Thursday 6th September 2012

New M3 spied at the Nurburgring

See (and hear!) BMW's latest M car in testing

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The next BMW M3 will be turbocharged, and now you can hear it pop, bellow and bangits way around the Nürburgring in the video below. It would seem that BMW have taken criticism of the dull-sounding F10-model M5 and M6 to heart.

Based on the new F30 chassis, the next-generation M3 drops the big V8 motor for a smaller capacity straight-six. After the in-line six success of the E36 and E46 M3s, that alone is great news for the BMW M purists. The addition of a turbocharger may not be.

Brakes get a workout in circa 8-minute lap!

You can be the judge, but we think the video below shows that the Bavarians are working hard on creating a real exhaust note for the new motor. That's a challenge for any emissions-abiding turbo motor, as the energy that creates the howl of a nice exhaust note is the same energy that's often sapped by the turbine blades.

In the photos you can also make out the typically bulging M3 arches, as well as some lovely four-pot brake calipers on the front, and some seriously over-heated rear brake discs.

While waiting for the M3 to buzz past my hiding place at the Karussell, I also started the laptimer on my phone. He was back only 8min 30sec later, which will have included a stop-start and a crawl through the pitlane at T13. Impressive.

The new M3 should be revealed at the Geneva Motor Show and will go on sale 2014. If you do want to hear the sound of naturally-aspirated straight-six perfection, check out the M3CSLs in the classifieds now.

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[Nano2nd]

i hope its not saloon only!

[tomoleeds]

it is a way of not getting the car noticed

[Exige77]

I think the Coupe will be the M4.

Ex77

[TheForceV4]

Isnt the Coupe version going to be badged the M4? or is that not happening anymore?

[GTRene]

to me it sounds like the engine has to work to hard in a " heavy" car...?

[TheForceV4]

Exige77 said:

I think the Coupe will be the M4.

Ex77

Sorry posted at the same time there!

Will the saloon be released before the coupe then do you know? Will the overall shape of the two be decidedly different like the E92?

[Mermaid]

The E30 M3 & the E46 M3 CSL engine sound so wonderful.

[StottyZr]

Sounds bloody loud! Pretty good though. I hope that isn't how its going to look though, a bit boring.

[TheForceV4]

Sorry, also is it just me or does it have a VERY M5esque silhouette?

[Cupradan]

Not keen on the colour scheme

[tomellingham]

Link to the CSL isn't working for me....

[Krikkit]

Definitely like that - the shape is pretty nice, in the right colour it will be rather handsome I think.

Also nice to see that the criticisms of the M5 have perhaps been noted - anything to make it sound like a real car!

[Mermaid]

tomellingham said:

Link to the CSL isn't working for me....

Here's one for sound.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qUnkkV693A&fea...

[LouD86]

Bloomin heck I like the way that sounds!!! I cant afford one, but may have to aquire one for a weekend if they sound anything like that!

[Luca Brasi]

Doesn't sound too bad, seriously doubt it will sound like that on the actual car though.

[mat205125]

Nano2nd said:

i hope its not saloon only!

The coupe version of the 3 series hasn't been the attractive derivative since the E46.

I too hope its not saloon only ...... I hope they do an estate as well!!!

[philmots]

I reckon it could be a manual car too. Gear changes don't sound instant like a DCT system.

[S3000]

i liked the sound of the prototyp.. i doubt it will be on the standart car.

[anonymous-user]

StottyZr said:

I hope that isn't how its going to look though, a bit boring.

There are three things certain in life. 1. You will die. 2. You will pay taxes. 3. Someone will call a camouflaged car on PH 'boring'.

Absolutely brilliant, a camouflaged car is supposed to look boring.

[MIP1983]

Is it bad if brake disks go blue? Or is that just temporary while they're hot?