Motor Australia — January 2018

28 january 2018 motormag.com.au

BMW M3 Pure

Price cut puts iconic four-door in a new light

LIKE A fine wine or cheese, the BMW

F80 M3 is getting better with age.

Unlike a fine wine or cheese, though,

you don’t have to pay a premium to

enjoy it – quite the opposite, in fact.

The M3, and its M4 two-door twin,

hasreceivedthe‘Pure’treatment,first

introduced on the previous-generation

E92 M3 and has since rolled out across

the M5 and M2.

Essentially, BMW Australia deletes

a bunch of equipment and slashes

the price, in this instance to a faintly

ludicrous $129,900 ($139,900 for the

M4). Remember this is a car that cost

$156,900 when it was introduced in

July 2014. The good news continues, as

none of the deleted kit is anything you

really need; you lose leather upholstery

and heated seats, the flash Harman

Kardon stereo, adaptive LED headlights

and high-beam assist. That’s it.

This is no stripped-out bargain-

basement special. Some may baulk at

thelackofleather,butthecombination

leather/cloth seats look and feel great

and it’ll otherwise take a trainspotter to

notice you’ve bought the ‘cheap’ M3.

Even better is BMW’s decision to

retain the Competition Pack for Pure

models. The suspension and diff

revisions definitely improve the M3’s

handling and composure and the

Competition’s ride quality penalty can

be nullified by sticking with the Pure’s

standard 19-inch rims, which to my

eyes look much better than the GTS-

like 20s anyhow.

Ask for Continental ContiSports

rather than Michelin Pilot Super Sports

and what you might lose in ultimate

racetrack performance you’ll gain in

more predictable responses and much-

improved wet-weather performance

on the road. Thus equipped, the Pure is

arguably the sweetest road-going M3

while retaining the super-sharp front

end and love of oversteer that makes it

First Fang

ENGINE 2979cc inline-6cyl, DOHC, 24v, twin-turbo / POWER 331kW @ 7300rpm / TORQUE 550Nm @ 1800rpm / WEIGHT 1560kg / 0-100KM/H 4.0sec (claimed) / PRICE $129,900

by SCOTT NEWMAN

New. Fast. Driven.

such an exhilarating drive.

The Competition tweaks also give

the 3.0-litre twin-turbo straight-six

a more sporting voice, something

you’ll notice more than the extra (but

welcome) 14kW. It’s still not a tuneful

noise, but it is aggressive, a serrated

growl with lots of burbles once you lift

off the throttle and unless your daily

driver is a 911 Turbo, it’s difficult to

imagine anyone stepping out of an M3

wanting more performance.

In fact, this level of grunt is virtually

unheard of at this price point. If this

package was the regular M3’s $141,610

it would be impressive – at $130K it’s a

steal. It almost gives BMW a problem;

it’s tough to imagine anyone forking

out extra for a normal M3 when the

Pure offers more performance for less,

and when you can equip an M4 Pure

with carbon brakes and Cup tyres for

a total outlay of less than $160K the

more exclusive, but less practical CS

struggles to justify its premium.

The F80 M3 is in the twilight of

its career – a new M3 is expected in

2019 – but BMW’s constant process of

refinement (not to mention discounts)

has made it tastier than ever.M

Like

Crazy performance

for the price

STAR RATING

Dislike

Steering still iffy;

challenging in

slippery conditions

4.5