REVIEW

Ah, the M3. The small, fast, great handling coupe in the BMW range. Except this time, it's not. The new M3 is a 4dr saloon and will stay that way (thanks to the M4 Coupe) – so what to make of this new saloon M3? Well, it certainly still has the aggressive M3 looks we all love, and there's no shortage of power from the… what's this? The first ever non-naturally-aspirated M3? That's downsizing for you – the 4.0 litre V8 is out and a twin turbo 3.0 litre straight six is in, but worry not as performance is still incredible. This is the M3 Competition Pack (CP) and has the M-DCT dual clutch transmission, so the engine now has 444bhp and 550Nm of torque – that means you can hit 62mph in just 4.0 seconds which is mighty quick for a 4dr saloon. The CP also gets new 19-inch alloy wheels in either silver or black, all the exterior chrome on the grille and window surrounds is now black, and there’s a sports exhaust with black tips. The suspension is also tweaked and honed to make the M3 CP handle like a dream. For the money there really is nothing that can provide this much of a thrill to drive and still be so practical.