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Review: 2008 BMW M3 Coupe

Third-party performance tuners like Alpina, AMG, Brabus, Ruf and others have thrived in the land of the autobahn, typically modifying cars from one particular brand. In the late '70s, BMW became the first of the German automakers to establish its own in-house tuning division, incorporating its motorsports arm into what's now know as the M division. The firm's racing knowledge disseminated down to its production cars with the introduction of the M1 and later the M535i. In subsequent years, M followed up with the M5 and M3. Eventually Mercedes followed suit by buying out AMG, while Audi ... Read More

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    BMW M3
    Video: There's no substitution for BMW's E30 Mmmmm3
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    If you told someone that you had a friend with a four-cylinder BMW who "would let me wash the car," and in exchange for the privilege then let you drive that clean BMW once around the block, your first question would probably be "What kind of BMW is this?" There's a chance you wouldn't be surprised once you found out the coupe in question was the E30 M3, ...

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    BMW M3
    Video: BMW M3 gets the video retrospective treatment
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    With BMW on the cusp of pulling back the sheets on its next-generation M3 (or should we say, M4?), the crew from Electric Federal has taken it upon themselves to give us a generation-by-generation look at the evolution of the most renowned of BMW's sports coupes. The video below features plenty of beautiful shots of each generation of M3, starting with ...

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    BMW M3
    Video: BMW M3 driving off cliff is a chilling PSA
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    We're a little shocked that the unnamed owner of this cliff-diving E46 BMW M3 would upload the in-car footage of his accident to YouTube. Not only that, he uploaded two videos: raw footage of his roll down the cliff (it looks like somewhere in the Southwest, maybe Arizona) and a tribute video for his BMW that suffered the most severe consequences of ...

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    BMW M3
    Video: Watch two championship-winning DTM cars from BMW go head-to-head
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    BMW recently had a little fun with two of the company's past DTM champions. Roberto Ravaglia and Bruno Spengler, winners of the 1989 and 2012 championships, respectively, both showed up at the world-famous Hockenheimring with their title-winning cars. The two swapped seats, with Ravaglia taking the helm of Spengler's BMW M3 DTM racer and Spengler sliding ...

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    BMW M3
    Report: BMW says current M3 sold out, no new AWD M models planned
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    Car and Driver asked the head of BMW M, Friedrich Nitschke, a few questions about what the go-fast division had in mind for the future, and was rewarded with some enlightening answers. The best news to purist ears is that Nitschke said customers don't want all-wheel drive on their M cars, so it's the rear wheels alone that will propel new product into the ...

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    BMW M3
    Spy Shots: BMW M4 sheds some camouflage for latest test run
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    Last time we saw the upcoming BMW M4 out testing, it was heavily clad with camouflage and decidedly homely looking (as most early development mules are). But in this latest set of photos, the M3 coupe successor has started to come into its own skin, and we're seeing a shape more closely akin to that of a rendering we brought you a few months ...

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    BMW M3
    Video: Watch Oakley test out its flask's durability with a parade of pricy cars
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    Do you like to drink in public, where big, fragile glass bottles full of expensive booze are a hassle and a liability? Do you ever drink so hard that your very drinking vessel – even a sturdy one like a metal flask – just isn't extreme enough? Do you like Scotch whisky? Do you like to drive in circles and listen to white guy blues? If you ...

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    BMW M3
    Rumormill: BMW may be planning AMG Black Series competitors
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    Word has it BMW has its heart set on giving the Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Black Series a run for its money in the US. According to BimmerBoost.com, the German automaker has been making more and more noise about offering a number of specialty models aimed specifically at enthusiasts. While at the Detroit Auto Show this year, the BMW PR machine revealed 2013 ...

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    BMW M3
    Official: BMW celebrates DTM win with limited edition M3
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    In just its first season back in DTM race series, BMW pulled off a trifecta of wins (driver's title, manufacturer title and team title), and the automaker is celebrating with a limited-production commemorative version of the M3 called the DTM Champion Edition. BMW said that only 54 of these cars will be produced starting in February, but it did not say in ...

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    BMW M3
    Video: Watch the G-Power G1 Hurricane RS sprint to 195 mph
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    If you don't remember the batty G-Power G1 Hurricane RS, here's a little refresher: imagine 600 horsepower from a supercharged version of the 4.0-liter V8 that powers the BMW M3, shoved into the engine bay of the 1 Series M Coupe. G-Power says the creation is good for a top end of 205 mph, and the crew at Auto Sport recently got the chance to explore the ...

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    BMW M3
    Official: BMW announces 2013 M3 Frozen Edition in Red, White and Blue
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    If you weren't fortunate enough to grab one of the 19 sinister-looking Frozen Black Edition M3 Coupes back in 2011, BMW has a new ultra-limited M3 for you to dream about. The 2013 BMW M3 Coupe Frozen Limited Edition goes on sale in January with a starting price of $76,395 including destination, and unlike previous Frozen Edition models, this latest one ...

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    BMW M3
    Official: 600-hp G-Power 1 Series is excessively cool
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    Save some unforeseen circumstance we've yet to encounter, you'll never hear us turn down shoving extra horsepower at a vehicle. The minds at G-Power seem to understand that concept better than most and have just finished pumping a full 600 horsepower into the BMW 1 Series M Coupe. The team is calling their newest creation the G1 Hurricane RS, and the car ...

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    BMW M3
    The List: The List #0414: Buy A Car For European Delivery
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    Let's face it, the dealership experience when buying a new car is not very special. But when you're handing over serious stacks of cash for a car that you've dreamed of owning, the occasion calls for something more than a free car wash before you drive off the lot. That's where something like the European Delivery program offered by BMW comes in. Instead ...

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    BMW M3
    Rumormill: Next M3 may be lighter than expected, with lots more torque
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    Few cars stir up the rumormill quite like the next BMW M3. To that end, BMW fan-site BimmerPost was able to track down a source, apparently tied to the development of the next M3 (and M4), who divulged a few juicy bits on power, weight and timing. Horsepower in the F80 M3 and F82 M4 is said to be close to that of the E90/E92, which was rated at 414 hp. ...

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    BMW M3
    Video: Today's 'Race Car Driver Freaking Out His Wife On A Track' is BMW's Augusto Farfus
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    Augusto Farfus isn't even 30 years old yet, but he already has a certain commanding precision on many of the world's greatest racetracks, including Germany's famed Nürburgring. In the latest installment of the "Scare Your Wife At The Track" internet video meme, the BMW DTM driver takes his wife, Liri, for a high-speed tour of the Nürburgring in ...

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    BMW M3
    Podcast: Autoblog Podcast #300
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    2014 BMW M3 engine, Paris Motor Show, Lincoln marketing, Jeep Cherokee and Grand Wagoneer, 2013 Range Rover pricing Episode #300 of the Autoblog Podcast is here, and this week, Dan Roth, Zach Bowman and Chris Paukert celebrate this podcast milestone by asking Chris Shunk to return and guest host for us. We talk about the 2014 BMW M3 engine spy shots, ...

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    BMW M3
    Submit your questions for Autoblog Podcast #300 LIVE!
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    We record Episode #300 of the Autoblog Podcast tonight, and with the milestone episode, we welcome back recently departed and dearly loved host Chris Shunk for a guest slot. You can drop us your questions and comments via our Q&A module below. Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes if you haven't already done so, and if you want to take it all in ...

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    BMW M3
    Spy Shots: 2014 BMW M3 engine revealed [w/video]
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    We've just received a set of spy photography that, for once, is focused on what is inside the car rather than what is visible on the exterior. That's exciting stuff, as the car in question is the next-generation BMW M3, and the engine in question is the stuff of great import where enthusiast drivers and Bimmerphiles are concerned. The most important fact ...

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    BMW M3
    Video: Watch BMW drop a priceless Art Car onto a cliff
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    BMW isn't saying exactly why it put the M3 GT2 Art Car done by Jeff Koons atop Norway's 640-meter-high (2,112 feet) Preikestolen (Pulpit Rock), but it did. There's said to be some connection to Edvald Munch's painting The Scream, but things are a bit fuzzy there (and Koons is American), and does there really need to be a reason anyway? The racing coupe ...

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    BMW M3
    Video: BMW M3 Lime Rock Park Edition gets the fast-cut treatment
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    The $71,890 BMW M3 Lime Rock Park Edition has had sounds added to the sight of it with a terribly short promo video. Shot at the Lime Rock track of its inspiration with cameos by Skip Barber and Bill Auberlen of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, it's all quick cuts and a bellowing exhaust. The Fire Orange coupe holds pat on power but gets hi-po parts from ...

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