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November 11, 2008 http://www.thecarconnection.com/fullreview/bmw_m3_2002

  TheCarConnection Team
 TheCarConnection Team

There is nothing much nice about the M3 Coupe. Its very stance is disrespectful. The striated gills behind each front wheel look like sociopathic tattoos on overdeveloped shoulders. The 18-inch wheels, with their wide, sinewy tires, are poised to deliver the swift kick. When the M3 Coupe is prodded to speak with a turn of the ignition key, its snarl is so vicious you expect flecks of spittle to froth from the tailpipes.

BMW's M3 Coupe is so thoroughly un-nice that it ranks as one of the best cars in the world. It is so ferocious, so fiercely efficient in its skills, so frightening for the unwary, that the owner of a BMW M3 Coupe has to feel lucky that such a car is on his side and not arrayed against him. On civilized city streets, the M3 Coupe is as fearsome as one of antiquity's Scythian horsemen who collected the heads of enemies for trophies.

Heart of the matter

There is nothing dated about the M3 Coupe, however. The 2002 M3 Coupe boasts one of the automobile world's most magnificent and technically accomplished engines and drivetrains. At the heart of the matter is the car's in-line six-cylinder motor that displaces 3.2 liters, sports twin overhead cams, uses a separate throttle for each cylinder and delivers 333 horsepower at a stratospheric 7900 rpm.

To do this, the engine deploys BMW's exclusive double-VANOS variable valve timing that optimizes combustion over a fully graduated rpm range. (In other words, there is no longer a two-stage power "jump" that M3 aficionados remember from before 2001.) The M3 now features BMW's highest compression ratio in North America: 11.5:1. Its exhaust headers are made from hydroformed stainless steel, and they terminate in free-flowing backpipes and resonators that crack the air with savage barks at each stroke of the accelerator.

In mere mortals' hands, it would be virtually impossible to master the M3's brutal acceleration without additional wizardry from BMW. After all, this is a car that can condense a sprint from zero to 60 mph into just 4.8 seconds. BMW's computerized Dynamic Stability Control integrates the car's anti-lock braking system with wheelspin-reducing traction control and slip/slide reducing cornering capability. The result is a genuine expression of true sports performance with an authentic Formula 1 racing pedigree. Even so, the M3 Coupe is less remarkable for its sheer prowess than for its ability to cohabit agreeably with lesser cars and constricted streets of the mundane world.

There is nothing much nice about the M3 Coupe. Its very stance is disrespectful. The striated gills behind each front wheel look like sociopathic tattoos on overdeveloped shoulders. The 18-inch wheels, with their wide, sinewy tires, are poised to deliver the swift kick. When the M3 Coupe is prodded to speak with a turn of the ignition key, its snarl is so vicious you expect flecks of spittle to froth from the tailpipes. BMW's M3 Coupe is so thoroughly un-nice that it ranks as one of the best cars in the world. It is so ferocious, so fiercely efficient in its skills, so frightening for the unwary, that the owner of a BMW M3 Coupe has to feel lucky that such a car is on his side and not arrayed against him. On civilized city streets, the M3 Coupe is as fearsome as one of antiquity's Scythian horsemen who collected the heads of enemies for trophies. Heart of the matter There is nothing dated about the M3 Coupe, however. The 2002 M3 Coupe boasts one of the automobile world's most magnificent and technically accomplished engines and drivetrains. At the heart of the matter is the car's in-line six-cylinder motor that displaces 3.2 liters, sports twin overhead cams, uses a separate throttle for each cylinder and delivers 333 horsepower at a stratospheric 7900 rpm. To do this, the engine deploys BMW's exclusive double-VANOS variable valve timing that optimizes combustion over a fully graduated rpm range. (In other words, there is no longer a two-stage power "jump" that M3 aficionados remember from before 2001.) The M3 now features BMW's highest compression ratio in North America: 11.5:1. Its exhaust headers are made from hydroformed stainless steel, and they terminate in free-flowing backpipes and resonators that crack the air with savage barks at each stroke of the accelerator. In mere mortals' hands, it would be virtually impossible to master the M3's brutal acceleration without additional wizardry from BMW. After all, this is a car that can condense a sprint from zero to 60 mph into just 4.8 seconds. BMW's computerized Dynamic Stability Control integrates the car's anti-lock braking system with wheelspin-reducing traction control and slip/slide reducing cornering capability. The result is a genuine expression of true sports performance with an authentic Formula 1 racing pedigree. Even so, the M3 Coupe is less remarkable for its sheer prowess than for its ability to cohabit agreeably with lesser cars and constricted streets of the mundane world. There is nothing much nice about the M3 Coupe. Its very stance is disrespectful. The striated gills behind each front wheel look like sociopathic tattoos on overdeveloped shoulders. The 18-inch wheels, with their wide, sinewy tires, are poised to deliver the swift kick. When the M3 Coupe is ...