BMW G80 M3

BMW M3

Everything you need to know about the upcoming G80 M3

BMW M has released a video not only outlining the fine-tuning regime that the upcoming G80 M3 is being subjected to but also revealed some of its technical highlights.

It is no surprise that the new M3 – and its M4 sibling – are two of the most eagerly awaited arrivals of 2020, and with both expected to bow in September this year, BMW has ramped up their marketing on the upcoming model. That said, the M3 will only arrive in South Africa in 2021.

For this video, BMW M’s head of driving dynamics systems, Christian Flessa, talks us through the M3’s development and testing regime that has taken place not only at Nürburgring Nordschleife but on the surrounding country roads, motorways and B-roads too.

He asked mentioned that the M3 will initially debut in PURE form, utilizing a rear-wheel-drive setup, whilst an optional M-tuned xDrive all-wheel-drive is also on offer for the M3. It is also believed that the PURE variant will pack a 6-speed manual transmission, whilst the xDrive-equipped variants will be offered with the 8-speed M Steptronic automatic transmission.

The big talking point though is the power increase the latest generation M3 will have over its predecessor. Whereas the F80 M3 uses the S55 twin-turbo 3.0-litre inline-six to make 317kw and 550nm, and 331kw and 550nm in Competition-spec, the G80 M3 will instead gain the new S58 twin-turbo 3.0-litre inline-six. The motor first debuted in the new X3 M and X4 M, and is expected to produce 353kw and 600nm in the M3, and 375kw and 600nm in the M3 Competition.

And while this wasn’t disclosed by BMW, it is clear to see from the video that the M3 will not have the massive vertical kidneys we saw on the leaked M4. Instead, it will use the traditional kidneys that do duty on the G20 3 Series. This corroborates with the fact that BMW will only fit the large vertical kidneys to certain models and depending on which side of the fence you sit on, this is a good thing for the M3.

The M3 will also get flared arches, a muscular front bumper with huge intakes, oversize wheels that fill the arches to perfection, a DTM-inspired rear diffuser, and typical M3 quad-pipes exiting the rear. It is expected that eventually, an M3 CS will debut, with more power, less weight, trick aerodynamics, more exclusivity, and a bigger price – in other words, the usual CS treatment.

With both the M3 and M4 slated for debut in September, expect BMW M to ramp up their teaser campaign in the lead up to that.

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