The author forgot to mention I had to climb the fences at the BMW test facility at the nuerburgring to get the personal time with the car. :)

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4 door M3s were around for the E36 and BMW sold almost 50% in door form. There's a market for it. Limiting the e46 M3 to 2 door models screwed over BMW and hurt many enthusiasts who favored the stiffer chassis of the 4 door e46 over the flimsier e46 coupe. We were left with the ZHP or the wholly impracticaly e46 M3 coupe.

As the m3 e92 coupe is massive - the coupe is even longer than the sedan - I'll gladly take a smaller M3 e90, which will also be family friendly.

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Captain ignorant, there's nothing watered down about expecting a coupe/sedan/wagon of M models. Outside the USA these cars are produced. Otherwise, the other models are legit.

The e36 M3 came as all of the above in europe and in the USA we got a handful of them. The 46 M3 limited the car to only the coupe and the ridiculously fat convertible.

The e46 sedan had a stiffer chassis than the e46 coupe. Do you have any understanding of what that would mean for performance? Yeah, a better handling car. BMW made a mistake with the e46 M3 by never releasing a sedan version. Partly for sales reasons and partly because it encouraged Americans to think that only two doors are performance oriented. Now they must re-teach Americans that M3 can be a sedan or coupe...

The RS4 has nothing to do with this (its sales are super tiny). The sales of the e36 M3 sedan and the sales of the e46 ZHP are proof that Americans also wanted an M version of the 3 series sedan. RS4...just another fat Audi pretending to be a performance car. The M models all over the world are 2/4/5 door (M6, M5 sedan, M5 wagon). It's a global economy kids.

Are you gonna contend that the M5 isn't a hot car because it's a sedan? Or the Alpina 7 is lame because it's got 4 doors?

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Hey Moron!

BMW M3's are not for functionality or daily drivers. In Europe M3 and M5 models are sold since CUV's and SUV's are not dominant and some customers actually need a Station Wagon. Throw them a bone!

Understand this! Reducing the M3 brand to only a Coupe and Convertible was a smart move. So that posers would not go around trying to act cool driving a family sedan. You want a sedan, buy a Mercedes-Benz. BMW is a performance, driving oriented corporation, not a washed up poor quality VW/Audi/ Mercedes-Benz or Toyota.

If you can't afford or not own a M3 Convertible don't piss off others that do. If you want a BMW Station wagon SO BAD, guess what they make one also it's called the X3! That tall station wagon is for losers like you that go to the 7-Eleven parking lots to show off their ride... and you could have easily bought a Mom-Mobile Dodge Caravan and you should but are trying to look cool and be in an exclusive club of M3 owners.

So piss off and stop e-mailing me from your mom's basement hiding behind a computer, and that is all I have to say to you son.

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@ashirt...

Actually, the M3's appeal IS that it's a daily driver. You'd know this if you'd actually driven one. It's a fine around town car but on the track and in the right hands it's a terror. So, if you understood the M, you'd understand they are daily drivers and part of the total appeal of BMW comes from the fact they can be driven m-f to work and on saturday at the track.

Again, you're confusing poseur. A poseur is someone who thinks a performance car must be 2 doors. That's myopic. I gave you a solid reason why the e46 should have had a sedan: the e46 sedan's chassis was much stiffer than the coupes. Do you know that means? That means on the TRACK, not on the street preening, the e46 sedan was a better handling car. Match the tighter chassis to the M3 LSD/power and you would have had a much better track car. Of course, that means nothing to you as you care about something as inconsequential as looks.

Suggesting any MB is ludicrous as they only come with automatics in the AMG line.

Actually, the M3 vert is just a waste. Again, if you've never tracked, you'd never understand. If you've never tracked and you own any BMW it's akin to dating a super model but only seeing her in the dead of winter in alaska. You can tell she's hot but you're missing out on what's really fun. An M3 vert weighs over 3600 lbs. Do you have any inkling what that means? I'm guessing, no. 3600 lbs on the 46 chassis = flaccid. The M3 vert is moderately fast in a straight line but its excess weight prohibits it from being exceptional in the corners.

FWIW, the M3 is anything BUT exclusive. BMW sells almost as many M3s as they do coupes. Check the sales of the M3 e46 from 2002-2005. The M3 is NOT exclusive. But of course, you're into appearances so you want to believe the M3 is somehow special (it is in terms of roadgoing but not for sales exclusivity).

Tell me when you've been to Germany to pick up your BMW. Tell me when you've tracked a Bimmer. When was the last time you did over 140 MPH LEGALLY? Yeah, poseur. Bugger off.

I'm betting you can't even tell me the difference between an e90, e92, ZSP or ZHP. You're not a bimmer fan. You're someone who thinks bimmers are cool but you've never really tracked an M3 or any bimmer. You haven't the foggiest notion what an apex is or what balance would have to do with application of power or transitions.

It's okay, one day maybe you'll learn how to drive and you'll understand the importance of chassis stiffness and weight in terms of automobile performance.

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PISS OFF!

No BMW M3 convertible is a daily driver. INSURANCE is too high for under 30 drivers, and it would be stupid and M3's driven in snow, gravel, salt, pot-holes, and urban traffic to be ruined and no one ruins a nice car. German cars are as butt ugly as Toyota's and Subaru's. Luckily that is not their "raison d'être". Cobra Mustangs, Vipers, Corvettes, Saturn Skys, and Italian cars are attractive and cool but not as good as an M3, Cayman S or SLK AMG. Thus that is why these German cars are purchased.

I will NEVER go to Germany; I will NEVER track my car, and NEVER be a professional driver! MAX speed ever driven is 140 km/h and will not join a BMW M3 club for people that pat themselves on the back for owning a nice car. That is so self-absorbed since you go to a car-meet and act like you designed the car, know its boundaries. You just regurgitate what you read in a pamphlet. So what is it that you drive? In fact don't answer! You’re some guy 3,000 km's away bothering me.

I made a joke about BMW watering down the M3 brand and you think that gives you the right to talk to me. Leave me alone. Get a Job! Read all the comments, other autoblog readers agreed with me more then you! I did not read entire statement because I don't care what you have to say. Leave me alone. Go argue with some else about Kia's and Toyota's or something. Oh your so bad ass your drove 140 MPH oh (224 km/h) wow. That is actually a good thing, cause then no one will have to put up with you!

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@ashirt

You don't think M3s are daily drivers? Oh boy you must live in some backwoods place. I can go into the parking garage and find at least 9 M3s. Hell, I work with two people who have them. And insurance is not that high on an M3 vis-a-vis any other car.

You will never go to germany? Just have it in for the Gerries or all of Europe or is it the world? Do you want to remain in little ole USA forever?

Won't track either. Hmmm, yeah sounds like you dig the M3 for all the right reasons: looks. lol

I've currently got an e90 330i. It's my second BMW in the last few years. Picked it up in Germany last year. Drove it across Europe and then had it shipped back to me in the states.

Really, bub, get a grip. You mouth off that the M3 shouldn't be "watered down" with sedan and wagon versions even though such things existed in the E36 (do you know what that is?) and currently exist in the form of the M5/M6. BMW is trying to appeal to a broader segment and the M3 used to appeal to more people. BMW made an acknowledged mistake by limiting the e46 to just an M3 coupe/vert. The ZHP's sales success revealed a deep desire by BMW sedan buyers to get a performance variant of the e46 sedan. The Sedan, in case you didn't know, comprises over 70% of the 3 series sales. There's a market that's dying for a smaller, nimble, excessively fast perforance sedan. The e90 M3 will fit that bill.

As for 140+, that was on the autobahn. Do you know what that is? That it's legal and pretty damned safe - especially compared to the dangers of driving on sh!thole highways and around lazy US drivers?

Track you car. You're learn something about handling, weight distribution, entry/exit speeds, apexes, lines and in general you'll learn far more about how to control your car.

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Dude, are you an Idiot! People don't just like in the USA! I am Italian and live in Quebec, Canada! Not so much a melting pot here of ideas, it's like being in Europe here. Metric system, no that many people own SUV's, no military presence anywhere and the speed limit is a reasonable 62.5 MPH, not 55 MPH! Roads here are not Autobahn quality or design. Speed limits exist because American V8 engines achieve optimum efficiency at 55 MPH and that became the norm to reduce accidents and as well Green House gasses.

Don’t try and soften your response now rationalizing the E90 M3 Sedan, I was joshing about the want for a Station Wagon and more M3 variants. The new E90 M3 Sedan is just to steal the thunder from VW’s Audi RS4. It sucks! Sports car are sports cars! Not mom-mobile grocery getters. Would you like a 4 door Mustang? Viper? Corvette? Camaro? Challenger? Or even the new Charger 4 door with no manual transmission??? No!!! So BMW is watering down the M3 just to piss off Audi! And the Audi A5/RS5 is trying to do the same to BMW’s 3 and M Series.

Wake up live in the real world! You just want to flash; others want a good quality leather, proper seating position, and proper handling car. No need for V-10 Vipers when a small 6 cylinder and proper platform is ample, and Jeremy Clarkson proved that in his video. NOW PISS OFF!

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