BMW M3 review

Don’t worry: this M3 review isn't about a road from Surrey to Southampton. In fact, the BMW M3 couldn’t be more different to the motorway it shares a name with.

Since the mid-Eighties, the M3 has been the fastest and most exciting version of the BMW 3 Series executive car, building up a cult following among performance-car fans. The current generation saw the arrival of the BMW M3 Touring estate car to broaden that appeal even further.

In fact, the M3 Touring's versatility will be perfect for lots of people, because it allows you to go for a couple of quick laps at Brands Hatch at the weekend, then fill its huge boot with furniture on the way home. That’s something you can't do with the rival Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio (QV).

BMW M3 Touring twin test video

So what are the BMW M3 and M3 Touring like to drive, and how do they stack up against the best performance cars? Read on as we put them to the test against the Giulia QV, plus the Audi RS6 Avant, Mercedes-AMG C63 and Porsche 911...

Most modern performance cars give you some control over settings, but the BMW M3 takes that concept to extremes. Next to the stubby gear selector (which has its own button to vary the aggression of the gear changes) you’ll find a button labelled "Setup".

Prodding it brings up a list of options on the infotainment screen, allowing you to change everything from the sensitivity of the brakes to the loudness of the exhaust.

The sheer number of configurations can seem a little overwhelming at first, so it’s handy that the M3 has several presets that work well straight out of the box.

Once you get more familiar with the car, you’ll appreciate being able to fine-tune it to better suit your own tastes. You might want to leave the steering in its light Comfort mode and the engine its most responsive, for example, and then save that to the customisable M1 and M2 shortcut buttons on the wheel. 

With everything in Comfort mode, the standard version – the M3 Competition – is a surprisingly relaxing and refined daily companion. The turbocharged six-cylinder engine remains hushed at low revs, and the standard eight-speed automatic gearbox shuffles through its ratios smoothly (there’s no manual gearbox option).

The M3 Competition's adaptive suspension allows the car to flow along the ups and downs of a subsiding B-road, only showing a hint of brittleness over the very worst sections. 

Despite its compliant ride, Comfort mode keeps body lean in check, but if you really want to push on, the firmer Sport setting is better for making the most of country roads. It helps the car feel even more tied down, while also giving the steering a little more heft, so you can gauge your inputs more accurately – but without it feeling unnaturally heavy.

If you really want to test the M3, you'll want the M3 CS Touring. You see, while its more aggressive and track-focused set-up might lose some of the everyday smoothness, it makes it even better through corners, with more direct steering and suspension that eliminates body lean almost entirely.  

When you aren’t threading the M3 through a series of corners, every version is blistering quick in a straight line. Indeed, with the M3 Competition offering 523bhp and the M3 CS Touring 543bhp, they’ll fire you from 0-62mph in just 3.5 seconds (3.6 seconds for the regular Touring). Effectively, no matter which body style you go for, it'll match a Porsche 911 Carrera 4S.

The only real let down is that the Competition doesn’t really sound that special, even when you’re at high revs with the sport exhaust switched on. Luckily, the CS fixes that and is generally much louder, adding to the experience. 

Both M3s take a bit of getting used to before you can really explore what they’re capable of through corners. There’s so much front-end grip and rear-end traction you have to chip away at the limits before you feel truly confident to grab it by the scruff of its neck.

Happily, once you get there, you’ll find both versions of the M3 are far more nimble and involving than the Mercedes-AMG C63 S e Performance and have higher grip limits than an Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio.

Every M3 comes with xDrive four-wheel drive as standard. It’s a brilliant system, allowing you to make the most of the car's power even in poor conditions, while still allowing you to access a more playful side if you want to.

You can put the car in a rear-wheel-drive mode, and if the rear wheels break traction in a corner, the resulting slide is easy to manage. There's also a 10-stage system (part of the expensive M Race Track package or standard with the CS) so you can fine-tune how much wheel-slip is allowed before the traction control cuts in. In the Giulia Quadrifoglio, traction control is either on or off.

As standard, the M3 has steel brakes, with carbon-ceramic ones available as part of the aforementioned M Race Track Package or a standalone option on the CS. The standard brakes can be a little grabby around town, but the rest of the time they're progressive, consistent and massively powerful, so it's not vital to upgrade them.

“I do find the BMW M3 Competition’s sound a little uninspiring in some modes. The exhaust is quite muted, and while the engine noise is loud and bassy, it sounds a little fake.” – Steve Huntingford, Editor

In traditional M-car fashion, the BMW M3 is very similar inside to any other BMW 3 Series. That’s no bad thing: the 3 Series has one of the best interiors in the executive car class and the M3 is different enough that you feel like you’re behind the wheel of something special.

For example, you get heavily bolstered and supportive sport seats with integrated headrests, seatbelts in M Division colours, a bright red starter button, some carbon-fibre trim and a sports steering wheel with contrast stitching (which is covered in Alcantara in the CS). 

Depending on your tastes, you can choose from interior colour schemes that range from black on cream to bright blue on day-glow yellow.

The driving position in the M3 can be adjusted to the nth degree. In their lowest setting, the optional M carbon bucket seats almost place your backside on the floor of the car, which is handy for taller drivers who want to wear a crash helmet for a track day.

The M3's head-up display beams plenty of information on to the windscreen, and the 12.3in digital driver's display can be set up in a range of configurations.

The 14.9in infotainment screen can be operated using an iDrive dial between the front seats, which is much less distracting when you’re driving than using it as a touchscreen. With its super-intuitive layout and responsive operating system, we much prefer it to the finicky touchscreen in the Audi RS6 Avant.

The only disappointment is that when the BMW 3 Series was face-lifted, it lost its simple-to-use climate-control switches, so in the latest M3 you adjust the temperature using the touchscreen or voice control.

More positively, the M3's many gadgets include Android Auto and Apple CarPlay smartphone mirroring, wireless phone-charging, a DAB radio, a 16-speaker Harman Kardon sound system and a wi-fi hotspot.

The standard equipment list also includes front and rear parking sensors, and a rear-view camera. That's handy because the chunky front and rear pillars can obscure your view out when parking.

“As always, the iDrive infotainment system is one of the best, largely because of that rotary dial. I’m still not totally sure about the gimmicky gesture control, though, because it rarely works as intended.” – Steve Huntingford, Editor

One of the best things about the BMW M3 (or any performance car for that matter) is that you get sports car performance and handling in a package that’s as practical as a regular saloon – or, in the case of the M3 Touring, estate car.

To that end, there’s enough space in the back for a couple of six-footers (three at a push). True, the optional carbon-fibre front seats have a hard back, so they're not as comfortable to rest your knees against as the standard ones, but this is mitigated by the fact that they're so slim they free up a bit more space.

Storage in the front is good in the M3 Competition, but the CS Touring’s focus on weight saving means a redesigned, much lower and carbon fibre covered, centre console. As a result, it loses the central armrest and has no cupholders – you do, at least, still get a wireless phone charging tray. 

Usefully, both versions come with 40/20/40 split-folding rear seats for those occasions when you need to carry extra long paraphernalia, giving you the option of poking items through from the boot without sacrificing the outer seats.  

In the M3 saloon, the boot opening is small, but there’s enough room inside for up to seven carry-on suitcases. As you might expect, the M3 Touring has a bigger boot than the saloon. It gets an extra 20 litres of space beneath the load cover, taking the total to 500 litres.

You get a powered tailgate as standard on the estate car version. If you want one on the saloon, you have to add the optional Technology pack.

“I found it really useful that the BMW M3 Touring’s rear window can be opened independently of the tailgate. It makes it really easy to quickly grab items.” – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

As a cash purchase, the BMW M3 Competition in saloon form costs a little more than the Alfa Romeo Giulia QV while the Touring adds a slight premium and ups the price further. Even so, they’ll still both cost you a fair bit less than the Mercedes-AMG C63. Going for the CS Touring, meanwhile, makes the M3 really expensive and a match for the Porsche 911 Carrera 4S.

All versions of the M3 are predicted to lose their value a little more slowly than the Giulia QV though, which helps to keep PCP finance rates competitive. It also means it might be worth more if you decide to sell in three years.

Don't expect any M3 to be a cheap car to run – in our Real MPG tests the M3 Competition averaged 26.3mpg, which is not bad for something with more than 500bhp but hardly parsimonious.

You’ll also need deep pockets to run an M3 as a company car because its hefty CO2 emissions place it in the top 37% band. An electric performance car such as the Porsche Taycan will be much cheaper for BIK tax. 

On the plus side, the M3 Competition is well equipped. It has 19in alloy wheels up front and 20in ones at the back (what BMW calls a staggered set-up), a leather interior, dual-zone climate control, cruise control, a carbon-fibre roof and heated seats. The one surprise is that you have to pay extra for keyless entry.

There are loads more options, many of which can be bundled into trim packs. For example, the (very expensive) M Race Track Pack lumps together carbon-fibre exterior highlights and the fantastic carbon bucket seats. The Ultimate Pack adds many of those plus laser headlights, keyless entry, a heated steering wheel, a more advanced parking function and extra safety kit.

Going for the CS Touring increases the price tag but also adds a lot of those optional packs as standard equipment, including the M Race Track Pack. Indeed, the only options are carbon-ceramic brakes, acoustic glass and upgraded headlights.

The M3 hasn’t specifically been appraised for safety by Euro NCAP but the BMW 3 Series scored the full five-star rating when it was tested by safety experts in 2019. That said, the testing regime has become more strict since then so it’s hard to compare against newer cars.

You get plenty of standard safety kit, including automatic emergency braking (AEB), lane-keeping assist, an attentiveness alert and a rear crossing-traffic warning.

While the M3 as a model didn’t feature in our 2024 What Car? Reliability Survey, the 3 Series did very well, finishing in second place in the executive car class. BMW as a brand claimed eighth place out of the 31 included manufacturers, ahead of Porsche and Audi, and way above Alfa Romeo.

“While it's quite expensive, I’d add the Ultimate Pack to the BMW M3 Touring, simply because it adds useful features including a heated steering wheel and adaptive LED headlights.” – Lawrence Cheung, New Cars Editor

For all the latest reviews, advice and new car deals, sign up to the What Car? newsletter here