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Gallery 8
It was in the mid-2000s that a case could be made for each M car going ‘up’ a series.
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For example, compare the stats of the E92 M3 with the E39 M5. The M3 has a 1600kg body measuring 4615mm long, 1804mm wide and 1418mm tall powered by a 309kW/400Nm 4.0-litre V8.
The M5 is similar in size (4784/1800/1437mm) though a porky 1795kg, and powered by a 294kW/500Nm 5.0-litre V8. Wheel and tyre sizes were similar, as were the brakes – even the diff ratio was identical.
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Drive an E92 M3, however, and these questions will quickly be replaced by a much simpler one – who cares?
It begins with a press of the starter button. As fine as the nasal scream of the E46’s six-pot is, there’s something about the guttural growl of a V8 that stirs the emotions, especially when enhanced by an aftermarket exhaust system like on Chris Shaw’s E92.
Its hunger for revs eggs you on towards the 8250rpm redline, which is a problem when you’re driving someone else’s pride and joy, particularly as Chris’s M3 sounds like a V8 Supercar.
30 Years of BMW M3: E46 M3 wagon
Of all the cars here it’s the most difficult to exercise restraint in. A six-speed manual was standard, however this example is fitted with the seven-speed dual-clutch. Early examples could be alarmingly erratic, but Chris’s 2012-build shifts swiftly and smoothly, exposing the E46’s SMG ’box as the technological dead-end that it was.
There’s more power and grip, and on cold tyres it’s extremely keen to oversteer – a characteristic of the Michelin Pilot Super Sport rubber – but the communication levels are such that the car feels friendly and enthusiastic rather than nervous and wayward.
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In fact, it strikes arguably the perfect balance between grip and grunt.
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The first E92 M3 I drove was a manual Pure Edition II – identical to Chris’s bar the gearbox – and I couldn’t get enough of it. To stimulate sales, BMW Australia deleted a load of equipment, most of it superfluous, and cut almost $15,000 from the price.
The best part was to come a year later, however, when BMW slashed the price of the M3 Coupe to $125,000, which must rate as one of the greatest bargains of all time.
And with the super-rare GTS and CRT models (see breakout) reserved for overseas buyers and the Competition Package now consisting of merely some wheels and minor suspension tweaks, that was as good as it got for E92 M3 special editions.
I guess, like me, they just couldn’t think of any way to improve it.
