BMW is the undisputable master of fast, fun, engaging four doors, and you’re bound to get more power now, too! The BMW M3 Saloon and Touring, with the uber-racy Competition trim, have both been updated lately. The most noticeable change, at least for me personally, is the uprated powertrain. Regardless of which form factor you choose, the Saloon and Touring has been tweaked to output 20 extra horsepower, now up to 530hp. To make this come true, BMW has even taken parts of its race car engines to fine-tune that high-revving 3.0-litre inline-6.
A superbly rigid crankcase, matched with a forged, lightweight crankshaft, ensures that the M3 Saloon and Touring Competition engines rev high and freely. Even the cylinder bores have a unique iron coating, and the cylinder head has a 3D-printed core, guaranteeing that you get optimal cooling for that highly-strung motor. Of course, BMW has adopted a lot of M-specific performance parts and its experience from its motorsports division, including the BMW M4 GT3, to calibrate the two mono-scroll turbochargers, allowing it to crank out 650Nm of torque.
Motorsports Performance Made For Public Roads
And, when you consider the fact that all that speed and power is sent to all four wheels, thanks to BMW’s xDrive AWD system, you get a premium saloon that’ll manage a 0 to 62mph sprint in just 3.5 seconds. Meanwhile, the family estate car will do it a tad slower, at 3.6 seconds, owing to its higher kerb weight. Plus, if you don’t want to be electronically limited to just 155mph, you could spec the optional M Driver’s Package, letting you rip loose to a 174mph top speed for the Touring Competition. Alternatively, the saloon would peak at a whopping 180mph.
Regardless of which model you pick, power is sent through a slick-shifting 8-speed automatic transmission. Additionally, if you don’t need that all-season all-wheel drive capability, the M Active Differential on the rear axle allows you to switch to drive power exclusively to the rear wheels. Luckily, RWD with all that horsepower shouldn’t be too much of a handful, given that BMW has made a lot of changes to the torsional stiffness of the body structure and its chassis mountings. In addition to extra bracing, the Touring even gets more torsion struts in the rear.
A Road Racer With Practical, Daily Driveable Benefits
All this added stiffening should help give the Touring Competition, an otherwise large estate car, all the agility, precision, and dynamism you’d expect out of a proper M car. Elsewhere, you can expect many more improvements made to sharpen up the steering, suspension, and the brakes, too. Furthermore, BMW will throw in a set of forged, lightweight staggered wheels, 19 inches in the front, and 20 inches in the back. If you’re going to be a lucky owner of either the BMW M3 Saloon or Touring Competition, you can be certain that you’ll be reminded of it.
A newly designed M sports steering wheel adorns the cockpit, with two large M buttons that you can map to specific functions and equally tactile paddle shifters. Just as you’re cushioned in those supportive sports bucket seats, you’ll notice just how much carbon fibre and Alcantara is in these new Competition models. At the very least, they don’t just look cool, but they make for a significant weight saving, too. Just be prepared to pay a pretty penny though, with the M3 Saloon Competition starting from £82,420, or M3 £84,700 for the Touring Competition.
