I think it was automobile magazine or something... Seriously here, I can't find the article but maybe one of the motor heads here will know. Recently drove 6 series gran coupe with the twin turbo v8... Yes it's silly fun when you mash the pedal and hang on but really the throttle lag is annoying at best and truly took away from the driving experience - power is not as fun when there's no immediacy, sorry. I wasn't too impressed

nam4_

There is NO WAY this car is the weight you quoted here. Please be more objective and don't use BMW numbers since we all now that they underestimate (ie. lie?) and give minimum possible weight that they dreamed about.
My old E46 M3 with competition package was over 3400 lb. My friend's E90 was 3,660 lb. This car is said to be 200 lb lighter than E90 (4 door). So in best dreams of BMW executives and engineers this car can be close to 3,500lb. And I seriously doubt that (my estimate is 50-100lb less that E90). If you go to any BMW forums (and I went to a few) many people put their E90/92 on scale and found out the car was heavy.
New M3 is a large vehicle. I saw it in person. I loved my E46 with competition package. After I sold it I drove friend's E90 on many occasions, and it was heavy boat. I don't buy M3s any more because how heavy they are. M3 moved from zippy sports car into GT tourer category. It is still nice car, don't get me wrong, but not for me.

joefrompa

This car is closer to 3,500 pounds with a full gas tank/fluids and no options.

With 1/4 tank of gas and maybe no washer fluid and a stripper M4, you might get close to 3,400 pounds.

This is still an amazing achievement. You can't have a frail chassis handling 406 lb/ft of torque all the time.

nam4_

@joefrompa
hmmmmm......
"you can't have a frail chassis handling 406 lb/ft of torque all the time."
Really? How about 911TT (996) my current vehicle handling 413 lb of torque from 2700 to 4700 rpm for many many years with lighter chassis. Mea

markinnaples_

Is that Laguna Seca blue? For the life of me, I cannot figure out why they don't use Estoril blue as that was my favorite blue by far.