International presskit: The new BMW M3

1. Description in Brief. 2 2. Short Version 4 3. Concept: Technology from Motorsport, Aesthetic Beauty for Everyday Motoring. 12 4. Power Unit: The Thrill of a V8 - Muscle Machine with an Ideal Body. 17 5. Chassis and Suspension: Turning Superior Performance into Supreme Dynamics. 24 6. Design: The Expression of Perfect Concept Harmony. 30 7. Body, Safety, Model Features: Uncompromising Driving Pleasure of the Highest Standard. 36 8. Production: Exclusive Quality Built in Flexible Production Friendly to the Environment. 43 9. Specifications. 49 10. Exterior and Interior Dimensions. 50 11. Output and Torque Diagram. 52

The concept looks back at a long tradition, the result is unique every time:
For more than two decades, the BMW M3 has ranked alone as the epitome of
ultimate dynamism derived directly from motorsport, a car offering powerful and
superior aesthetics, as well as a truly incomparable driving experience. And
now the new version of this high-performance sports car is ready to go -
perfectly prepared to find the ideal line not only on the race track.

Like its predecessors, the fourth-generation BMW M3 sets new standards in
technology and driving dynamics. And at the same time, like all
high-performance models from BMW M GmbH, the new BMW M3 offers all the
qualities required for everyday driving enjoyment of the highest calibre.

The new BMW M3 is based on the BMW 3 Series Coupé, but is nevertheless quite
unique in its looks and technical features. The engine, for example, is an
exclusive development precisely for this model, with the chassis, suspension
and body all based consistently on the requirements of motorsport.

So leaving aside just a few components, the new BMW M3 is a brand-new car from
the ground up. The aesthetic design of the body again typical of BMW M and the
drivetrain technology conceived from the start for supreme performance - clear
proof of the competence of the car development engineers at BMW M GmbH with
their close ties to motorsport - spell out supremacy of the highest standard.
In a nutshell, therefore, the new BMW M3 is a car built to be a winner, a car
always able to prove its superiority also in everyday traffic.

Making its debut in the BMW M3: eight-cylinder power unit with 420 hp:
The truly impressive "heart" of the new BMW M3 is the car's brand-new
eight-cylinder power unit in V-arrangement combining outstanding power and
performance with unique dynamism. Displacing 3,999 cc, the new V8 develops
maximum output of 309 kW/420 hp. Maximum torque, in turn, is 400 Newton-metres
or 295 lb-ft at an engine speed of 3,900 rpm. And perhaps an even more
impressive fact is that some 85 per cent of this maximum torque is available
consistently throughout the enormous speed range of 6,500 rpm.

The new BMW M3 accelerates from 0-100 km/h in 4.8 seconds and has a top speed
limited electronically of 250 km/h or 155 mph.

The eight-cylinder power unit owes its perhaps most striking feature to the
high-speed engine concept again typical of BMW M: Maximum engine speed of 8,400
rpm gives the engine supreme thrust and torque at all times.
This power is transmitted to the rear wheels via a six-speed manual gearbox in
conjunction with brand-new final drive featuring BMW's Variable M Limited-Slip
Differential.

Over and above the engine's specific output of 105 hp per litre, average fuel
consumption in the EU test cycle of just 12.4 litres/100 kilometres (equal to
22.8 mpg imp) bears clear testimony to the supreme engineering that has gone
into this equally supreme car.

Know-how carried over from Formula 1 in production, construction, and the
choice of materials:
The engine block of the new eight-cylinder comes from BMW's light-alloy foundry
in Landshut north of Munich, which also builds the engine blocks for the Grand
Prix cars raced by the BMW Sauber F1 Team. The crankcase is made of a special
aluminium-silicon alloy. It is both compact and extremely strong and
torsionally resistant in its bedplate design.

Despite the two extra cylinders, the entire power unit is approximately 15 kg
or 33 lb lighter than the six-cylinder engine featured on the former model.

The V8 power unit of the new BMW M3 is equipped with variable double-VANOS
camshaft control, a unique technology reducing losses in the charge cycle and
thus improving power and torque in the process. Responding extremely quickly to
the driver's commands, double-VANOS improves the spontaneity of the engine at
all times, thus also helping to reduce fuel consumption and exhaust emissions.

The engineers at BMW M have developed a low-pressure version of double-VANOS
specifically for the new eight-cylinder, operating at the regular operating
pressure of the engine's oil circuit.

A further feature of the new power unit is the use of eight individual throttle
butterflies giving the engine a particularly smooth and sensitive response
throughout the entire speed range and enabling the driver to call up the
superior power of the engine directly and smoothly at all times. A volume
flow-controlled pendulum-slide vane pump supplies the eight-cylinder with
lubricating oil, the amount of oil delivered to the engine always being geared
precisely to what the engine needs at the given point in time.

Wet sump lubrication optimised for driving dynamics, finally, ensures an
adequate supply of oil to the power unit even in extreme braking manoeuvres and
under high centrifugal forces in a fast bend.

New engine management and Brake Energy Regeneration:
Yet another new development is the electronic management of the V8 power unit
integrating the clutch, gearbox, steering and brake functions tailored
specifically to the requirements of a BMW M Car. And then, as a further
highlight of engine management, ion flow technology serves to detect any
tendency of the engine to knock as well as misfiring and mis-combustion.

Intelligent energy management featuring Brake Energy Regeneration enhances the
efficiency of the power unit to an even higher standard: This new system
generates electricity for the car's on-board network only in overrun and while
applying the brakes, with the alternator generally being disconnected as long
as the engine is in traction, "pulling" the car.

Apart from particularly efficient generation of electric power, this process
also helps to provide extra drive power when accelerating.