cmoose said:
Perhaps. But I also think that perhaps the current car enthusiast journalistic crop forgets that the guy buying the M3/4 may not actually drive much or even anything else regularly. So while journos are routinely in something with a really extreme engine / getting their visceral fix and therefore think, OK for my daily this new M3 engine is bland but torquey and that's OK, for the people buying this car I think they should be encouraged to demand something more exciting and life affirming than yet another samey, numb turbo rocket.

If you're driving GT3s and Paganis and P1s and LaFs regularly, a bland M3 lump is OK for a daily / chase / camera car etc. If it's really all you drive, the loss of the old NA BMW engines is a minor tragedy - that's what made M cars so wonderful, you drove a saloon with an engine that was as special and exciting as a supercar.

Plus the M3 daily of today is the used performance bargain / weekend toy of tomorrow, and none of the latest M crop appeal in that context, more's the pity.


Chris Harris replies:
Jeremy - I'm going to call you by your real name Mr.Laird because I think you often represent yourself as being 'in the trade' and people like us - journalists - don't really have the right to hide behind soubriquets.

Before presenting yourself as the arbiter of what all car enthusiasts should want in an everyday, fast saloon car, it might be best to drive the new M3. If you do and still think the engine is bland, it'll confirm that my opinion on the subject of what is usable, enjoyable and an acceptable loss in 'feel' in the face of ever more stringent emissions and safety regulations is very different to yours. Of course mine is just another opinion, as is yours, but If you'd like to openly discuss which of us better understands this end of the marketplace,and what buyers are actually looking for, then I'm happy to do so here. And admit my mistakes. But as far as I can recall, I have never edited a car magazine devoted to electric cars and hybrids. However, I have lived with pretty much every car in this class for tens of thousands of miles at a time.

Of course your blanket dismissal of people like me spending too much time in GT3s to be able to judge what someone might want from a single performance car is ludicrous, so I won't bother to explain it.

What I will reiterate is that torque is far more useful than outright power in a street car. And I think more absorbing for a daily driver over time. The new M3 has torque and too end. I ran an E92 M3 everyday, for 11,000 miles to confirm that'll had too little of the former. But I also drove a few Zondaghinis during that period, so according to your theory, I'm not qualified to state that I had to drive the buttons off it to stay ahead of turbodiesels and I just couldn't enjoy that amazing top end enough.

Fuel economy? Read again - I'm talking about range. Range is what matters to people who can afford a £60k car. Spending less time at horrid fuel stations. And that is sadly quite closely related to fuel economy. Again, my frequent exposure to Ferraris must mean that I don't quite understand the range issue on the E92.

Sorry if you think I've given you both barrels unfairly, but I don't think it's fair to jump chameleon-style between being forum punter and journalist when it suits you. And then to have pops from the sidelines .

The M3 is a cracker in my opinion. Anyone who thinks the powertrain is boring needs their head looking at. But that's just my opinion. What really matters is what owners think of the car. I hope to be one of those at some point. And I'll still drive the odd GT3.

Typed on my phone, so apologies for typos etc