Even before BMW came out with the Concept 4 earlier this month, there were several renderings online which suggested both the M3 and M4 would have really tall kidney grilles. We didn't want to believe it, but this latest spy video of the G80 M3 shows some intakes that can't be ignored.
This probably has very little to do with how much air the engine needs and is more of an obsession all premium automakers seem to have with the size of their grille. We thought only the rappers had that issue, but the days of the subtle sports car are numbered.
In this video, the double kidneys appear to be about twice as tall as on the normal 3 Series, stretching over the bumper and down towards the spoiler. Everything else looks pretty normal. Of course, the M3 features much more muscular fenders to cover up its extended tracks and fat tires.
As the boss of BMW M himself confirmed, this generation of the M3 will have all-wheel-drive, standard or optional, depending on your model. The output is known as well, and it's the same as for the X3 M: 480 and 510 PS or 473 and 503 horsepower. Those are pretty sexy numbers to have in combination with more traction, but to keep the purists happy, BMW will also launch a basic setup called the M3 Pure that will deliver 460 PS through a manual gearbox.
“Drivetrain-wise, think about the M5’s all-wheel-drive system – we are able to put it in the M3 as well. It’ll be very similar. But we will also do rear-wheel-drive cars, purer ones too and a manual stick shift," said M boss Markus Flasch.
The rivals for this car are pretty obvious and include the Alfa Romeo Giulia QV and AMG C63, both of which max out at the same 510 PS. Meanwhile, the Audi RS4/RS5 probably won't be able to play in the same league until the next generation arrives.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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