MY WEEK IN AN E90 M3

As a car I've only ever driven in video games, driving the E90 M3 has been a long time coming. Driving an original example was an absolute priviledge.

The year is 2008. You’re a senior partner at a law firm and you have just treated yourself to something that you can enjoy on your commute to the office, but the neighbors won’t look at you and assume “Oh boy, here comes the midlife crisis”. The radio station is thrashing Coldplay’s Viva La Vida for the second time already today, and it’s only 8:30 in the morning. Oh yea. It’s E90 M3 time.

In picking up the M3, I recalled back in 2007 when BMW collaborated with Blimey! Games to release BMW M3 Challenge. It was a simulation game that was basically as simple as you’d think it would be. The brand new E92 M3, on the GP Circuit of the Nürburgring. That was really it. Choose your paint color, time of day, your tire quality and “Sport Suspension” and you’re off to the races! Why bring up a game from 14 years ago? Well, like how so many people had the Lamborghini Countach on a poster on their bedroom wall in the 1980s, kids that grew up or came of age in the 2000s had video games to engage with their dream cars. I never owned that game, but my buddy Sasha did. We spent endless hours with his racing wheel and pedals with that one track configuration. Honing in on our lap times, and even recreated driving stunts (or at least tried our damnedest) seen in car commercials. Until this year, that was the extent of my experience with the E90 M3. Did it live up to the hype I had built inside my head after all these years?

Yeah.

The only changes this car has from the factory are the wheels and tires. Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires which are 275 mm wide on all four corners provided for supreme grip up in the canyons, while still being playful whenever I wanted the car to be.

The E90-generation M3 comes from the factory with a 4.0 liter V8 that smoothly revs all the way up to 8,300 rpm. That’s higher than the Lotus Elise, the AP2 S2000, and its predecessor the E46 M3 that had a 3.2 liter inline-6 engine configuration. 8,300 in a V8 that utilizes a cross-plane crank is absolutely out of this world. 8,300 rpm is damn near as high as the Mezger Flat-6 used in Porsche GT3s (the 997 generation GT3 goes to 8,400). This is possible due to the electronically controlled Individual Throttle Bodies (ITBs) running air into each cylinder. The 4.0 liter makes 420bhp and 295 torques, and even in 2021 the car still feels light on its feet. The responses this engine can perform will frankly shock some people, but it also keeps you on your toes. More on that later.

But with great RPMs, comes great fuel consumption. As an average, the trip computer on my week-long journey indicated a grand total of *cough* 16.3 mpg. Ouch. This was quite the adjustment seeing as I’m used to averaging upper 20s while driving like a complete *expletive* in my Fiesta ST, and maintaining middle-30s on a road trip with an average speed of 75 mph.

But who drives a BMW sport sedan and fusses over fuel economy? The entire week, I managed to at least crack a smile, chuckle, or give a full and whole-hearted belly laugh every single day. The cracked grin always came from the engine clattering to life during cold starts in my parking garage. The 4.0 liter S65 motor coughing and clanking to life reminded me of a V8 not heralding from Germany, but more so something domestic.

*so much freedom*

And funny enough, the vocal range of this engine is something quite unique. The engine that kept coming back into my head is the 5.0 liter V10 deriving from the Lamborghini Gallardo. Both engines grovel and grumble down low, they both wake up and provide a sense of occasion around 3000 rpm, the mid-ranges both sound like operatic tenors, and near redline, they are Robert Plant from Led Zeppelin is screaming out of the tailpipe.

Now, after experiencing the E90 M3 in all of its glory has me thinking in between a number of different cars for a number of different reasons.

First of all, the B7 RS4. Both cars are sports sedans with high-revving V8s and 6-speed manual transmissions. From the few times that I drove the RS4 on our film ‘The Aluminum Beating Heart’ I can gather a few things. The RS4 is a phenomenal daily driver. The owner of the car that we borrowed has been using hers as a daily driver since she bought it new. The car is 100% stock with the addition of some BBS wheels, modern tires, and brake pads. The same thing can also be said for the BMW.

However, the real party trick that the M3 has over the RS4 is that on the commute, the engine legitimately wakes up and wants to be heard. The RS4 is smooth, but the M3 takes the buzziness to the next level and is legitimately vibrant and animated at all times. Any increase in engine load, cruising at any speed, and the engine emanates a guttural *bwaaaa* deep from the depths of its bowels. Who would have thought Individual-Throttle-Bodies on a German V8 would be a good idea? *everyone did*

But between those two, which one am I taking home? I was pleasantly surprised with the sound, and the comfortability of the RS4. It genuinely could wear both hats and teeter on the line of performance and comfort. The interior was more intuitive, and I didn’t fumble with any of the controls on the first try. But the M3 stole my heart in the cornering and chassis dynamics game. The uncontrollable hooting and hollering kicking the back end out on corner exit, and the pure satisfaction of a proper heel-toe scrubbing off speed before a corner was simply unmatched compared to the Audi.

When I still had the M3, another good friend of mine Derek asked me if I would choose it or the B8.5 RS5. I had driven that car numerous times as well during our film ‘The Aluminum Beating Heart’. I haven’t driven these two cars back-to-back so it is quite difficult for me to make that direct comparison. What I will say is the RS5 is a nicer place to spend your time, and you are still more removed from the experience. The interior is more contemporary seeing as it’s a 2015-era car, and the DSG transmission is still one of the best transmissions on the road (that can shift itself). The BMW still hides its weight better and is more playful in the corners due to being rear-wheel drive. It also has rear seats that fit actual humans. I feel with a comparison of those two cars, it really comes down to more of a preference of the driver and the car’s intended use case.

Now what did I not enjoy so much about my week in the E90 M3?

Well fuel cost for one. This girl was thiiiiiirsty. Over the course of one week of daily commuting, a singular run in a Salt Lake canyon, and a miniature road trip involving three epic canyon drives and almost 300 miles, I put in $70 of Utah’s finest premium fuel three different times. Needless to say, I was grateful to hand the keys back knowing that the financial slaughtering to my wallet had ended. Worth it? I still think so. For the constantly harmonious eargasm every single start-up, every crack of the throttle called upon for a downshift, and every light kiss of redline at the top of 3rd gear blowing by traffic. At the end of the day, it’s really up to you as the consumer if constantly funneling money into the fuel filler fits your lifestyle.

As a gentleman of US average male height (5’10” standing straight), the feeling of dropping into a performance car is not uncommon, and is often preferred. Even entering a GTI or Golf R you still feel down inside a cockpit. I could not for the life of me get completely comfortable in the M3 despite the supremely supple two-tone Fox Red seats. While driving I always felt like I was on top of the car rather than down inside the car. This wasn’t enough of a problem to cause strain in my legs, knees, or back but for a vehicle that is supposed to be fast, comfortable, and also under-the-radar, it only truly checked two of those boxes.

The first two complaints are more common from what I’ve heard and seen surrounding the E90 M3. However, there was one blaring stumble on BMW’s behalf. The combination of the super-light flywheel, matched with a stiff shifter that required some muscular effort to operate, that frankly just got tiresome as the days went on.

After the first day of acquiring the M3, taking it home and giving it some thought, I figured I’d grow into the car and figure it out in a day or so. Not the case. Two days go by. Shifting and rev-matching still isn’t as crisp and concise as I had wanted to be, discovering that extra throttle is sometimes needed before clutch release due to the revs plummeted far too quickly. After Day-Four and I’m starting to find my groove, but still would occasionally miss-step with stop-and-go traffic. The clutch was fine, and I never stalled the car the entire week. But the balance of the rate at which the engine gained/lost speed, and the shift throws mixed with the effort they required just never matched up for me. This is a real shame because of how even this era for the brand was coveted as “the last of the driver’s BMWs”.

After going through the week-long experience of daily driving the E90 M3, I am immensely grateful for the opportunity to fulfill this dream of sampling such a beautiful automobile, not only in design, but also in engineering. Not just beautiful to look at and listen to, but also beautiful to operate. Opportunities such as this are not ones I take lightly, nor take for granted.

Thank you to the owner Mike for saying “A week is fine.”