A four-door M3? Haven’t seen one of those for a while…
Not since the E36 model M3, two generations ago, have we seen an M3 saloon. Back then that car didn’t prove particularly popular. Now BMW is giving it another go with this E92 generation M3. But now BMW has got some tough competition because the new Mercedes C63 AMG saloon is one of the best hot Mercs for decades. And if the soon-to-depart RS4 saloon is anything to go by, the next-generation car, based on the forthcoming A4, should be excellent. With an M3 coupe now costing £50,625 the saloon will surely also cost over the £50k mark.
So what’s special about this M3 saloon?
Try the 4.0-litre V8 for a start, which is four-fifths of the M5’s V10. The V8 packs 414bhp at 8300rpm. The new M3’s slightly more relaxed and refined demeanour may also be better suited to a saloon bodyshell, we reckon. Our spy pictures of the car testing on the Nurburgring and the roads that surround it show that the saloon shares the coupe’s good looks. There are quad exhausts, wing vents, and a deep, sculpted front bumper. The pictures also show a sunroof-equipped (and thus steel-roofed) saloon. There’s no word yet on whether the M3 saloon will have a carbonfibre roof like the coupe.
Is anything else coming from BMW’s M Division?
While Audi and Mercedes also respectively make estate versions of the RS4 and C63 AMG but BMW has yet to give the green light to a load-lugger. Apparently it’s under evaluation but perhaps the reaction to the latest ‘uber-wagons’ from BMW’s German competitors may convince them to make an M3 Touring. Also waiting in the wings is an M3 CSL. Not only is this a guaranteed money-maker, but an answer to critics who found the M3 coupe a little too refined.