A battle of previous-gen German luxury cars pits a BMW M3 against a Mercedes-AMG C63.

Like Energizer and Duracell, Coke and Pepsi, or Marvel vs DC Comics, BMW and Mercedes have had a bitter rivalry for decades. No two cars better exemplify this situation than the BMW M3 coupe and the Mercedes-AMG C63 sedan.

The current generation of both these cars are second to none, but the previous generation was no slouch either. The E92-gen M3 came with a 4.0-L naturally aspirated V8 engine with 414 hp and 400 lb-ft of torque. BMW advertised zero to sixty as taking 4.5 seconds, but as is usually the case with BMW, they low-balled that number quite a bit. Independent testing from Car and Driver revealed that the M3 could scoot to sixty in as little as 3.9 seconds, with other publications reporting in the low 4s.

Top speed was an electronically limited 155 mph, but with the limiter deactivated the M3 could get as fast as 178 mph.

On the other side of the tarmac is the Mercedes-AMG C63 of the W204 generation. We’re pretty sure this is the performance package version which boosts the 6.2-L V8’s power to 480 horses (up from 451 hp) with 443 lb-ft of torque. Zero to sixty is done in just 3.9 seconds on its way to a limited top speed of 155 mph.

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The C63 is carrying around an extra 300 pounds over the M3, but the Mercedes is the more powerful car. As has almost always been the case, the two are quite evenly matched, making this drag race a battle between drivers more than anything else.

Off the line, the M3 seems to have trouble accelerating. Either the car suffered from some kind of mechanical failure or the driver was having trouble using the dual-clutch transmission. Either way, the Mercedes takes off without the M3 having any hope of catching up.

The Mercedes-AMG C63 finished in 12.57 seconds at 115.44 mph, while the M3 finished in 14.08 seconds at 109.62 mph.

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