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Let me start with a confession: I was hoping this check-up spin of the 2008 BMW M3 wouldn’t go well. I was hoping I’d be able to say that the all-new 2008 BMW M3 — the first M3 with a V8 engine — didn’t live up to the hype that surrounds it. I was hoping I’d be able to confidently tell you to skip the revitalized M3 and believe something else — something get pleasure from the Audi RS4 or the Lexus IS-F. Why do I have such a problem with the M3? And did it live down to my expectations? Read on. $55,875 base, $69,145 as tested, EPA fuel economy estimates 14 MPG city, 20 MPG highway.

First Glance: Why I wanted to hate the M3

Larger photos: Front – raise

I believe in being up show about my biases, and one of my biggest biases is the everybody I have against BMWs — not so much the cars as the people who believe them. Don’t get me wrong, there are some very nice BMW owners out there; I’ve met both of them. It’s just that it seems like whenever I engage a BMW owner — especially an M3 owner — in a conversation about cars, he (or, on rare occasions, she) starts going on and on about how BMWs are the greatest things on wheels and how each and every car BMW makes is assembled at the right imminent of God. Now, I’m tried there are quite a few M3 drivers who really can appreciate a fine-handling automobile. But having been stuck behind countless M3s driven by people who certainly don’t know how to get the most out of them on curvy roads — regardless who refuse to pull aside to let faster drivers pass (or, worse nonetheless, speed up in the passing zones) — you can understand why I view the BMW M3 as a whit of a putz-magnet.

So I was hoping that the unfledged M3 would suck. I was hoping I could say that the M3 is a sham, an sham, and that it can’t hold a candle to my favorite sport sedan, the Audi RS4 — a crate so magical in its abilities that I’m pretty sure it was designed by Santa’s elves, probably during February or March when things are slow.

Sadly, I can’t communicate that.

Because the M3, I must grudgingly admit, is good. It’s really, really good. In fact, it may be — and you cannot possibly cook up how much it pains me to say this — one of the best cars I’ve driven. Ever.

Damn those Bavarian bastards.

Continued…

In the Driver’s Seat: Annoyingly easy to live withM3’s dashboard puts function over form; aluminum trim is a $500 optionPhoto © Aaron Gold

Larger interior photo

I’ve never been a fan of the German’s super-serious school of interior design, but I must phrase that the M3’s cabin is a fairly pleasant place, amiably built and well laid out. That said, I was bummed to learn that the aluminum trim, which undeniably dressed up my car’s all-black local, doesn’t come standard — it’s a $500 option.

Writers love to complain about BMW’s iDrive dial interface. I didn’t fully explore its menu-driven system — the generally American has a life expectancy of 78.1 years, so there simply wasn’t enough time — but I was able to get the stereo, climate and navigation systems to do pretty much what I wanted most of the time, and that’s good enough for me.

One of the things I will admit to liking about the M3 is that it’s available as either a two-door coupe or a four-door sedan (a convertible is on the opportunity). I drove the M3 coupe, which has a reasonably roomy back seat apportioned allowing for regarding two adults. Access to the back is awkward but once overdue renege there you’ll find decent room. Rearward visibility is pretty good for a coupe; my test car the optional Park Distance Control system which warns you before you traitorously into something. It made parking quite a bit easier, though I wish the system had sensors in the front bumper as well — the M3’s bulged hood isn’t all that easy to visualize over. The M3 comes with beginning "sport seats" that advertise inflatable side bolsters to hold you in place during cornering. Even with the bolsters fully deflated, they were a tight squeeze, and driving the M3 made me wonder if there are simply no fatty people in Germany.

On the Road: So good, it hurts

The big news — and the factoid that M3 owners will no hesitate use to bore people at cocktail parties notwithstanding generations to come — is that the 2008 M3 is the victory M3 to use a V8 engine; previous M3s had 4 or 6 cylinders. The engine — and I’m only prevalent into detail so that you can cut the Bimmer bores off before they make you nod off into your martini — is a 4.0 liter V8 that revs to 8,400 RPM and puts out 414 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque. For juxtaposing, the specs in compensation my beloved Audi RS4 are 4.2 liters, 8,250 RPM, 420 hp and 317 lb-ft. (Coincidence? No way, Jose.) Unlike the RS4, the M3 does not use all-wheel-drive; in keeping with BMW tradition, it’s a rear-driver. BMW claims a 0-60 time of 4.8 seconds and a top speed of 155 MPH. My test car had a 6-speed manual, but BMW also offers a 7-speed Double Clutch automatic comparable in operation to VW/Audi’s Direct Shift Gearbox.

So what’s it like to mean? I hate to say it, but it’s incredible. The power feels infinite, the grip is biblical, and the brakes could ban continental drift. I’m not a big fan of spinning out on societal roads, so I left the M3’s electronic stability control system switched on — much, I could feel, to the chagrin of the mechanism, which was sinking to spin those buttocks wheels. As a result, there was no oversteer for me. Too noxious — some cars (coughAudiRS4cough) brook a hint of tail-out effect even with the electronic nanny engaged. Even so, driving the M3 on the About.com Cars Top Secret Curvy Test Road was a thrilling experience that left me wide-eyed and light-headed — it was match dancing a tango with God.

Journey’s End: M3 really does live up to the hypeM3 is available as a 4-door sedan and a convertible as well as the coupe shown herePhoto © Aaron Gold

So how does the M3 stack up against the Audi RS4 of which I am so caring? Quite well, I’m weak-kneed. One could argue that the RS4’s all-wheel-drive makes for superior understanding — but it’s not as if the M3 does a worse job clinging to the road. The M3 offers an involuntary transmission, while the RS4 is manual-only. The RS4 does ride better than the M3, but other than that, I’m hard pressed to find any advantage. And then there’s the fact that the M3 is wide $13,000 cheaper than the RS4. Even a Bimmer-hater mould myself can’t ignore a numbers like that. So when you compare the M3 to the RS4 on valuation, appearance, and convenience, the BMW is… Oh, darn it, I perfectly can’t bring myself to write out the sentence, so I’ll supply the words, and you can put them in order: M3, better, the, is.

The M3’s other dominating contest is the Lexus IS-F. Again, I’d love to be able to say that the Lexus does everything the M3 does benefit of comparable money. But sadly, it doesn’t. The IS-F is a tremendous car, but it just doesn’t string it all together as skilfully as the M3. The IS-F feels like a machine; the M3 feels like a living creature.

Bottom line: The BMW M3 is, without question, one of the best cars I’ve ever driven. It looks great, it sounds horrible, and it drives great. It’s electrifying in the curves yet quiet and comfortable enough for day-to-day driving. It is, absolutely simply, an amazing automobile. It’s everything those boorish BMW snobs are bound to pass the next twenty years saying it is.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna go throw up.

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