► 2024’s updated BMW M3 saloon and Touring
► Power boost and new tech
► Priced from £82,420 for the saloon
It’s update time for the BMW M3 and, as well as a visual nip and tuck and some tech upgrades, it also gets a power boost for the Competition models.
The 2024 update is mostly blink-and-you’ll miss it, with extremely light design tweaks like new headlights and with fresh wheels that include a larger diameter on the rear. BMW is also keen to point out a load of additional personalisation options. As you can see, though, the mole rat nostrils remain.
For the UK market, we still only get the Competition models, which benefit from a small power boost over the pre-facelift. The ‘old’ M3 Competition featured a 503bhp/479lb ft straight-six capable of a 0-62mph sprint time of 3.9 seconds and a performance-tuned version of BMW’s eight-speed auto. The new, 523bhp post-facelift model sprints to 62mph in 3.5sec in saloon form, or 3.6sec in Touring form. As before, the M3 is auto-only in the UK market.
‘This new generation [of M3/M4] will reinvent itself by virtue of the widest range of drivetrain layouts we’ve yet offered in an M3, so that you can fully exploit the vehicle’s potential in all circumstances,’ product management man Hagen Franke.
‘This was the plan from the start,’ affirmed engineer Wolf at the original launch. ‘The M5 is in a torque and horsepower range where you can hardly find any advantages for a rear-wheel-drive version. In the case of the M3 and M4 we are not quite in that range. We see some situations where you might be better off with rear-wheel drive. This makes the choice the M3/M4 customer has now as perfect.’
Borrowing heavily from the M5/M8 system, M’s take on xDrive powers the rear axle alone until traction is compromised. At that point an electronically controlled multi-plate clutch in the transfer box steps in to optimise the front/rear power split, with the Active M Differential juggling the power left/right on the rear axle. The default mode, 4WD, is fast, grippy and more neutral than Audi’s quattro, on the M5 Competition at least. 4WD Sport is more rear-biased and the pick of the bunch for real-world use, combining any-weather traction with a degree of playfulness, while 2WD opens the door to, as Franke puts it, ‘a lot of fun and a lot of smoke’.
Inside, the M3 benefits from a redesigned steering wheel, as well as BMW Operating System version 8.5 (up from the previous car’s 8.0) with refreshed graphics and extra capability.
BMW’s updated M3 is on sale now, priced from £82,420 for an M3 Competition xDrive saloon, or £84,700 for an M3 Competition Touring xDrive. Deliveries start in the summer of 2024.