MY OPINIONS
Most of what you'll read from my ratings are based solely on my opinions and will not discuss deep details regarding car specifications. Detailed specs can, of course, be found at other websites such as

www.bmwusa.com
www.carpoint.com
www.edmunds.com

So here are my thoughts on the…

ENGINE
What can I say? I’ve driven a *lot* of cars. In terms of smoothness, availability of power (where and when you need it), strength all throughout the rev range, sound, etc. look no further. This is the best engine I’ve ever ran on any car. The immediate runner up belongs to the other 2.5/2.8 liter BMW engines. The difference is that the M engine has more power, of course.

The engine, conservatively rated at 240 hp and 236 ft-lbs of torque, feels strong throughout the whole rev range - whether you are putting along at 2500 rpm or racing close to redline at 6500 rpm. This engine feels like it wants to be driven HARD. You run out of nerve before the car does. It keeps pulling HARD all the way to the redline. You do not notice the engine "running out of breath" as you get closer to the rev limiter. I’ve driven the car at Watkins’ Glen International Raceway and have been totally ecstatic with the performance.

TRANSMISSION
BMW transmissions have proven to be the best to me. I’m even comparing the smoothness of shifting against Porsche, Lotus, Mercedes, Audi and Mazda. When you shift gears on the M3 (or any 3 series BMW 1992 and on for that matter), the shifting is incredibly smooth and direct. For model years above 1995, the shift action even gives a positive "click" feeling when you select a gear.

Just for comparison, the Porsche’s (911 and Boxster) up to model year 2000 felt *very* notchy. I would have expected the shifting action to be a lot smoother. The unusually long length of the shifter throw (distance of the top of the shifter from 2nd gear to 3rd gear) actually reminded me of driving the VW GTI and Corrado. I was quite disappointed since Porsches were supposed to be pure "sportscars".

PERFORMANCE/HANDLING
Car and Driver awarded the M3 as the "best handling car" for any amount of money. Although I agree that the M3 is a great handling car, I wouldn’t go so far as to say that it’s the best handling car period. Don’t get me wrong, the car does handle as if it were on rails. But at 3200 pounds, the car’s agility is not what you would expect out of a "pure" sports car. But wait! The M3 is not a pure sports car. It’s a sports sedan that mimics the handling and performance characteristics of a sports car. So for a sports sedan, the car handles pretty darn well. In fact, drivers driving both cars at Watkins’ Glen International Raceway, preferred the handling of the M3 (stock M3 vs. stock Porsche suspension comparison).

It goes without saying that the M3’s suspension is hard. The car doesn’t exhibit much body lean during turns. The car is much more tossable into turns than my previous 1995 BMW 325is. It feels lighter due to the suspension, but both cars weighed in *exactly* the same at 3175 lbs with a full tank of gas. At the limit, the car tends to understeer than oversteer. But the car’s behavior is extremely predictable at the limit. It makes great drivers out of average ones on the track.

According to the braking ratings of Car and Driver, there is no standard production car that out-brakes the M3. The huge, ventilated front and rear rotors consistently stop the M3 repeatedly with little or no fade at the track.

0 to 60 mph on my trusty and consistent G-Tech Pro gives me 5.5 seconds. The car at 130 mph on the race tracks feels no different than 70 mph.

For what I think to be the "best handling" car I've driven that is still in production...I would have to refer you to my review of my (eeek, hate to admit) Mazda Miata. I was a "BMW snob" up until I drove one over and over and over and finally bought one... For cars out of production, I believe it to be the last generation Mazda RX7. For doubters, I'd have to say "don't knock it, until you've driven it at great lengths of time."

INTERIOR/ERGONOMICS
I like the fact that every switch is exactly where I would want it to be. BMW really did some ergonomics research on this one. Take the cruise control stick for instance. Pushing it forward makes the car go faster, pulling back slower. Pushing it up or down turns it off. There are no "knobs" like some GM cars or buttons on the steering wheel that make you take your eyes off the road.

The radio volume on later models rises and lowers depending on the speed of the car. The same goes for the windshield wipers. The windshield washer jets are heated (so are the mirrors and driver door handle for de-icing).

The M seats in my car somehow doesn’t support me as well as the sports seats option in my previous 1995 325is. It feels as though I do a bit of sliding around in the M seats as compared to the sports seats.

MAINTENANCE
I pretty much follow BMW’s scheduled maintenance guidelines for the car. The car tells you when it’s time to have the oil change (a series of green lights go out-the intervals vary to your driving habits). I usually perform the oil changes myself. Otherwise the dealer can charge between $30 and $65 for an oil change (oil changes for BMW’s are free up to 3 years/36000 miles)!

Oil changes are *very* easy in that the oil filter is actually accessible from the top of the engine bay and not under. Air filter replacement takes about 30 seconds for the same reason.

VARIOUS ITERATIONS
Aside from the obvious, the M3 4 door and coupe have different suspension settings. The coupe’s suspension is harder - I forget what the spring rates are. The suspension on both M3’s were also improved somewhere in late 1997 as compared to the 1995 and 1996 M3’s. So if you’re real finicky, you may want to research this before the purchase.

The radio and AC controls have also changed from the 1995 model. 1999 coupe’s have rear head rests. The coupe also has the M seats whereas the 4 door has the sports seats. Side airbags also became standard somewhere in 1997.

WHAT ELSE DID I SHOP FOR?
I also entertained the thought of buying a Porsche Boxster (see my future review on this one) and the BMW M Roadster. Notice that these two are convertibles and I ended up buying the M3. The M3, to me, is an all-around-car. I wanted the ability to take 4 people AND their luggage on trips. You can barely do that for two with the Boxster and the M Roadster - well, especially the M Roadster (also see my future review on the M Roadster).

But in a nutshell, the M Roadster was probably one of the fastest cars I’ve ever driven…BUT, I felt so much chassis flex that I knew that I would lose interest in a car that didn’t feel and look "solid". The fact that the M Roadster didn’t come with a spare tire, but an inflator, also bothered me. The car did come with a lifetime "Roadside Assistance". But those services all too often have proved to be *very* unreliable at the most inopportune moments. The lack of luggage space also deterred me.

I had to take the Boxster on an extend test drive three times. I just couldn’t believe myself when I thought the car to be slow. Yes, for you Porsche fanatics out there, I did rev the engine to the higher RPMs. The car didn’t feel like it had enough torque. I loved the styling, but I didn’t like the fact that I could only see the engine from crawling underneath the car. And finally, by the time I tallied up the options that I had wanted, I took a base price of $41k and bumped to into the $53k range. Porsche nickel and dimed you for every little thing that should have come with the car in the first place. For example, they charged $730 for footwell lighting (lights that turn on near your feet when you open the door) and $150 for vanity mirrors on the sun visors. It almost became a matter of principle that I shouldn’t buy the Porsche. Sorry, I still have more brains than money.

MY NITPICKS
I really would have liked an extra set of doors on my car. But I suppose that’s what the M3 4 door is for! Too bad. If I had to do it over again, I suppose I would have purchased the 4 door version.

The car didn’t come with floor mats. For a $40k+ car, it SHOULD come with floor mats. But I did get the dealer to add them to the deal.

The "revised" cup holders really suck. The new cup holders have a feature that adjusts the holder to the cup size. All this does is holds *all* cups poorly. You have a very high probability of spilling when taking tight turns. And who wouldn’t take turns tightly in an M3?

The older style cup holders basically had two sizes. You removed an outer ring to allow bigger cups like Slurpees from 7-11. The smaller ring held small and medium drink sizes from your favorite fast food chains and standard soda cans. Removing the outer ring allowed super size 32 ounce drinks. This cup holder really doesn’t really hold large size drinks from the fast food chains too well.

The power seats does not have memory! This is addressed in the newer cars.

There’s no trunk release button of any sort. They have a fuel filler release, why not a trunk release?

KNOWN PROBLEMS
There are two major problems:
1. Rear subframe mounts detaching: This can really only be attributed from racing the car hard on a racetrack, autocross, or hitting a curb at high speed. The subframe literally pulls out (rips out) of the mounting locations. This would cost about $2000 to repair and involves welding! This affects all BMW 3 series cars 1992 and on. I believe this has been strengthened only on the M3s 1997-1999.
2. Over revved engine: Engine blows up from downshifting form 5th to 2nd at high rpms. The transmission mounts on 1995 to 1996 (and early 1997?) M3s have a weak spring that flexes the position of the transmission during "spirited" driving. This flexing supposedly makes the driver think that he/she is shifting into 4th gear as opposed to 2nd gear. The engine suffers from major damage. Watch out for rebuilt engines.