BMW M3 Competition

REPORT 6

£74,000 OTR/£86,745 as tested/£1,260pcm

WHY IT’S HERE

Is BMW’s mighty M3 still the performance saloon benchmark?

DRIVER

Rowan Horncastle

THE ULTIMATE DRIVING MACHINE NOW DRIVES ITSELF. WHICH IS a worrying state of affairs given the BMW M3 is meant to tickle the purist’s pickle.

But the autonobots have been taking over at a rapid rate. Which isn’t good news for us weirdos who don’t see cars simply as a way from getting from one place to another; rather, a way to be entertained, intrigued and enthralled while getting from one place to other.

I’m not sure about you, but it feels like legislators are starting to side more with the ones and zeros than us fleshy sentient beings. And BMW is getting onboard with this as it offers Level 2 autonomous functions on most of its range as part of a £1,750 Technology Plus Pack.

But – psst – I’ll let you into a surprising secret: I’ve been using the M3’s driverless functions a lot. Especially on motorway schleps. Mainly because the car is so effortlessly fast and I have such pathetic willpower it’s actually easier to have the computers apply a consistent velocity belt to keep the car in check. Otherwise, it simply wants to ramp up the turbos and run off like a horny Bavarian stallion.

To make the car drive itself you have to press a button on the steering wheel, then thumb a nub to dictate your speed. That wakes up the bulge of expensive radar and lidar in the bumper which keeps you at a measured distance to the car in front, but also keeps an eye on the car’s surroundings to anticipate and smoothly apply acceleration and deceleration. Not only that, the robot/s can steer – even at motorway speeds – unless it/they sees something too aggressive and chickens out.

Later on down the line over the air updates will allow the autonomous features to grow, including Lane Change and Traffic Light Assistant.