BMW M3 saloon (2007) revealed

By Ben Pulman

First Official Pictures

07 October 2007 12:01

I don’t know what to say…

Say thank you. It’s been nearly ten years since the last four-door M3 so it’s strange to see BMW’s most famous M-car with four doors again. However, we best get used to seeing this shape on our roads because BMW hopes to sell over 100,000 E92 M3s. And it’ll no doubt succeed too: there’s also a convertible model coming, and if you actually need a reason to buy this car then the 4.0-litre V8 that’ll be found in all M3s is an absolute peach. The M3 saloon will still have its work cut out for it though, as the new C63 AMG is one of Mercedes’ best ever cars, and after the success of the last RS4, the next hot A4 should be a cracker.

Let’s start with that engine. It’s basically four-fifths of the M5’s V10. With individual throttles butterflies it’s one of the most advanced engines on the planet. And with 414bhp it also has one of the highest specific outputs per litre of any road car. That peak power also arrives at 8300rpm. Torque is 295b ft while BMW claims the new four-door will do 22.8mpg, exactly the same as the coupe. All this and that V8 is actually 15kg lighter than the old straight six. There is however a slight weight penalty compared to the coupe – 1680kg to the two-door's 1655g – and so the 0-62mph time is up a tenth of a second to 4.9 seconds. The M3 is (slightly) green though, as it comes with brake regeneration technology.

By Ben Pulman