It's been a while since we've seen a real, new BMW M3 but the day is closer now than it's ever been. A few years back the powers that be in Europe passed laws that shortened the life of the outgoing M3.
Nevertheless, we've expected a new car for around a year now and we're still waiting. The boys in Bavaria have only given up a few details here or there but let me tell you right now, they're all pretty fantastic.
The original sports sedan, the motorcar on top of the mountain, is coming soon to set the bar even higher. What you'll find out in our facts below is that it's a whole new world for BMW. They've been controversial before and they're absolutely going to be again when this thing hits dealers.
16 Expect Giant Kidney Grilles
Whoa, whoa, whoa, be careful. You might get sucked up by those things. It looks like Dyson has taken over at BMW and decided they're going to add some speed by literally sucking up the space-time ahead of the vehicle into the car.
15 New Styling All-Around
When the Chris Bangle Designed cars came out a decade ago everyone cried foul. We can be certain that it'll happen again for the new car. Some will love it, some will hate it, BMW will keep on without worrying for one second.
14 Base Car Will Be Rear Wheel Drive
The base M3 will come in glorious rear-wheel drive. That is music to most purists' hearts as every M3 to this point in history has come that way. It also means that it'll be a bit lighter, much more engaging and more nimble.
13 High Powered Editions Come With XDrive
This is where things change a lot. The more powerful versions of the M3 that will be released will come with XDrive. This means that Audi no longer has a lock on the more snowy states. It also means fewer burnouts. Or does it?
12 Toggle The Power
Just how the 700 horsepower M5 has an option to switch from powering all the wheels to just the rears, the new baby brother M3 will too. This means all the donuts and burnouts you could ever want while still maintaining the ability to switch back when you want to climb snowy mountains.
11 High Tech Engine
The S58 is one of the highest tech engines to come from BMW in years. After the allstar that was the N54, this new straight-six twin-turbo engine is looking to win awards. It already is used in the X4M and X5M so BMW knows how it'll behave over time. It also has some special tricks up its sleeve.
10 Water Injection
No need to fear of hydro lock here. Adding water to the combustion chamber allows for lower cylinder temps. That allows for more boost. That allows for more power. Most high power engines use unburnt fuel to cool the cylinder. Using water means BMW can still meet high-efficiency standards.
9 Pure Model
The M3 was originally just a simple, lightweight, high horsepower sedan. Well, the new model is going back to its roots. The new M3 will have a "Pure" edition. Think Porsche and how they strip stuff out to make a new model. This new one will have bare-bones features but be very fun.
8 Save The Manuals
The manual transmission - one of the greatest inventions ever made. Certainly a part of every Pure edition and likely a part of the base model, the new M3 will get a proper 3 pedal, manual transmission. We can all thank our respective gods for answering our prayers.
7 Automatic Transmission Options
For those who would prefer the quickest shifts possible BMW will sell most new M3s with a ZF 8 speed automatic with a conventional torque converter. As a man who owns a ZF transmission equipped BMW I can attest to how fast it is. It looks like there's real hope that a proper Dual Clutch won't be long behind though.
Related: Would You Drive A Car With No Shifting?
6 Forbidden Fruit
Alpina is going to be the only way anyone gets an M3esque wagon in 2020. Unlike the news in my recent piece on the 2020 S4, BMW has no plans for a wagon anywhere worldwide. Sad considering what a potent and practical weapon it would be.
5 Delays
We expected to see the M3 in the flesh at last year's Frankfurt Autoshow. After regulations halted production of the last M3 unexpectedly BMW has been under the gun to get this newest version to the streets. Nevertheless, we still haven't seen a single one without camo. There's no telling when we'll finally get it.
4 Expect Large Screens
Not surprising is that this M3 will have at least two large screens. We can see the most obvious in this spy shot of a prototype running around. Expect a roughly 10-inch widescreen to compliment what will certainly be a digital cluster to one degree or another.
3 Drivelogic From The M8
In this photograph, we can see that the new M3 will likely come equipped with "Drivelogic", a program originally installed in the M8 that has 11 different shift programs in it. This allows the car to behave in whatever way is best for what you want to do at the moment regardless if that's lapping your local racetrack or sipping fuel during your commute.
2 Carbon Ceramic Brakes
Certainly, a controversial addition to many of these cars is that of Carbon Ceramic brakes. While there is no doubt that they add to the car's braking ability it's important to consider their astronomical maintenance costs. What's that going to look like on a low optioned car that just happened to get these brakes in 10 years? Depreciation is rough.
1 New M Colors
This picture was leaked a few months back of one of the many new rumored colors for the M line. This particular one is a gorgeous "Toronto Red". In addition to the classic colors like Alpine White, expect Isle of Man Green and Sao Paolo Yellow.