Section: F80 M3

2012: The End of M3 Racing in ALMS

Sections: //M3\\, ALMS, DTM, F80 M3, LeMans, Motorsport, Opinion Mar 26th, 2012 12 Comments

All of us racing fans can thank Martin Birkmann, former head of BMW Product Planning and Strategy as well as BMWNA Motorsport, for giving us the E92 M3 GT(2) and subsequently all of its success. Martin’s a special guy and has great ambitions for racing, he believed in the M3 GT(2) project and fought tooth an nail for it. He never was able to really enjoy the success the cars have had as his title changed and he was back in Germany when the team began to truly ring in the wins. Getting the money to re-establish BMWNA racing after the years of layoff from the E46 M3 GTR era was not easy. Martin was persistent- establish a fund and the project was green-lighted.

Rumor: F80 2014 M3 Gets Inline Six

Sections: //M3\\, F80 M3, Rumor Jan 27th, 2012 11 Comments

According to one of our sources the next generation M3 sedan will not be powered by the feared V6 engine. BMW M has been experimenting with various engine configurations for the new generation M3, ranging from a naturally aspirated V8, twin turbo V8 and V6 setups to the much rumored tri-turbo inline 6.

2013 BMW M3 Videos

Sections: //M3\\, F80 M3, Video Nov 9th, 2011 4 Comments

Today we bring you two videos (via Insideline and Bimmerpost respectively) of the next generation M3 as it gets some late season testing in at the ‘Ring. We expect the four door M3 to be the first out of the gate in the spring of 2013 with the two door (still likely named the M3 and not the M4) a year later.

(other video after the break)

BimmerCast #56: M5, F30 3 Series, F20 1 Series & Full Recap of the Last Four Months of BMW

Sections: //1M\\, //M2\\, //M3\\, //M5\\, BimmerCast, F20 1 Series, F30 3 Series, F80 M3 Oct 31st, 2011 5 Comments

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After a very long break we’re back with our biggest and longest show ever. We start with the M5 and new 3 Series and Michael’s first-hand experiences with both cars. And as much as that could be a show in itself, we move on to tackle pretty much every other major BMW topic from the last three months. The show runs a little over an hour and weighs in at 45 mb but it’s one you won’t want to miss.

Here’s the full list (after the break).

New BMW M3 Testing at the ‘Ring

Sections: //M3\\, F80 M3 Oct 20th, 2011 8 Comments

The next generation M3, internally known as F80 and based on the recently revealed all new 3 Series sedan has begun its shakedown at the Nordschleife. While still early in development, the car is further along than it seems. With a launch planned for within the next 18 months M has been hard at work testing the car internally at the rolling wind tunnel and at night to get it to the stage we see here. Heavy cladding prevents us from getting a better view of the final product but we know a bit about what is being evaluated now.

BMW F80 M3 Video: Is that a V6 We Hear?

Sections: //M3\\, F80 M3 Sep 29th, 2011 13 Comments

Could M do the unthinkable and ditch BMW’s famed inline configuration for a V? It’s been rumored for several years now but we had no hard evidence of the move. Until now. The video after the break is the first we’ve seen of the new F80 M3 four door in action on the road. And we’ll be damned if that exhaust note doesn’t sound a lot like a highly tuned V6 rather than the smoother sounding inline 6.