WHAT’S IT LIKE TO DRIVE? UNDER THE BONNET?

The older M3 had a reputation for being somewhat spiky. It was a car you couldn’t take liberties with – particularly in the wet – and if you didn’t treat it with caution, it’d quickly come back to bite you. It does, on initial impressions, seem like BMW has addressed this issue with the latest M3. This is a fearsomely easy car to drive at a quicker pace. The steering is one of the biggest changes here; whereas before the old car’s wheel became overburdened, weighty and a bit rubbery at times – particularly in sport modes – in this M3 it’s properly weighted and feels correctly connected to the front wheels. Then there’s the engine. Strong and purposeful, it has all of the performance you could want from a road car. The shifts come thick and fast when making progress, but snappy gear changes from the pleasantly finished carbon-fibre paddles mean swapping cogs is another hugely positive part of the experience. The level of grip you can achieve through longer, sweeping bends is far beyond what you would’ve found before, while the new adjustable traction control system will mean that even novice drivers can the best from the new M3.

The M3’s engine might sound the same on the face of it – it’s still a twin-turbo, six-cylinder 3.0-litre petrol like you’d find in the older car – but it’s a far different beast to before. For starters, we’ve got a lot more power; the UK is only getting top-tier Competition models, which come with the full-beans 503bhp and 650Nm of torque – considerably more than the 460bhp and 600Nm you’d find in the old M3 CS. It means that this latest-generation car will crack 0-60mph in just 3.7 seconds and power onwards to a top speed of 155mph – or 180mph if you tick the box for the optional M Drivers package. Drive is, in this instance, sent to the rear wheels alone through an eight-speed automatic transmission. A sports exhaust provides a suitably raucous sound, too.