![]() Acceleration is linear and delivered without drama - you won’t know how fast you’re going until you glance at the speedometer. The low-slung M3 is not that easy to get into and out of, and once behind the wheel, the very firm bucket seat grips you with plenty of lateral support.Ĭrank it up, and the exhaust note doesn’t sound much different from the 225-horsepower 3.0-liter engine in the 330i, until you step hard on the gas pedal. Though the M3 is based on the corporate 3-Series driver-friendly platform, you know you are in something different as soon as you climb in. Sixth gear is basically an overdrive, allowing the engine to lope along at highway speeds at a relatively low rpm. 2001 BMW E46 M3 SPECS MANUALHelpful on that highway mileage is the six-speed manual transmission, something the M3 has long needed. There was also a $1,000 “gas guzzler” fee, which did not seem appropriate as mileage is rated at a not-terrible 16 mpg in the city, 24 mpg on the highway. The test M3 started with a base price of $45,400, and crept up to a $53,195 bottom line, thanks to various options including an upgraded Harmon-Kardon sound system, Xenon headlamps, leather-trimmed upholstery and a glass moonroof. It has a level of sophistication unmatched for the price, which, though not cheap, isn’t bad, considering how well M3s traditionally hold their value. It’s about an integrated package that will cheerfully deliver you through rush hour traffic to work each weekday, then entertain you with its downright astonishing backroads performance on weekends. The M3 has never been about horsepower, though. It’s still a bit below the 350-horsepower V-8 in the 2002 Corvette, but a drag race would be a lot closer now. Though it still has an inline six-cylinder engine, it’s now pumping out 333 horsepower, delivered through a slick-shifting six-speed manual transmission. The playing field has been leveled with the new M3. The mid-1990s M3 did fine with 240 horsepower, until it lined up beside a 300-horsepower ‘Vette. ![]() Like all M3s before it, this model, which arrived as a late 2001 and is consequently unchanged for 2002, is a genuine wolf in sheep’s clothing.Īlways quick, previous M3s have lacked the sheer horsepower to make them outright contenders with some of the more powerful V-8 entries, such as the Chevrolet Corvette. Limited to just 10 examples, the Strassen Version was priced at 250,000 Euro.HIGH MARKS: GREAT WAY TO SPEND YOUR INHERITANCEīMW certainly took its sweet time importing the new M3, the performance version of the bread-and-butter 3-Series, but it was worth waiting for. The road going M3 GTR also featured a fully upholstered interior but retained many of the composite components. To make it more usable on the road, the racing engine was detuned but still produced between 350 and 380 bhp. Crucially, it also featured the V8 engine that was found in no other production BMW. In order for the car to be homologated, BMW announced a production run of a Strassen Version or Road Version. All of these components were crafted in exotic composite materials to bring the weight down to the regulation minimum. Further changes included an aggressive aerodynamics package with a deep front air-dam and sizeable rear spoiler. One of the advantages of using the considerably shorter engine was that there was additional space ahead of the V8 to mount the radiators at such an angle that the air could be vented out over the engine cover and did not have to go through the engine. The new engine, code-named P60, was mated to a six-speed sequential gearbox. With the mandatory intake restrictors in place, it produced around 500 hp according to BMW. ![]() This was an all-aluminium unit, featuring a 90° bank angle and displacing just under four litres. Instead, the BMW Motorsport engineers decided to create a compact and lightweight V8 engine from scratch to power the new M3 GTR. Experience with previous M3 competition cars, however, had revealed that the straight six used in the M3 road car would not provide a suitable basis for a competitive racing engine, despite working so well in the road car. 2001 BMW E46 M3 SPECS SERIESTo underline the sporting credentials of the newly introduced E46 series M3, BMW created a new competition version to compete in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) from the start of the 2001 season.
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