BMW M3 Convertible 2008 Review

Road Test - BMW M3 M Clutch

RRP: $183,450 (33 per cent LCT)
Price as tested: $179,450 (based on 25 per cent LCT and includes M Clutch transmission with Drivelogic $7308 and Aluminium Shadow interior trim at no charge)
Crash rating: Five-star (Euro NCAP)
Fuel: 98 RON PULP
Claimed fuel economy (L/100km): 12.3
CO2 emissions (g/km): 293
Also consider: Audi S5 coupe (more here), Lexus IS-F sedan (more here), Mercedes-Benz C 63 AMG (more here)

Overall rating: 3.0/5.0
Engine/Drivetrain/Chassis: 4.0/5.0
Price, Packaging and Practicality: 3.0/5.0
Safety: 3.0/5.0
Behind the wheel: 3.0/5.0
X-factor: 4.0/5.0

About our ratings

This car is a dog - in a good way!. It barks, it howls, it whines, it growls. In fact, it does everything you would expect of a well-trained example of Canis Familiaris, other than rolling over and playing dead.

Let's start with the undomesticated stuff that we didn't especially like about the BMW M3 during our week with it. There was a bit of a shunt from the 'you-beaut' dual-clutch transmission as the vehicle pulled up to a stop -- and that might just be evidence of a hard life for this particular press test vehicle.

There was just no elegant way of exiting the rear seat if you're actually an adult and the roof is raised. And as you would expect from a vehicle like this, boot space, with the roof lowered is restricted to about two briefcases' worth.

Primary ride quality is about what you would expect from a high-performance sports car and the platform doesn't feel as rigid as some other German cars we've driven lately (A3 Cabrio for one -- another four-seater, although lacking the BMW's performance potential). For example, there was a minor rattle in the dash and during harder cornering there was some squeaking emanating from the boot (a noise we presume was associated with the mounts for the folding roof).

Oh, and the brakes squealed as the car pulls up... [Ed: like a proper performance car!]

What did we like about it? Now, that's a much longer list.

There's the engine, for a start. It's torquey across a very broad rev range and can be driven quite docilely, but also lets loose with an extraordinary gamut of thoroughbred engine sounds. As mentioned at the start, it barks as it shifts down a gear and it whines from as low as 1500rpm, but it also has that bass V8 note -- and the whole ensemble works together in some automotive arrangement of The Ride of the Valkyries -- or Led Zep's Immigrant Song, if you prefer.

The seven-speed M Clutch transmission, BMW's equivalent to Volkswagen's DSG or Porsche PDK, is phenomenal. With the Drivelogic system, you can set it up for driving on low-friction surfaces (starting in second gear) and providing shift quality as good as the best epicyclic autos. Or you can adopt the other extreme -- with Launch Control and Drivelogic program 6 to bestow slingshot acceleration and shift quality like a whack to the back of the head with the blunt edge of an axe.

Getting used to this transmission takes a little while. Starting off (in forward or reverse gears), the low-speed assistant will ride the clutch more than drivers of manual cars would and there's none of the creep at idle that is often a characteristic of automatic transmissions.

In effect, you find yourself revving the engine up to what sounds about the right level for something to happen and the car barely moves. At 1500rpm, the engine sounds like it's working harder and BMW has set up the throttle so that it needs a fair amount of travel before the engine begins to spool up to the point where the car will move with any sort of determination.

Overall, it's sensible and it's a safe system, but is different from what many will know. It's like you're waiting for this hound from hell to be unleashed and instead you get Pookie the Chihuahua. As we say, not a bad thing, just different.

It's often forgotten with twin-clutch transmissions, but at standstill, both clutches are engaged, which means a car so equipped will roll back on a hill. Not so the M3, which like BMW's conventional manuals holds the brakes for a couple of seconds while the driver is shifting the foot from the brake pedal to accelerator. That's definitely worthwhile having in this car.

The drivetrain management is very well sorted. It adapts rapidly to whatever the driver appears to need and, in our finding, it's right 100 per cent of the time. For example, prod the accelerator hard and then ease up immediately and it will select and hold a lower gear that's right for the job and provides substantive engine braking or torque on hand for lightning fast overtaking.

Sequential shifting can be facilitated either by paddle shifters that rotate with the steering wheel or by a fore/aft plane for the shift lever. Either way, the system responds rapidly and the engine is so brisk in the way it reacts to throttle input that two quick flicks of the paddles and the engine is at the right speed for what you want to do next. And the transmission would go directly to the gear you wanted -- no side stops along the way at fourth gear when you wanted third, for example.

We tried out the paddle shifters in their element and -- it pains this tester to say -- they worked very well. Not only were they responsive, as pointed out above, but they were large enough to be grabbed and the steering ratio was direct enough that in most circumstances there was no need to lift either hand off the wheel -- into or out of corners -- so the paddles were always "on hand".

If there were one minor niggle, they could probably be a little further outboard of the steering wheel hub, since they were a bit of a fingertip reach for this tester's stubby digits.

That leads us to ergonomics. Once again, the M3 is a case of this reviewer eating humble pie. Even the iDrive system was easy to use, in relative terms. DSC, EDC and Power buttons were all located adjacent the driver's left leg and the handbrake was there too!

The transmission shift lever was sensibly simple, right from the start. It's not certain that BMW is getting its act together with ergonomics for RHD markets or whether we're just getting used to the company's conventions, but not only is the M3 one of the best-sorted cars for a RHD market from BMW, it's pretty good by the standards of most other European cars as well.

The cruise control system is configured to work in 1km and 10km increments through two-stage spring loading and there's no need for a separate enable button or switch, so it's virtually as easy as the system Mercedes-Benz uses in its cars. And as is the case with Benz models there's a telltale in the outer circumference of the speedo to inform you at a glance as the selected cruise control speed setting.

The interior is stylish and well laid out, with instruments that are easy to read. Some of the control stalks behind the wheel are bordering on invisible, but their functions are quite intuitive from feel alone.

The seats are very comfortable and supportive, also featuring a well designed headrest that is soft-padded and an extension at the front of the squab that will pull out for longer-legged drivers. Seatbelts are actually fastened to the front seats at the base, so there's no need to unhook the seatbelt from the seat when allowing occupants access to the rear of the car.

Dynamically, the M3 is a very impressive machine. If we didn't like the ride so much, we could at least forgive that because the handling, steering and braking more than compensated. Both feel and steering response were as good as you would expect and the handling was agreeably close to neutral, but even with some provocation, there was no hint that the IRS would allow the tail to break loose on a trailing throttle.

Weight transfer could be felt, but through the movement of the body, rather than the rear suspension. It's a very safe car in this respect. The car will bog down in damp corners that are a bit tighter as the stability control does its thing and some understeer was encountered on one wet corner. Despite taking the M3 on a very tight and winding descent, the brakes maintained their composure completely.

During night driving, the adaptive xenons were great. They really are the duck's guts on typical Aussie country roads. There's a good spread of light and, on high beam, they follow the road precisely as the car corners.

At a steady cruising speed, tyres were the principal source of NVH. The M3 was very quiet where wind was concerned and, for all the engine's aural attention-seeking, it too was quiet as the grave at a steady speed.

By the time the Carsales Network handed back the M3, it had averaged 14.3L/100km, which has to be viewed in the context of how much -- completely responsible -- hooning you can accomplish in a car like this over the course of a week.

And that in itself probably speaks volumes for the M3.

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