2008 BMW M3

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2008 BMW M3 Buzz Station

Never mind the all-wheel-drive Audi RS4, the eight-speed Lexus IS-F or the 457-horsepower Mercedes C63 AMG. Not to worry, says BMW. While the competition squabbles for buyers, the German automaker has much bigger kill in its sights for its new V8-powered 2008 BMW M3 — the iconic Porsche 911.

If the new BMW M3 can make would-be Carrera buyers think twice, the downstream luxury performance competition should be little more than an afterthought. But regardless of this ambitious goal, BMW is going to need to do some serious bar-raising if its M3 is to keep its flag planted in the hyper-competitive segment.

We're not expecting this to be much of a problem. BMW's M Division has been hosting the world's performance party ever since the very first BMW M3 hit the road as a barely legal racecar back in 1986. But there's still the argument: Is the 2008 BMW M3 the best M car ever?

The M3 Concept released at the 2007 Geneva Auto Show offered more than a hint to how the company intends to do it. Indeed it was the hit of the show. And the concept car has proven to be practically identical to the prototypes we caught testing at the Nürburgring and braving the blazing heat in Death Valley, California, as well as the car you'll be able to pick up at the dealer.

The high-strung inline-6 that has powered the M3 since 1994 has been booted in favor of an all-new 4.0-liter 420-hp V8. The new engine tachs out at 8,300 rpm, features eight individual throttle bodies and cranks out 295 pound-feet of torque at just 3,000 rpm. That pushes the 3,649-pound car to 100 km/h (62 mph) in just 4.8 seconds.

We found that to be more than enough performance when we drove a 2008 BMW M3 across Spain along with an Audi R8, Audi RS4, Porsche 911 GT3 and VW Golf GTI. It was a shoot-out of ultimate performance meets ultimate usability, and the M3 proved its pedigree.

In an exclusive interview with BMW M Gmbh Vice President Gerhard Richter, we learned that saying good-bye to the legendary inline-6 was "not so easy." But Richter went on to say that "...the old engine had reached its limits. We had to develop an all-new engine and it made sense to design a V8."

BMW intends for the M3 to once again do business in four-door guise, releasing the M3 sedan in the fall of 2008. Though the coupe is currently only available with a six-speed manual transmission, the sedan will bring BMW's long-awaited dual-clutch automated sequential manual gearbox to market in North America. Headlights lifted from the coupe and a bevy of M5-esque styling cues will differentiate an M3 sedan from a lowborn 3 Series.

But wait, that's not all — concept sketches verified the company's plans to build a convertible M3, and we've since caught the very car testing at, you guessed it, the Nürburgring. Like the 335ci, the M3 convertible will use a retractable hardtop to protect occupants from the elements.

The new M3 may not shake the 911 from its foundation, but at around $60,000, you should feel like you hit the lottery and are shopping on Black Friday when you buy your M3 in America — the same car fetches $101,265 in the U.K.

It's about time.