2015 BMW M3: Restoring the Faith, BMW M is Back! - Ignition Ep. 112 - video Dailymotion

MotorTrend

On this episode of Ignition

Transcript

00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:01 You might not be able to tell from the outside,

00:04 but the fifth generation M3 represents

00:06 a big change for BMW.

00:08 It's the engine.

00:10 Where high-running, naturally aspirated engines

00:12 have characterized the M3 since the '80s,

00:15 the straight-six powering this 2015 M3

00:18 has not one, but two turbos hanging off its side.

00:22 Claimed horsepower increases by 11 to 425,

00:26 but torque makes a huge jump to 406 pound-feet,

00:30 an increase of over 100 pound-feet.

00:33 And it arrives much sooner.

00:35 What's more promising is that despite being bigger

00:38 in every dimension than the car it replaces,

00:40 BMW says this M3 is lighter than last generation

00:44 and significantly stiffer, which will improve

00:46 handling and steering feel.

00:47 [MUSIC PLAYING]

01:15 Driving the M3 was a very exciting prospect.

01:18 So you can imagine our disappointment

01:20 when we arrived at a wet and very rainy road America.

01:24 It's a fantastic course, just over four miles,

01:26 spread over 14 turns and two straights,

01:29 where the M3 can get close to its electronically limited

01:32 155 mile an hour top speed.

01:36 For our introduction of the new M3,

01:38 we went to road America for the press launch.

01:40 And it's been wet all morning.

01:43 And it's been interesting.

01:45 You might think that's bad, but you make lemonade out of lemons.

01:49 It's actually been a really good way

01:52 to learn the car, to learn the differences between this

01:55 and the E90, the previous generation M3.

01:58 And the one that jumps out is power.

02:00 This thing makes over 100 pound-feet of torque

02:06 more than the last M3's V8.

02:09 And you feel that instantly.

02:13 The torque comes on so quickly and so strongly

02:18 that you really have to anticipate it,

02:19 especially if you're in the wet.

02:22 The last M3 made, what, 295 pound-feet at 4,000 RPM?

02:26 This is a completely different animal than that.

02:30 And if you drive this car expecting that kind of power

02:33 delivery, you're going to get pretty sideways.

02:35 You have to relearn how to drive this car,

02:40 much like you had to relearn driving the M5 when it

02:44 got turbocharged.

02:46 And in a way, that's a good segue,

02:47 because my initial impression from driving this car

02:50 in the wet is that it feels kind of like a small M5.

02:54 And I think there are a couple of reasons for that.

03:00 Most specifically, it's partly because this car

03:03 uses the M5's differential.

03:05 It uses the M5's transmission.

03:08 Even the gear ratios are the same.

03:10 And the rear subframe gives you the same sensation

03:14 that that car does.

03:15 I think there's a pro shoe behind us, definitely.

03:22 We just got dive-bombed by a BMW professional driver.

03:26 Anyway, so M3, M5.

03:28 So I think two of the reasons why this car gives me

03:30 the same similar feeling as an M5

03:32 is because it uses the same twin-clutch transmission,

03:35 and it uses the same differential.

03:38 There's also similar philosophies in the rear end.

03:41 The rear end is very stiff.

03:42 The subframe is bolted directly to the chassis,

03:44 like it is in the M5.

03:46 And the result is that they feel kind of similar.

03:50 Now, what you also notice is that despite this engine

03:52 having two turbochargers hanging off of it,

03:55 there's a lot of noise in this cabin.

03:58 It makes a surprising-- or it makes a remarkable amount

04:01 of interior noise, engine noise.

04:04 The downside is it doesn't sound as good as the E90's V8.

04:10 And that's just something you're going

04:13 to run into when you're comparing a 8,000, 9,000 RPM

04:16 V8 with a twin-turbo six-cylinder.

04:20 That said, this thing does rev out nicely,

04:22 and it has a very broad power band.

04:25 [MUSIC PLAYING]

04:30 BMW stressed the fact that they've stiffened this chassis

04:33 quite a bit.

04:34 And I never doubt what the car is doing.

04:38 It feels consistent.

04:39 It feels controllable.

04:40 It feels communicative.

04:41 [MUSIC PLAYING]

04:46 It feels like all the things you'd

04:47 hope an M3 would feel like.

04:48 [MUSIC PLAYING]

04:53 The newfound power has made a big and welcome impact

04:56 on the way the M3 drives.

04:58 But we wanted to see the sides of that effect.

05:01 Once the M3 was back in Los Angeles,

05:03 we took it to K&N Engineering and put it on the dyno.

05:05 [MUSIC PLAYING]

05:08 [ENGINE REVVING]

05:28 The result, 379 horsepower at 6,600 RPM

05:33 and 378 pound-feet of torque at 4,300 RPM.

05:37 But peak numbers are less important in the shape

05:39 of the curve.

05:40 Look how quickly torque spikes when you press the throttle.

05:43 And look how consistent the power delivery remains.

05:47 For comparison, we also brought along an E92 M3.

05:50 [ENGINE REVVING]

05:54 [MUSIC PLAYING]

05:57 [ENGINE REVVING]

06:26 Now look at the area under the curve.

06:29 The difference is that big.

06:30 [MUSIC PLAYING]

06:34 BMW launch control hasn't been the greatest as of yet,

06:39 especially in the M5.

06:40 In this car, it's better, but still not great.

06:43 To activate it, you turn off stability control,

06:45 traction control.

06:46 You select manual mode on the shifter.

06:48 You make sure it's in the harshest shift setting.

06:51 And if you want to do a big burnout, you hold the brake,

06:54 press the gas.

06:55 And that's how the BMW recommends you use launch

06:57 control.

06:58 In our testing, we actually found it slightly faster

07:01 to not hold the brake and just stab the throttle, like that.

07:05 [MUSIC PLAYING]

07:08 Minimal wheel spin and a faster 0 to 60 time

07:13 versus what BMW recommends, 3.9 seconds to 60.

07:18 Quarter mile, low 12s, nearly 120 miles an hour.

07:23 Not quite there, but very fast.

07:25 We have the optional big carbon ceramic rotors, 19-inch wheels.

07:33 And combined, they should produce very short stopping

07:35 distances.

07:36 Our best stop from 60 took just 99 feet.

07:42 Finally, limit handling in the M3 in the drive.

07:50 [MUSIC PLAYING]

07:54 What I really like about this chassis is that it's flexible.

08:03 OK, M3 is good.

08:15 M3 gets the stamp of approval.

08:18 [MUSIC PLAYING]

08:21 You know, most cars, when you get into a big understeer

08:26 or an oversteer situation, that's

08:28 the only thing the car is going to do.

08:29 And you're not going to be able to control it,

08:31 get yourself out of it, and fix it.

08:33 In this, through the steering, through your throttle

08:38 and brake inputs, you can very much

08:40 control the line of the car and do

08:44 some pretty big, smoky drifts.

08:45 [TIRES SCREECHING]

08:48 Or drive through a course fast.

08:55 A lot of accuracy, feedback in the steering,

08:59 a lot of feedback in the chassis, too.

09:01 As I get close to the window for a second.

09:04 [MUSIC PLAYING]

09:14 This is the M3 we've been asking for.

09:17 The road and tire noise are loud.

09:19 The ride is firm.

09:20 But this is all done because it makes the car drive better.

09:24 The steering is fantastic.

09:25 The feel of the chassis and the responses it gives back to you

09:28 make you want to drive the car harder.

09:31 While the engine doesn't have the theatrics of previous M3s,

09:34 its power delivery more than makes up for it.

09:41 This is every bit the driver's car we hoped it would be.

09:44 [ENGINE REVVING]

09:47 [MUSIC PLAYING]

09:51 [MUSIC PLAYING]

09:54 [MUSIC PLAYING]

09:58 [MUSIC PLAYING]

10:02 [MUSIC PLAYING]

10:05 [MUSIC PLAYING]

10:09 [MUSIC PLAYING]

10:12 [MUSIC PLAYING]

10:16 [MUSIC]

2015 BMW M3: Restoring the Faith, BMW M is Back! - Ignition Ep. 112

Category

Transcript

Recommended