► Living with BMW’s super-estate
► Month 6 of M3 Touring long-term test
► Read month 1 here
Before 2014, I loved every M3 generation, but then I drove the F80 on the Portuguese launch and came away confused.
There was a new 3.0-litre twin-turbo straight-six that delivered torque like a turbodiesel and grumbled like one too, and the F80’s handling had a heavy, flat-footed feel. I didn’t hate it, but we never quite gelled, and two comparison tests cemented those first impressions.
I’m very much enjoying running this latest M3, but can’t justify buying one, so I’ve been looking at used M3s. F80 prices now start in the mid-to-high £20k bracket, which is sensational value. But buying one would only make sense if I was wrong a decade ago.
Charles Freimuth at luxury dealership Top 555 in Oakham offered to help me figure this out by lending me the black F80 M3 you see here. An immaculate 7000-miler, crucially it’s a 2018 model, which means it’s the improved Competition specification that tweaked the suspension, ESC and diff settings while bumping power from 425bhp to 444bhp.
It also gets the final facelift – a horizontal LED signature where headlights meet grille is the giveaway. Only the far more expensive CS and GTS versions were better than this.
Seeing the two together outside Top 555’s showroom underlines how much more attractive the older car is, especially at the front, which looks both powerful and elegant.
It’s appealing inside too. You sit low in bucket seats that look and feel good, facing a small infotainment screen that shows this car’s age. It still works fine, though, and I particularly enjoy having more physical buttons.
On the road there are marked differences between the two, steering being the first biggie. The older car is slower and meatier around the straight-ahead, and while that adds a purposeful sort of heft, it’s also why the new model feels so much more alive in your hands.
I prefer the way the old car rides, though. Despite wearing 20-inch rubber all-round (the new one gets 19 front/20 rear) and running Eibach lowering springs (this car’s only mod), it’s not as stiff-jointed at low speed. The new car ultimately handles more responsively, but this final iteration of the F80 has a crisper edge to its handling.
Powertrains are where these cars diverge most. The engines are both 3.0-litre twin-turbo sixes from the same gene pool, but the new car’s S58 has a warmer, more characterful note that’s closer to BMW straight-six tradition, and builds power in a more progressive way. It’s flexible and responsive, not to mention fast with 503bhp and 479lb ft.
The F80’s S55 unit has a more functional persona – a gruffer sound, plus the transition from off- to on-boost is less progressive and its generous low-down torque encourages short shifting. But response is impressive, and it revs all the way to 7500rpm. It’s fast and effective with 425bhp and 406lb ft in a body over 200kg lighter than today’s M3 Touring. It just needs to be more tuneful and linear.
So the engine scores a win for the new car. And the new M xDrive all-wheel drive is an incredibly versatile system that allows you to switch between regular AWD, a more rear-biased Sport setting, or even go fully rear-wheel drive.
The combination of 2024 engineering with 2014 design is the dream ticket, but revisiting this last of the F80 M3s confirms M division made a big step forwards over the first F80s. They’re still imperfect, but I’d definitely consider one.
Read month 1
Read month 2
Read month 3
Read month 4
Read month 5
Logbook: BMW M3 Touring
Price: £86,570 (£107,080 as tested)
Performance: 2993cc twin-turbocharged six-cylinder, 503bhp, 3.6sec 0-62mph, 180mph
Efficiency: 27.2-28.0mpg (official), 25.7mpg (tested), 229-235g/km C02
Energy cost: 25.4p per mile
Miles this month: 739
Total miles: 12,876