RE: The Long Read: BMW M3 CS

RE: The Long Read: BMW M3 CS

Saturday 14th July 2018

The Long Read | BMW M3 CS

24 hours (or so) with the run out F80 M3 - can it justify that extraordinary price tag?



10.42pm, Tuesday, Feltham

Really, the plan was simple: return from Aston DBS launch, get to Feltham, collect M3 CS, head to nearby Travelodge, drive as much of Wales as possible the next day. Because, let's face it, if you really liked F80 M3s (guilty) and someone said drive it for a day and write about it (thanks Nic), then what else would you do?

Even in the dark, even in Feltham and even when all you want is sleep, the CS grabs your attention. I love the DTM-style wheels (especially after the fussy Comp Pack items), the carbon accents, the gold calipers and the Alcantara where it should be inside. Nice.

There are certain things that always apply when driving any F80 M3, which most definitely still apply for the CS: getting the steering into Comfort mode ASAP and getting the powertrain out of Efficient are the most important. The few miles to the hotel pass without drama and like any other M3; nice seats, great wheel, pedals offset...


10.58pm, Heathrow T5 Travelodge

This isn't looking good. The Heathrow T5 Travelodge is absolutely jam packed and the car park unnervingly tight. Fabulous though the Frozen Dark Blue paint looks, I'd rather it stayed on the car and not the walls. A Leon driver applauds my "excellent driving" in getting out. There's still no parking. I want to go to bed. The M3 is abandoned out front.

11.15pm, Heathrow T5 Travelodge reception

There isn't a hotel room. Three of us have pre-paid rooms that have been given away, presumably on the assumption that we weren't going to turn up this late. Balls.

11.30pm, Heathrow T5 Travelodge car park

Now the fire alarm has gone off. Everyone is leaving the hotel in their pyjamas. I'm going home.


00.15am, Wednesday, M25 anti-clockwise, J11

Crikey, I'd forgotten how much road noise these M3s generate. This is with a smaller wheel on the front, too, which feels to have helped the steering. But not the noise. Wales is definitely off for the morning.

00.25am, A3 Northbound, junction with the M25

Is this really making just the 460hp? Perhaps I'm just weary, perhaps there's more weight gone than is admitted, but this CS is seriously potent. Really revs, too.


09.12am, Chez Bird

Right, let's try again. Bloody Travelodge. Plan is Silverstone via the Dream Drive route to see whether this CS really is the making of the M3, then to Alpina Sytner at Nottingham. Why? Because there's something special there that I want to see; another very rare, very fast car based on a 3 Series. But that's for later...

09.38am, Tesco Extra New Malden

I'm knackered; this is going to be a long day. I pull up the wrong side of the petrol pump. The cup holder is too big for the coffee. People are looking. Why do these stupid M cars always reset the drive modes?!

10.11am, M25 clockwise, probably J11 again

You know that south-western bit of the M25, where the surface is just terrible? The M3 does not like it. Every crack in the concrete resonates through the car, almost like BMW and surface are working together as an instrument of frustration. Despite the exhaust tweaks, it still sounds a bit dieselly at points. I'm up-to-date with my Radio 4 Comedy, Desert Island Discs and World Cup Time Machine podcasts. This looks bleak.


11.02am, Hemel Hempstead

Things are looking up: M25 becomes A41, and time for a McDonald's stop. I'm too late for breakfast but the way the CS carves through the entrance road means a missing McMuffin doesn't really matter. The front end (that was always a strong point of this generation) is more tenacious than ever, the grip greater and the rear more faithful than it's ever been. Good.

12.23pm, A413, Winslow

Now obviously the A413 between Aylesbury and Buckingham at lunchtime is not going to be deserted. That said, there's still a lot to learn about the CS here. The first is the composure here that eluded the early F80s in Britain. That's not just in suspension compliance and control (which is markedly improved), but also traction, be that in a lower gear or changing up with the more aggressive shifts. (The DCT is still near-flawless, since you're asking). The raggedness that could characterise an M3 in those situations has gone, but with the fierce edge certainly intact. I can't speak for a Giulia, but the C63 never feels this focused.


12.48pm, Lotus Silverstone

Time for a quick photo stop at Silverstone, because I'll bet many of us fell in love with M3s (or just the 3 Series) watching them in the BTCC. That's not going to happen with an M4, is it? There's another reason, too: Lotus Silverstone is here, and £86,425 buys an awful lot of Hethel sports car. Now I know it's not the most logical comparison, but then spending another £25k over a Comp Pack M3 for a car with an extra 10hp isn't exactly rational car purchasing either - thinking outside of the box is entirely valid. However good this CS looks (and I think it looks fantastic), it can't match the Signature Silver Evora 400 Silverstone has available for presence. It also has six cylinders, four seats (sort of) and costs £82,000 brand new. Interesting...

1.33pm, A413, Whittlebury

Now it all makes sense. On the other side of Silverstone the A413 is quieter and, quite frankly, I don't want to be driving anything else: not that Lotus, not another M3, not a 911. Finally there's an F80 you can have real confidence in, pushing the car and enjoying it rather than fearing reprisal. There's huge grip and poise, but always an indelible sense of rear-driveness - the relationship between throttle, Active M Diff and rear wheels feels spot on, with enough coming through that natty new seat for the driver to know what's going on. While not fundamentally different to an M3, the way the CS communicates its intentions (and keeps a lid on its wilder side) makes it tangibly more enjoyable to drive. You'll want Sport for the dampers (to eliminate the float that can come with Comfort), Sport Plus for the powertrain (to get the straight-six at its scalpel sharp best), steering in Comfort (though Sport and Sport Plus don't feel as bad as they used to) and M Dynamic Mode for the traction control. The latter in particular is expertly configured. You'll have a riot.


2.12pm, M1 near Lutterworth

Well on the way to Sytner Nottingham now, and the M3 CS and I are firm friends. Here's an M3 with the intensity, the potency and the ferociousness of any other, yet now properly harnessed and with the driver able to exploit it more freely. My lunch notes say "can kill you like any other M3; now doesn't feel like it actively wants to". Nottingham is less than an hour away. Road noise still annoying. Handily the Harmon Kardon stereo is great.

3.05pm, Sytner Nottingham

Alright, so perhaps comparing an £80k 3 Series with an £80k Lotus is unfair. So how about this instead? Lurking in the corner at Sytner is an Alpina B3 GT3, one of just five in the UK and a car described by Autocar a vehicle that "could be the best handling 3 Series of its generation." Despite actually having fewer miles on it than the press M3 CS, it's for sale at £65,000. I happen to think it looks marvellous too, just enough race car influence melding with Alpina subtlety to create something really handsome. Yes, it's new versus used, but again I think it's worth suggesting alternatives like this for the CS, as the price forces you to appraise it differently. Because it's hard to make much sense of an M3 at this money, isn't it? If there was time I might have swung by the Porsche dealership nearby, but there's a certain football game to watch...


3.40pm, A606, near Melton Mowbray

What football? On a clear stretch of A606 the CS feels right at home; while the biggest surprise might have come from its newfound B-road assurance, a fast(ish) and flowing A-road seems like prime M3 territory. Some straight-six howl has been rediscovered, the (optional) ceramic brakes are superb and the size feels good, too: sure, it's as tall and as wide as an E39 M5 now, the M3, but it's still a good chunk shorter. As the next 3 Series inevitably grows, this might be looked on more fondly. After all, how many people have you heard talking about beyond improvement an E39 is?

6.06pm, M25. Again.

Arse. Traffic. I'm not going to make kick off. Still, it's nice to see the CS receiving some positive attention, and it's of course as easy to drive as any other 3 Series on London's orbital motorway. An Evora would not be. Also, with the suspension in Comfort, the CS really squats down and rears its nose when accelerating - I like that.


7.04pm, Morden

Kieran Trippier has scored! And I'm still not home. Thank goodness for 5 Live.

7.20pm, Chez Bird parking

Made it back. In the car for at least eight hours today and far comfier than expected. But that's not important now, because football's coming home...


9.38pm, my sofa

Ah. Maybe it isn't. Still, that at least means we can focus on the M3. And despite all the positives, it's hard not to feel that BMW has shot themselves in the foot a bit with this one. See when the E46 M3 CS came out, it was known as the Competition Package in other markets, and that's what this car feels like. Probably as fabulous as that CS did in the mid-2000s, but - and this is the crucial difference - not as far removed from the base product as the price would imply. Really the current Competition Package should just be the base M3, with this car then representing the CS/Comp Pack/whatever-sub-GTS-name-BMW-wants just above it. At a car closer to £70k than beyond £80k this M3 would have ensured that the F80 generation departed with its head held high, boasting an immense driving experience that reasserts faith in BMW M. But in lining up against 911s and all manner of other rivals at nearly £90,000, the CS doesn't quite cut it, meaning it will remain a car for dedicated and deep-pocketed M enthusiasts only. Shame.

 

Author
Discussion

gstubbs010893

Original Poster:

22 posts

100 months

Saturday 14th July 2018
quotequote all
A good read Matt, think you've said what we all think though, not quite worth the money over a regular Comp Pack. For the money I'd have a standard Comp Pack and a stripped track car, pretty sure most would too.

CS does look the NUTS though.

HardMiles

313 posts

85 months

Saturday 14th July 2018
quotequote all
I really liked the honesty of the write up. It is a shame that any M3 is 80k now really, a bit silly for a swift saloon car. Don’t get me wrong I’m an enormous BMW fan, through and through. But if I had that sort of money it’d be ploughed into an e9 or another e10 (I miss you daily Brian), these are truly special cars. For a new one you’re so right to mention the Alpina. It gives an extra swathe of luxury for those funds BMW simply can’t match. I do hope the new M8 is a success, but I can just see it being a massively overpriced flop. Too many trinkets and not enough focus.

Ollieb7

365 posts

197 months

Saturday 14th July 2018
quotequote all
When you consider i got a year old 5k miles Comp pack M3 in manual registered 2 days before the increase in tax for £42k, £14k in @ 12k miles a year and £20k baloon after 4years at £310pm the CS really is very hard to justify and being auto only i would imagine it would be impossible to be more engaging. Love this car.

Mike335i

4,985 posts

101 months

Saturday 14th July 2018
quotequote all
Such a nice car in so many ways, yet only priced 'because they can'. I really wish BMW would go back to making humdrum cars that show up Porsches for a much lower price, rather than competing with on price.

This and the speculation market means that so many cars are now beyond the hands of so many of the real enthusiasts.

9k rpm

515 posts

209 months

Saturday 14th July 2018
quotequote all
Nice write up and looks fantastic in that colour.

Price appears very high for what it is but BMW isn’t shifting them at the sticker price and you can pick them up for a lot less. When did anyone ever pay advertised price for a new M car anyway?!

Think these will one day be going up in value but not in the short term.

JMF894

5,475 posts

154 months

Saturday 14th July 2018
quotequote all
Nice motor but all these different driving modes turn me off. Give me something I can just jump in and enjoy please.


Wills2

22,666 posts

174 months

Saturday 14th July 2018
quotequote all
JMF894 said:
Nice motor but all these different driving modes turn me off. Give me something I can just jump in and enjoy please.
You can preset your desired selections into the M1 and M2 buttons, one press and off you go.

I love the adjustability of my M3 it really gives it a dual personality you can waft along or have it as a rabid turbo nutter choice is yours at the press of a button.

The CS looks a great car, but for around £400 you can have the CS engine and damper flash applied to any LCI M3 slap on MP HAS kit and I doubt anyone would notice the difference.




RB5_245

72 posts

212 months

Saturday 14th July 2018
quotequote all
For £89k a GTR will walk all over this as a drivers car. If you want a 'nice' sporty car then my money is on a 911T.

I looked at an M4 before, but it's priced in the wrong league on this one.

HokumPokum

2,049 posts

204 months

Saturday 14th July 2018
quotequote all
i think people focus on the 10hp increase which is absolutely the wrong thing.

but,
1) the optional CCB are extra;
2)there isn't any special stripping of weight.
3)the interior isn't far off. ie seats and door cards and centre console is the same. sure u get the alcantara wheel but i rather not have alcantara for something that isn't a solely sunday drive.
4) the engine is the same and you don't get a light weight or more efficient exhaust , just louder.
5) what about bespoke suspension or dampers? nope, not even better bushings


given the above, it feels absolutely like a car with some extras thrown in with bodykit n wheels. i can't justify paying more.

I'd think seriously about getting the more focused wheels but where i'd spend my money is on 18" rims with AP brakes with potentially upgraded dampers.

no 1 of xxxx but a seriously good car.




Big GT

1,798 posts

91 months

Saturday 14th July 2018
quotequote all
There are better cars to chose from.

However if you do want a BMW then when the Alpina B3 and D3 are much more accomplished I cant understand (other than PCP deals) why people would chose a compromised M3.




Helicopter123

8,831 posts

155 months

Saturday 14th July 2018
quotequote all
RB5_245 said:
For £89k a GTR will walk all over this as a drivers car. If you want a 'nice' sporty car then my money is on a 911T.

I looked at an M4 before, but it's priced in the wrong league on this one.
GTR is very fast but too heavy and festooned with tech.

911T a good shout.

Or better still, a standard comp pack M3?

MitchT

15,788 posts

208 months

Saturday 14th July 2018
quotequote all
I like M cars but I wouldn't pay £90k for an M3 when the same would get me a 320i M Sport for weekdays and a Ferrari 360 for weekends.

BaronMcLaren

901 posts

148 months

Saturday 14th July 2018
quotequote all
Mike335i said:
Such a nice car in so many ways, yet only priced 'because they can'. I really wish BMW would go back to making humdrum cars that show up Porsches for a much lower price, rather than competing with on price.

This and the speculation market means that so many cars are now beyond the hands of so many of the real enthusiasts.
Go back to?

wab172uk

2,005 posts

226 months

Saturday 14th July 2018
quotequote all
So £90,000 for an M3.

With so many people more concerned with monthly PCP deals, is it little wonder the manufacturers are increasing the list price of cars.

For those of us who chose to either buy outright, of actually buy the car on finance, the ever increasing list price of cars is getting silly.

But, as more and more people live month by month with everything rented, the £90k asking price will be of little consequence. How much are the monthly payment? Can I afford it? New car sat on driveway.

No M3, RS4 etc are worth the kind of money being asked these day. But cheap credit puts me in a minority in my thinking.

corozin

2,680 posts

270 months

Saturday 14th July 2018
quotequote all
Buy a regular M3, spend a few grand at Birds and you'll have something a lot faster and still have the value of a Focus RS in your pocket as a saving.

RB5_245

72 posts

212 months

Saturday 14th July 2018
quotequote all
Helicopter123 said:
GTR is very fast but too heavy and festooned with tech.

911T a good shout.

Or better still, a standard comp pack M3?
The GTR was tech heavy 10years ago. These days with hydraulic steering and ‘old tech’ diffs and a clunky gearbox the thing feels positively analogue!

It’s grips better, goes faster, is more nimble despite the weight and gives better feedback than the M4. The M4 is a bit nicer inside and I’d quite like apple CarPlay. That’s about all it’s got going for it there.

Julian Thompson

2,489 posts

237 months

Saturday 14th July 2018
quotequote all
I recently had this choice to make - my dealer offered me a heavily supported M4CS against my one year old M4 comp manual. I’ve only done 1k Miles in the car - it’s not even had it’s running in service yet - so the £10k hit I would have taken on it was a big factor but even setting that aside the step up to the CS seemed enormous no matter how I tried to rationalise it. Losing my manual gearbox which I really enjoy was also a factor.

However, maybe we are missing the point - it’s not really about value it’s about whether you just have to have it. If I was a very wealthy man I’d have snapped up that CS in a heartbeat just because it’s a bit different from the one everyone else has. But unfortunately I have to be considered in my purchases and so it didn’t meet value requirements. I’m certain there are sufficient people with enough cash that it’s not a problem and I certainly would be very happy for them because the CS is a lovely thing :-)

Evolved

3,553 posts

186 months

Saturday 14th July 2018
quotequote all
RB5_245 said:
Helicopter123 said:
GTR is very fast but too heavy and festooned with tech.

911T a good shout.

Or better still, a standard comp pack M3?
These days with hydraulic steering and ‘old tech’ diffs and a clunky gearbox the thing feels positively analogue
You say that like it’s a bad thing..

RB5_245

72 posts

212 months

Saturday 14th July 2018
quotequote all
Evolved said:
You say that like it’s a bad thing..
Quite the opposite, I test drove both and bought a GTR. smile

richthebike

1,733 posts

136 months

Saturday 14th July 2018
quotequote all
MitchT said:
I like M cars but I wouldn't pay £90k for an M3 when the same would get me a 320i M Sport for weekdays and a Ferrari 360 for weekends.
But then you have to drive a 320 every day, not an M3. If you want a boring daily that's fine, but it isn't a valid comparison. Why not just get a Golf?