Although I know tons of folks adore the current-gen BMW M3 with its burly V8, to me, it's just not doing the trick for me. Now, I am putting my flame suit on.
One of my favorite things I found while driving the BMW 1M was its brilliant sound from the motor as well as its exhaust. That was a properly done BMW. With its inline six at wide-open throttle, it remind me a lot of a 997 Carrera S with the optional sport exhaust.
When I was testing the vehicle, my passenger was an industry-known Porschephile. When I mentioned "Hey, this sounds a bit like a C2S, no" he quickly said "Absolutely, it's great!"
My point about this little anecdote is that we all know the next-gen M3 will be equipped with a six-cylinder motor. But how will it sound, exactly? After listening to this clip, I think it's headed in the same direction as the 1M with a much more Porschelike sound.
To this guy, it really doesn't get much better than that.
The next BMW M3 will be turbocharged, and now you can hear it pop, bellow and bang its way around the Nürburgring in the video below. It would seem that BMW have taken criticism of the dull-sounding F10-model M5 and M6 to heart.
Based on the new F30 chassis, the next-generation M3 drops the big V8 motor for a smaller capacity straight-six. After the in-line six success of the E36 and E46 M3s, that alone is great news for the BMW M purists. The addition of a turbocharger may not be.
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