Mpowering the people

The new BMW M3 is now available in India.

Yes, the Auto Expo news more or less revolved around the Tata Nano. But behind the tiny Tata were other big stories, like this one. With a lovely white specimen on stage, BMW took the wraps off the M3.

And before anyone could accuse BMW of showing thrilling cars without any realistic possibility of the adoring public getting any closer than the velvet ropes that cordoned them off, they launched it. This means you, or anyone with the right amount of money, can walk into a BMW showroom and buy himself an M3 "" just like that.

What we have here is a story that began in 1985. BMW unveiled the first M3 at the Frankfurt Motor Show in that year. Here was a car that looked very close to normal, and was most certainly as practical as any car in its class.

But, the engineers had been at it. The car also happened to possess extremely refined handling, a clear, sporty intent and an engine that had performance which far exceeded what would constitute normal in its class. It was a delicious combination which, not surprisingly, went down very well indeed.

The enthusiasts loved it and the M3, in effect, created its own category of car, a category that it still arguably dominates. And now, the fourth generation of this rather historic, extremely enjoyable sports car is here on sale, in India.

At the moment, you will have to settle for a coupe, but the sedan and convertible versions are to follow. Rs 74 lakh is the launch price and at the moment, you can only buy the manual gearbox-equipped one in India. The much awaited dual clutch version hits our shores in March. Deliveries can take a month, mind you.

Your gumption will get you a smoking hot BMW, with a rather pronounced aerodynamic body kit and that lovely power bump on the bonnet. Under the bump is a motor that is eager to please, with plenty of impressive traits.

The 3999cc V8 makes 420 bhp, which makes it among the most powerful cars on sale in India today. The redline is a very un-car-like 8400 rpm. Of course, with 40 kgm of torque at 3900 rpm, and as much as 85 per cent of that available from 2000 rpm to 8400 rpm, you won't need to rev it unless you want to. Trust us, you will want to. The engine is a proper 105 bhp per litre job, and incorporates variable valve timing.

The massive, shrieking, normally aspirated power is transferred to the road by a BMW M division-fettled six-speed manual gearbox, with a variable M differential.

The torque sensing differential can direct all of the power to either of the rear wheels, depending on which one has the grip to use it. To you it means effortless, eye-opening performance, even if the ground is a bit slimy.

In that kind of a hurry, the M3 will tick off the 100 kph mark in just 4.8 seconds and keep up the head rush until it finally crashes into the electronic speed limiter which cuts in at 248 kph.

Among the gizmos is what BMW calls EfficientDynamics, a braking energy recharge system. Of course, this shouldn't take anything away from the performance "" the system disconnects the alternator from the engine under acceleration, so that there is no drain when power is really needed.

Weight is always a good thing to have less of in a fast car, right? The M3 has, of course, a carbon fibre-reinforced plastic roof (22 kg lighter than steel) and a lightweight engine (15 kg lighter than the old six-pot in the last M3!). The entire crankshaft only weighs 20 kg, and there's lots of aluminium in places where you don't expect it "" like the suspension, which is why it saves around 10 kg over the stock units.

The M3 Coupe also has the M Driver Manager, which allows you to set up the dampers (normal, extra-cushy and sporty-sporty), three levels of traction control and three engine control maps.

If you're really a nerd (and a whiz behind the wheel) you could also fiddle with the power steering response rates. All of this can be memorised, of course, so you can revert to any of the settings you need. Yes, sort of like the Need For Speed games. Then there is MDynamic, which essentially sedates the electro-nannies a bit.

Thus the car suddenly allows greater slide angles, before the traction control and stability control wake up and smell the burning rubber.

BMW, of course, says that the system actually helps getaways from standing still in snowy or icy conditions, and the extra opposite lock on offer is purely coincidental. But we all know which side they're leaning towards, right? Besides, if you really wanted to, the M3 allows you to give the nanny the evening off.

To handle that kind of performance, the Michelin tyres on the car were specifically created for the M3. They are shod on recognisable 18-inch alloy wheels, under which you can see the massive 360 mm front discs and 340 mm rear dinner plates.

The brakes dry themselves, and when your foot comes off the accelerator suddenly, they pre-tension the callipers to shave stopping distances. This car can stop from 100 kph in a mere 34 metres. And lest you think that the M3 is just a hopped up 3 Series, BMW clarifies that while the silhouette is similar, the M3 is actually 80 per cent, by parts, all new.

Only the underlying structure, doors, windows, bootlid and lights are carried on to the M. The rest is all bespoke, lighter and new.

Inside, there are deep sporty seats for the lucky duo in the front, with heavy bolsters to keep them in place when cornering hard. The rear seats are also comfortable and there's a storage binnacle of sorts between them. There's also a full-size boot, of course.

So, if you're tired of having the money and nothing to spend it on, here's a worthy cause. This is a practical car that will behave like a normal one in almost any situation "" but with a power bump that tells everyone it's got Popeye's forearms when needed, and with the power, handling and glorious history to turn the sweet ride up to the mountain home into one worthy of a cherished memory.

Just remember one thing. The cognoscenti don't call this the M3 "" they call it the E92 (the first M3 was the E30, followed by the E36, then the E46 and now the E92).

That's the internal designation for the latest M3 "" the most powerful M3 in history, the first one with a V8, the first one with adjustable suspension in street trim, the first one with fuel economy and emissions related gizmoids and, according to BMW, the fastest ECU in any production car "" 200 million calculations per second.

Whatever anyone else wants to call it, however, we have only one thing to say "" awesome!