Car Auto Magazine

BMW showed the M3 concept at the Geneva auto show earlier this year, and as expected, the actual car looks barely different. The unpainted carbon-fiber roof is there—we can’t wait to see it on a white car—and so are the side vents with LED lights, the flared fenders, and the power bulge in the aluminum hood. The concept’s 19-inch wheels have shrunk to 18 inches, but you can be pretty sure that BMW Accessories will allow you to swap right back when you spec your personal M3.

Some of the other M3-specific stuff includes the gaping front fascia, the aggressive rear end with quad tailpipes, and the dual-vaned side mirrors. In fact, all this car shares externally with the E92 coupe on which it’s based are the headlamps, the taillamps, the trunklid, the doors, and the glass. In addition to the coupe, we’ve seen spy shots of an M3 sedan and a hardtop M3 convertible. Our sources peg the M3’s release at sometime next February or March and the price at about $60,000—or about $10,000 more than the last M3 coupe. But with that sweet V-8 stuffed between the fenders and advanced technology crammed into every nook and cranny, we’d call that a fair deal, especially considering the fact that an M5 will suck more than $83,000 from your piggy bank.

There’s no doubt that this latest M3 has what it takes to deliver the goods—on paper, at least. The question is whether the M3 will be a cold, overly technological machine, like the current M5, or whether it’ll turn out to be a hoot-a-minute bottle rocket with personality coming out its tailpipes, like the original E30 M3. The truth likely lies somewhere in between, and we can’t wait to get behind the wheel to find out.