dillsrotary

Spied: 2009 BMW M3 Sedan - Car News

To thrill a larger back-seat audience, the upcoming BMW M3 will be available as a sedan.
BY JARED GALL, PHOTOGRAPHY BY HANS G. LEHMANN/HIDDEN IMAGE
March 2007

BMW stole the spotlight at the Geneva auto show with the introduction of its M3 “concept,” a concept only in name and color. Any new M3 is press-stopping news to the enthusiast community, but this time it's all the bigger because word has trickled down of an expanded M3 lineup that will eventually include a lighter-weight coupe, a convertible, a wagon, and a sedan.

Our spies have previously caught the folding-hardtop convertible in action on public roads, and now they bring us these pictures of the sedan, the first four-door M3 in 10 years, by the time it shows up. Based on these photos of test mules, we can't verify that the sedan will wear the same front-end styling as was shown on the Geneva concept, but we expect it will be similar. Notably absent in the rear three-quarter shot is the fender vent from the concept, another detail we expect to see on production versions of this car.

What we do see in the photos is that the M3 sedan will have the same flared wheel openings as the coupe, the same sneering headlights, as well as the same quad-exhaust outlets and subtle Gurney-flap rear spoiler. The spy shots also caught an open sunroof, which suggests the more practical sedan will forgo the extreme weight-saving carbon-fiber roof of the coupe.

With or without that roof, the M3 sedan will retain the heart of the beast, the high-revving 4.0-liter V-8 with approximately 410 horsepower. With the twin-turbo inline-six of the 335i sedan, we’ve recorded 0-to-60-mph sprints in 4.8 seconds, so the M3 sedan will still be capable of that benchmark blast in less than five seconds with a husky pilot bogging the launch and missing a shift.

We expect to see the M3 coupe this fall, with the convertible coming about a year from now and the sedan joining the fold in the fall of 2008. Last time BMW sold an M3 sedan, in 1998, consumers had their choice of two or four doors for the same base price. This time around, we expect the M3 to start at about $55,000. Choices, choices.


http://www.caranddriver.com/carnews/...-m3-sedan.html

Detrich

<ugh> i cannot for the life of me understand why bmw insists on using those ugly, diamond-shaped tail lights for the 4 doors... they finally got the tail lights "right" on the coupes. why not just standardize those across the 3 series sedans & coupes? do 4-door owners deserve to drive cars with ugly tail lights? <lol>

dillsrotary

i don't think its that bad, every other line on the car has adopted a those lines, it wouldn't match with horizontal and vertical taillights.

dshiznit1489

4 door M3? BMW needs to get off the salvia pipe....

BlueEyes

That's odd, I think the exact opposite. I love the sedan. The sedan tails fit a BMW, the coupes remind me of a toyota or something.

Detrich

i like this look better, because the diamonds look weird to me. but, oh well...

dillsrotary

there were sedan M3's in the 90's

dshiznit1489

yes i remember those, but those were also ugly as hell. at least these new ones look nice, but the 4 door look kills it. I bet it for insurance purposes, just like the new lexus IS series....4 doors for insurance reasons, NOOO leg room at all in the back.

dillsrotary

I doubt its for insurance purposes, there is a fairly large market for 4 door sport sedans, especially outside the U.S. Mercedes and Audi have them plus I bet porsche jumps into the market shortly too.

lesper4

iTrader: (3)

wow now this is the same band wagon as the audi rs4 (power and 4 doors)

i actually like the tail lights in both but the car is a lot less linear looking now days so the star light match a little better.

dillsrotary

plus i think BMW wants M5's and M3's to challenge the AMG's from the Benz line-up. And japan is following in their footsteps with lexus bringin a v8 IS (and i hope infiniti would join and produce a high-power 4 door G)

Detrich

regardless of how it looks, im sure the m3 will be a great car regardless. the sad thing is that here in los angeles, they are a dime a dozen, and i'm sure will continue to be even with the new model.

why is it that every able-bodied teenager, high school kid, and adult drives a german car here? <lol> . . .

m477

4 doors.... why not? The 3-series keeps getting bigger and bigger, now it's about the same size the 5-series was a few generations ago.

I think it's worse having a huge heavy car with only 2 usable seats. I mean if the car is going to be that large and heavy I might as well get some practicality out of it. Otherwise you're just dragging around dead weight.

playdoh43

sedans often weigh less than their coupe counter parts

CarAndDriver

I'm not a big fan of the sedan taillights. Reminds me of the current generation Honda Accord. The first two years, the sedan had horrific tailights and the coupes were much better.

Detrich

finally someone that agrees w/ me

myriadshalaks

iTrader: (1)

eh, i think it's slick, it's the sides i don't like. I hope those creases down the lines serve some aerodynamic purpose because they're lame. They look like tiny retarded wings.

why the wings?

CarAndDriver

Bangle