BMW 3-Series (G20) / M3 (G80) / 4-Series / M4

The front of that 3-series is making me think of the first e90 sedans with the way the headlights are shaped.

 

The headlights also feature a notch at the bottom, much like the E46 facelift:

 

I'm interested in where the pricing will start for the new M3 and M4s. I don't think it will take too many more generations before the M3 starts at +$100K.

 

Over here current M3 30years edition is about $155,000AUD=$117,000USD

Base model is about $140,000AUD=$106,000USD

 

Depends the example above is based on how bad imports are docked and thus have crazy price tags relative to the rest of the world mostly that get these cars.

I don't see the pricing climbing that high any time soon for a base to mid range M3/M4. That was encroach on M5/M6 and now M8 territory for what exactly? An M3 being that price would mean it is in a class it really isn't in and has yet to be seen to be. The only time the cars do get to that territory is when the special versions come out like the CSL, GTS, or the recent DTM signature.

But it's obvious (even when it shouldn't be), why these ones meet that range of pricing. They're BMWs, they're limited editions of the M variants which are already regarded. And ideally somewhat of collectors items. Beyond that your mass produced M3/M4 will be a premium car but probably wont see 100k + starting in the next generation or the one after that, and possibly the one after that. Inflation will be more of a factor if it ever hits that than justified pricing.

 

I think a CSL variant would be well received here in the U.S. market. We were dying for the E46 CSL and almost every person I know who owns an E46 has at least converted to some of the CSL aesthetics like the bumper and rear diffuser.
I think the M cars have always been a great performance car for the money. We have a few in the family, and almost none are ever traded back in for something else.

 

G20 M3 will be lighter and faster than the current M3 CS. Meaning the new M3 will weigh less than 1585kg and have more than 454hp.

https://www.carscoops.com/2018/06/next-bmw-m3-will-reportedly-lighter-faster-current-cs/

 

1585kg is still a heavy car.

 

Not by today's standards, when muscle /sports cars/sedans are 1700kg+.

 

That's the problem with today's cars, they are too heavy. Today's standards or not, a 1585kg M3 is a heavy car.

 

It needs to be compared to something. My 20yo Civic is 1003kg. My old Charade was 720kg. My Dad's 1970s Impalas and Lesabre were around 2000kg. Maybe more.

I do not know how much more weight today's cars can drop and still keep the amenities people want and safety systems regulations require and keep prices manageable(for board members to make profits).

Mazda has found a way. BMW are doing something(performance wise) with this car. I think 10 years ago, a C6 was about 1500kg. 85kg would be adding a driver to that car. Pretty good for the M3 with what it has and can surely beat that C6.

 

I remember watching an interview on television some years ago where a company invented a way to make a whole chassis in very strong lightweight materials and it was not carbon fibre. One person could easily lift an entire chassis above his/her head.

I'm pretty sure that there are technologies to make modern cars much lighter. Why do car manufacturers don't use these technologies? It is probably possible to make the same new M3 150kg or even more lighter than this new 1585kg M3.

My 16 y.o. Ford Mondeo weighs exactly 1500kg. Cars don't get lighter, they get heavier.

 

For sure, but may not be the majority, some are being made lighter. As mentioned, Mazda have "lightened" the CX9(Although it's completely new from the ground up, I mean, compared to the old model). The Suzuki Swift is another. The base model is under 900kg and the Sport is less than its previous edition.

I've seen old videos of one man lifting a chassis as well. Can't recall the material though. Manufacturers can do it. Maybe less leather and more man made fabrics, as a start?

 

Customers won't accept that thinner seats can be as comfortable as the thick, bulky ones as seen on production cars, so there's unnecessary weight for a start.

 

It's a consperacy. Oil companies want cars to be heavy so we have to fill up the gas tank much more often.

 

1585kg for a Mid size car with Fat tyres, modern safety equipment, a double clutch gearbox and a powerful 6 cylinder turbo engine is light especially when compared to your Mondeo.

If safety regulations where the same as 20 years ago cars could easily be lighter then they where back then, they have to add a tonne of heavy equipment to cars these days to meet modern laws and even still in alot of cases they are the same weight or even lighter then older gen cars.

and that's Forgetting the modern trend of making every new model of every new car slightly bigger, we are at the point where smaller cars in the range are bigger then older generations of higher class cars now.

 

You don't get what I mean. 1585kg is a heavy car regardless of the safety technology, luxury stuff etc ... . As said before, manufacterers probably have the means to make cars lighter by using some kind of safe, exotic materials and still, cars as still pretty heavy.

1585kg is a lot of weight.

An old Mondeo is a big car with safety features. It has electric Recaro seats (2 motors and seat airbags), heavy 18 inch wheels, Xenon, traction control, ESP, ABS, airbags all around, full automatic climate system, a heavy 3.0L V6 engine and lots of other modern stuff and still, this car weighs less than this new M3. You would think that technology would be advanced enough to make new cars, anno 2018 - 2019 lighter. But no, they don't, they keep making heavy cars.

 

M3 has all of that plus much fatter tyres, a much heavier gearbox, more airbags, the engine itself might be lighter but add all the cooling properties, I would be surprised if it's lighter.

 

The only airbag my car doesn't have is knee airbags. Don't forget, I still have a huge 16 inch spare tire and all the stuff required to replace this wheel.

What do you mean with; "much fatter tyres"?

Bottom line, cars could be lighter but for some reason - probably costs or difficult to manufacter - they are still heavy.

 

The Width of the tyres on a M3 is significantly wider then any Mondeo, faster cars generally need wider tyres to put the power down.

 

225/40 ZR18

 

Which is wide for a FWD application, but still narrower than the equivalent 3.0 S-Type which ran 255.

 

It's a Ford, what did you expect?


Back to the new BMW and the new M3 before why get the wrath of a mod.

 

Why you little rascal?!

...

 

The new wagon 3 series with the M Performance pack

 

Nice teaser. And that is exactly what it is. A teaser. BMW group showed just enough to make us even more curious but didn't show enough to reveal the new 3-series if full detail.

#teaserBMWGroup.

 

Is it shorter than the outgoing model? Kind of looked stubby from those peeks.

 

As has become the norm, it has leaked pre-launch...

M Sport....



'Sport'...

M340i...





More info at BMW Blog -> https://www.bmwblog.com/2018/10/01/leaked-2019-bmw-3-series-g20-m-sport-and-sport-line/