The new M3 dissapoints again, this time for Edmunds

What car are they comparing the new M3 to the Ferrari F430?

no the Audi RS4

No surprise. BMW has consistently been going down the drain. The new Lexus IS-F will be the new king once it's out.

The IS-F is too cartoonish in styling to be serious. No doubt the power is there, but I doubt the chassis and handling will be on par with M, RS or the C63. Besides, hold your fire until there are some reviews out there.

I am suprised Lexus/Toyota is using the F moniker for thier high performance line. I would be embarrassed about reminding everyone how uncompetitive and unremarkable thier other F-line cars are, thier F-1 cars that is.

david you sound like the amazingidiot of Lexus

I'm not gonna read this. I could care less about the reviews said here. I'd rather get behind the wheel and try it out before making judgements about this review.

why do people keep saying the M3 is getting bad reviews the reviews arent bad at all they are just saying the new m3 isnt as raw and hard edged as the last m3, now every mag will say the e46 m3 is the best of the m3's but if anyone remembers when the then new e46 m3 was released mags criticized it for losing its edge when compared to the previous m3, the same goes for the regular 3 series models. each generation of the M3 seems to move further away from being a street racer and more a high performance gt, the 911 was the new M3's target, and the fact that the csl version is already in the works shows BMW is making one gt M3 and one M3 for the people that want something more raw and hard edged

What i find interesting is that the previous gen M3 was Nice & Round & Organic in its Shape & Packaging, Only its quad exhausts really gave away its potential while its parked on the streets and yet it was a monster.

This one is all Lumps & Vents and details to let you know how AARD it's supposed to be and yet it is not as raw and as hard edged as the outgoing model.
(I did not mis-spell AARD, its a more serious spelling for Hard)

One of the many reasons the outgoing mode did so well was that Stock Brokers & Estate Agents & Footballers & Well to do Street Pharmacists alike could drive it without looking too Chaav, It somehow managed to look comfortable in any location; Car park on Fleet Street, Canary Wharf, Charlton Football Club or Peckham.

This one i fear will look out of place in Canary Wharf or Fleet Street. it is trying too hard in my opinion. RS4 Cab has a much more understated look for anyone who does not wish to scream "look at me, i have a high performance version of what you have"

"why do people keep saying the M3 is getting bad reviews the reviews arent bad at all they are just saying the new m3 isnt as raw and hard edged as the last m3, now every mag will say the e46 m3 is the best of the m3's but if anyone remembers when the then new e46 m3 was released mags criticized it for losing its edge when compared to the previous m3, the same goes for the regular 3 series models. each generation of the M3 seems to move further away from being a street racer and more a high performance gt, the 911 was the new M3's target, and the fact that the csl version is already in the works shows BMW is making one gt M3 and one M3 for the people that want something more raw and hard edged"

That is correct, as I stated before the previous M3 at first got pretty bad reviews too. Just give BMW some time to fine-tune the car a bit more.

wow, some of you folks are so quick to judge a car you've never driven, sat in, or even seen in person. "The reviews are bad for the M3, the new C63 is better, blah blah blah..." People, they're not bad reviews. Every review has said the car is an amazing performer (nice of GermanNut and the rest of the posters to leave those details out). What they DO say is the car isn't as hardcore as the old one was, and while that might disappoint a few people the fact of the matter is this will make the car appeal to a broader spectrum of buyers. You want hardcore? Great, here's a CSL. Or even a 135i, which will be about as "pure" a BMW as you can get. The new M3 will attract a lot of clients who would have originally said "too racy, too stiff" and bought the Mercedes the last time around. And again while it might be dialed down a notch I'm guessing the new M3 still is more responsive and sharper than the other cars in the class. And as for the new C63 being "better", not one review has said that. The reviews have all been positive for the C63, which I'm happy for, but again if you read them they all say it's generally because of how much better the C63 is versus the C55, and that AMG might finally have an M3 competitor, but they're still using the M3 as the benchmark. It's easy to make huge leaps forward when you're so far back in the first place, it's a lot more difficult when you're already leading the pack. These reviews don't say the M3 isn't still leading it, they basically just say the new C is better than the old one and the M3 is different than they expected.

Oh, and GermanNut, you'll be happy to know that DSC can now be fully disabled on all stickshift M5's and M6's. The 2008's come that way now, the 2007's just need a software update.

JROB - M3's are by far the most widely seen of any S/RS - M - or AMG. Why would they need to appeal to more drivers. Most of the people who own them now already don't know how to really exploit the car - and they have no intention to. Come to NY - an M3 is a dime a dozen almost.

competition has caught up with the m3 along with little miss direction in engineering and huge miss direction in design. i dont think purists who wants stick shift would opt for c63. so to say people would complain that m3 is too raw and opt for c63 is just not true. the fact is e46 m3 outdid 996, people would expect with v8, it should have provided the type of feedback that betters 997's driving experience. so far from both uk and us tests, v8 m3 cant manage 911.

A round of applause for you sir. Well said.

i think the M engineers have clearly leaved some space for the CSL.
and i also think the true competition will be:
C63 vs M3 vs S4. and AMG vs M3CSL vs Rs4,

about the black series... ... i cant think about one... ...

good point, that maybe the case this time around

Well C63 is the AMG version of the car, why split it in two? It's just one car, one single car: Mercedes Benz C63 AMG. You are going crazy trying to defeat the poor little baby M3. The new M3 will have it's fights against the C63 AMG and against the RS4/5. And as you can already see it's losing it. For the first time the M3 is heavier than the Audi (or at the same weight) and that says it all: not winning anymore. Still, don't feel bad, BMW has an outstanding car in it's own league, the 335i. It's just not the race track master anymore.

the BMW M3 is a stunner, if the BMW M3 upgraded to 450hp it might be faster M5 and M6 , it helps to sell your more expensive cars as the fastest. ( The BMW M3 CSL , and M6 CSL are in the works and will be more track focused and faster. The 6- speed manual which is good is looks like carry over the M5 manual, it is not new, The M3 is hot a bargain for $60,000, still looks good.

If I need a race track car ONLY I can always jump in a Corvette. Will kick anybody's ass for much less $$$ than ANY competition (including CSL).

Again, as the price, power and class shows, the M3 will compete against the C64 AMG and RS4/5. CSL M3 is always limited, ultra expensive and heavy track oriented. Don't tell the CSL will try to compete with the AMG cause it will win at the track, but on any other level it will loose. The AMG is always a fast BUT ALSO comfortable machine. So if anyone tries to compare an everyday car (AMG) to the race track car (CSL) is wrong from the start. Also, the RS4 is a really decent daily drive, with the same comfort as an standard A4 (since it's active/auto suspension can be very comfortable and soft when not driven at limits).

The CSL is going to be as rare as the Black Series - let's stick to the "stock" versions please.

I wonder if the BMW M3 is better than the 335i, only if the steering and transmission on the M3 can match the 335i which has been called is the best per dollar value car in the world.

I honestly think buying an 335i and moding it can be much more pleasant job/results than buying the M3. Just chip the 335i and you get over 400hp for $1k. Add suspension and a differential and you have the M3 for way less..

BMW's M3. The perfect car for that impressionable 20 something i-banker who thinks it will buy him brownie points in the eyes of his MD for making a sound acquisition, clearly demonstrating extensive market research for vehicles with a winning heritage. And though the car will never see the striped rumble pads, it will see plenty of cruising duty in the Ivy league alumnis' attempts to drop panties while yelling out "BEEE EEEEMM DOUBLE YUUU" to semi-drunk interns outside the local college-town bar. What he lacks in girth, the M3 makes up with instant ego gratification through a button labeled "sport", though the mechanics behind what it does is a mystery to the driver. And despite being in the lower-echlons of the baller-status associates list of vehicles, the M3 trumps any car on any track because it is, as they say, the ultimate driving machine.

JRobUSC

Well said.

And as for now, arent there any track numbers? Because Im sure it will outhandle the competition. You just wait and see, and I cant wait for the CSL to be a 911 turbo EATER.

Yes but the CSL was and will be a limited production car. The regular M3 has been tuned softer then the previous one because BMW wants to appeal to more buyers. The M3 is a slightly more performance oriented car then the 335I now. In terms of performance it is better but not by very much. The previous M3 had a larger performance gap between it and the regular 3. There is nothing wrong with this marketing strategy. However for those that were expecting a Porsche coupe for 4 I would wait for the Panamera.

Of course with every review of any car from any journalism source, it is most fitting to determine that one should test-drive a vehicle in person before basing your entire opinions on an editorial of someone else's experience with the vehicle. However, I find it shameful that most here seem to throw all of that reasoning out the window whenever a Lexus is being reviewed. This makes me wonder: what is the purpose of any automotive review at all?

First I wouldn't say that the M3 was a dissapointment to Edmunds. Some of the issues are that the M3 just didn't overwhelm like the older ones did. (The only car I personally drove that handled better was the Porsche Boxster). The M3 does not leap over the Audi RS4 which is three years old and it does not have a big enough cushion between itself and the 335...As far as those who say it's been made less hard edged to appeal to more appeal....I thought that was the point of buying an M car!?!?! The CSL is hardly going to be readily available. Reality check - the M3 as expected is a great car...it just doesn't push the proverbial bar the way it used to.