Small, incredibly sporty BMWs have been the calling card of the German brand, epitomised by the M3 sedan. Now, there is a new one in town along with the M4, says KUSHAN MITRA
BMW advertises its cars as the ‘Ultimate Driving Machine’; but frankly most BMW cars you see on Indian roads have the two-litre diesel engine. And to be very honest, while the engine is a very refined one and capable of some sparkling performance, particularly on the 320d, it would be a stretch to describe it as ‘exciting’.
That is not to say that BMW does not make exciting cars, even a standard small Bimmer with a small engine is a lot of fun to drive, they handle better and feel classier than most other cars. And when you are paying so much for a brand, it should be good to drive. But, this past week, BMW India brought one of the most fabled cars in their long history to India for the first time — the superb M3. In this generation of cars, BMW has stopped the M# two-door coupe, instead calling that vehicle the M4.
This writer was lucky enough to get a few laps around the Buddh International Circuit in both cars and it was spectacular. In fact, you do run short of adjectives to describe the experience to driving both these extreme machines. But BMW’s ‘M’ division has always been a game-changer; these true ‘M’ cars, rather than those with ‘M’ trim across them are very different from the regular cars.
In the 1970s, BMW engineers collaborated with lamborghini to design a sports car. Unfortunately lamborghini’s tough financial position those days meant that BMW had to take control of the project. This was actually complete with engineers needing to slyly removing the first few bodyshells and drawings of the cars before lamborghini’s creditors came. Only 450-odd M1’s were hand-built by BMW, yes ‘hand-built’; but a brand and legend had been born. The BMW M1 was an extremely successful racecar, but importantly the BMW M-brand had been created. This became the cornerstone on which the German company built its incredible success through the rest of the 1980s, 90s and 2000s. If BMW has the tagline ‘Ultimate Driving Machine’ today it is completely due to the M-cars.
The first M-car was the 635CSl, then the first M5 and then the best-selling car of the lot, the M3. The M3 and M5 have both been sold over generations now, every incremental generation having more power, more performance and more sales. These are cars that defined the markets for cars that people could own as a regular car in the week but also cars that performed like beasts on the weekend.
Take the new M3 and M4, they are based on the standard 3-series and 4-series cars, however the cars have several changes. Sure, the engine under the hood is not one you can get on a standard BMW, it is mightily powerful six-cylinder 3-litre twin-turbocharged engine that produces a phenomenal 430 horsepower, two and a half times that you would get on a 320d. And because the car produces so much power, it has a brilliant dual-clutch gearbox that makes gear-changes seem almost seamless, it is a modified version of the gearbox on standard BMW cars just to handle the insane power and torque output of the car.
But you cannot deliver such utterly insane amounts of power in a standard car, therefore the M3/M4 have all sorts of aerodynamic tweaks. If you just look at the front and rear end of the car you notice the air-dams, the scoops and gills as well as the rear diffuser, in fact when you trail an M3 or M4 you can actually see (thanks to the help of dust) the car slicing through the air. So even if one of these cars was bought in a sober colour, these aerodynamic tweaks would give the car away. Of course, weight plays a critical role in the car; the roof for example is made out of carbon-fibre, making it lightweight which reduces the overall slung weight of the car that further improves performance.
Those and the fairly obvious dual twin exhausts. The four exhaust pipes have an electronically-controlled butterfly flap that seems to manage the noise. One can argue that the electronically controlled noise seems unnatural, but thanks to the electronic flaps, not only is the beautiful roar from the exhaust but controlled exhaust backpressure which, for whatever it is worth improves fuel economy. But when you drive a car like this, the noise does matter, whether it is the noise of the air being sucked into the turbo chambers or the noise coming from the engine.
The noise is such a critical element of the driving experience of a car like this; but because your eyes are focussed on the road, in fact, racetrack driving instructors always tell you to look at the next turn to plan your driving line; the noise merges into the whole experience. So there is the sheer acceleration of the car that pushes you back into your seat, 0-100 kilometres per hour is dealt with in just 4.1 seconds, then there is the handling.
The road-handling qualities of your average German are brilliant, which is why whenever your writer goes to the mountains, taking a German car or SUV is a great idea. But on these cars, designed both for the road and the racetrack, handling is another beast altogether. The aerodynamics are working to suck the car to the road which is called mechanical grip, the big tyres provide heaps of grip and everything else about the car is attuned — BMW’s M Division works out the kinks in the suspension and shock-absorbers, and these cars use components that regular cars do not due to both power and weight considerations.
To put it simply, at the end of the straight at the Buddh International Circuit is turn four, this is a very deceptive turn as the approach to this turn is wide, the right turn is a very sharp almost a 120-degree turn and the road rapidly narrows. It is a turn that often catches the unaware out, and even the aware when they are in a fast car, if you don’t apply brakes in time, the chances of sliding into the wall are fairly good. In a regular car, you possibly will hit the turn at maximum speed, maybe 200-plus kilometres per hour, after all the 1.3 kilometre straight gives you a chance to max out, brake late with skinnier tyres and well you will be in a cloud of dust. You slow down to almost 30 kilometres an hour to take this turn.
The M3/M4 are both excellent here, while the car is limited to just 250 kilometres per hour (due to a German rule), the tyres and brakes combine at this turn to give a driver the confidence to make this turn safely while not scrubbing off too much speed. Sure, you still do not take this turn too fast, but at 50-60 kilometres an hour, the same speed F1 cars take this turn at. Because on the racetrack, carrying more speed into and out of a turn means a faster lap time, and both siblings deliver in spades.
But the M3 and M4 are not supercars, they are not cars like the Audi R8 which has a mid-mounted engine and two seats. These are cars that are legitimate four seat cars, where the rear passengers can sit in comfort even on a racetrack (as long as they remember to wear rear seatbelts) and have a whole host of creature comforts to keep them comfortable. Forget just air-conditioning, the car has a great infotainment system, comfortable albeit race-inspired seats, a 60:40 rear seat that allows for storage at the back. These are practical daily use cars that you can also take to the racetrack.
But then again, these cars are frightfully expensive while at a similar range to the Audi RS5, their only ‘real’ competitor in India in terms of size, but at `1.2 crore (with the M4 costing a shade more despite having two doors less) these are expensive toys. But if you had to ask us which one we would choose, somehow the M3 seems the right one to buy, after all it is the badge with more history.
