Nostalgia is a powerful emotional force, especially now that lockdown has made any expedition beyond the end of the driveway feel like an exotic adventure. Objective analysis often proves the old days weren't quite as good as our rose-tinted memories would have them, but it's hard not to look at the era of the E92 M3 as a time when the levels of good and got came closest to being equal.
It was a different time, of course. Back in 2007 watching movies at home still came with the irksome requirement to load DVDs into a player, and when digital music had to be laboriously downloaded track-by-track. Most of the current generation of internet stars were still filling nappies rather than YouTube, although the quality of much of their output was to a similar standard. But it was also an era when it made perfect sense to cram a V8 into what was, at the time, the most junior BMW M-car.
Manufacturers were competing not just on power outputs, but also cylinder counts. Previous Pills have celebrated many exponents of this genre of too-much, including the V10 powered M5 and M6. But this is our first ever M3, an attractive example of an early E92 complete with its 4.0-litre 420hp V8.
Launched in 2007, the E92 was very much in the spirit of the age. Audi had introduced the V8 powered B7-generation RS4 the previous year, and Mercedes would join the club with the first C63 AMG in 2008. But even in such distinguished company the M3 proved itself to be something truly special, thanks to the combination of a brilliant engine with a superb chassis.
Not that contemporary road testers were instantly won over. Like Porsche 911s, new M3s often seem to receive a cooler initial response than the glowing posterity might lead you to expect. A fair number of early E92 reviews reckoned the increase in firepower and tech had come at the expense of the purity that defined the E46 M3, some even reckoned it was a bit numb or short on emotional appeal. Yet it was hard for any of the critics to deny that the new car was a massive step forward given the increase in power, optional switchable dampers and even a carbon fibre roof to help lower the centre of gravity. It was launched as a manual, but a clever new twin-clutch DCT auto gearbox was soon offered as an option, this being a vast improvement over the E46 M3's boorish single-clutch robo-box.
But the new engine was the starring feature. This 'S65' 4.0-litre was closely related to the 5.0-litre V10 that had already appeared in the M5 and M6, and possessed a similar 'chew your arm off' appetite for revs. Peak power came at 8,300rpm - the same as the Honda S2000 that's often cited as the poster child for the era's screaming naturally aspirated engines. The V8 also felt more willing than the M5 or M6 lower down, given both a lower 3,900rpm torque peak and a much nicer gentle use soundtrack, without the V10's gravelly harmonics. Despite the extra muscle and displacement the compact new V8 weighed 15kg less than the E46's straight six. It was a remarkable piece of engineering.
The other side of the handling balance had been given a correspondingly serious tweak, with a substantial increase in mechanical grip. Behind this the all-important M-car chassis balance remained, the M3 having both a front end as faithful as an old collie and a rear axle that could easily be turned as playful as a Labrador puppy. Very few cars can offer such an easy and unscary introduction to the black art of power oversteer as an E92 M3. While the turbocharged F82 M4 that followed was faster again, it was less fun to pedal hard than the V8 car.
The E92/ E90 M3's biggest problem turned out not to be one of its own making, rather the arrival of global financial meltdown. Strong early sales rapidly tailed off as recession bit, with UK registrations halving between 2007 and 2008. (That's why a disproportionate number of cars are, like our Pill, from the first year of production.) As cars began to accumulate miles and years a more serious mechanical issue also emerged, with some unfortunate owners suffering catastrophic engine failure.
This was the oft-documented rod bearing issue, one shared with the V10 engined M5 and M6. The motor was a victim of tight tolerances and the specified use of gloopy 10W-60 oil - a grade more commonly restricted to top-end supercars. If the engine wasn't brought up to full operating temperature before the sort of hard use M3 buyers were likely to mete out was delivered it could suffer from heavy wear and, ultimately, expensive self destruction. (James D gives a more comprehensive explanation of the issue and costs of mitigating it in this PH Fleet update on his E90 M3.)
The problem for anyone considering a used example of the E92 was an obvious one: even if they planned to warm it as lovingly as a baby's bottle there was no evidence that the previous owner had treated it with such care.
Which is why our Pill could be a particularly smart choice. For the most part it's a typical early example, finished like so many of its siblings in silver and with a 120,000-mile odometer that looks leggy compared to most of the alternatives. While it's one of the cheapest in the classifieds - £12,495 being pretty compelling for the amount of performance on offer - prices of less loved examples often fall into four figures elsewhere.
So what marks it out? Simple: the selling dealer's claim - easily verified - that it has had both a single owner from new and a main dealer service history. The very fact it's managed to travel so far seems eloquent evidence of either being driven with an appropriate level of respect, expensive repair - or possibly both.
While the PH advert doesn't have any images of the interior, there are some on the dealer's website, confirming it has equally inoffensive black leather and that, barring the loss of some of the soft-touch material on the steering wheel, it seems as smart as the outside. It's also wearing a matching set of reassuringly proper Continental tyres. The MOT history reveals advisories for tyres and suspension components in the past, plus a single fail for a leaking exhaust, but it does nothing to dispel the impression that this is a car that's been looked after as the miles have wound on.
E92 M3 prices haven't bottomed out, and the wider implications of the COVID crisis may well push them considerably further along with the wider market. But we're already at the stage where they overlap heavily with the asking prices for nicer (or at least shinier) examples of the E46 M3. The earlier car will always be a PH favourite, occupying one of the nicer garages on our Mount Olympus, but there's nothing wrong with a preference for the glorious V8. It's hard to think of a better riposte to the idea of downsizing.
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