Opinions about the BMW E90 M3 aresort of split right down the middle. There’s one side that praises its analogue feel and the rawness of that 4-liter V8 under the hood while another side complains about the lack of torque and lac of reliability. No matter where you might find yourself though, it’s hard to ignore the marvelous scream that S65 unit delivered, in all different types of situations.
The video below provides some insight into how it feels to drive one these days. Not everyone can afford such a car or lives next to an unrestricted Autobahn though so we’re thankful for the people who take time out of their schedule to do such runs and publish them on Youtube for us to see. As for the performance, I have to agree that even today, many years after it went out of production this car still seems more than decent in a straight line.
The S65 V8 under the hood of the E9x M3 models was rated by BMW at 414 hp and 400 Nm (295 lb-ft) of torque. That figure may seem measly today, as a 2.0 liter diesel engine can push that much torque out, but it’s enough for most purposes. The E90 M3 was also electronically limited to 250 km/h (155 mph) but the speedometer in the video below shows a bit over that figure. Looking at the digital speedometer in the instrument cluster you’ll see 275 km/h (171 mph) while the GPS-readout shows 260 km/h (161.5 mph).
The best part about this entire video? The manual gearbox. It’s slowly becoming a rarity and a recent study carried out in the US said only 41 cars can still be bought with a manual in the country these days, a truly disappointing number by all accounts and purposes. Luckily for us, BMW is planning on keeping the manual alive for the next generation M3 as well, no matter how low the demand might turn out to be.
