The G8X M3/M4: How Do We Feel Now?
When the G80 M3 and G82 M4 were released, the BMW enthusiast reception was… polarized. I must admit, from the spy photos, official press release, and to eventually seeing it in person here, I couldn’t find an angle that truly spoke to me or satisfied what I felt like the M3/M4 lineage deserved in the latest generation. A look around the internet reveals that much of the community feels the same. The new G8X platform is too big, too ugly, too different, and too disconnected. BMW, it would seem, has experienced a shift away from setting the standard to following trends, but is that really the case? Now that we’ve lived with it a while and had time to intimately know the car, have our minds changed? This edition of Turner Motorsport Weekly is all about our (my) thoughts on the G8X M3/M4 now that it’s no longer the new problem child in BMW’s lineup thanks to the G42 release, but that’s another article for another time. Let’s get to it and explore what the G8X brings to the table after a few months of real-world exposure. | | | Initially, my knee-jerk reaction to any G8X pictures was to profusely vomit from my eyeballs. The vulgarity of the front end, the planetary size of the thing, the confusing and contradictory body lines, the lack of continuity in terms of design elements across the car, and the knowledge that many of the electronic features found in some of BMW’s flagship luxury cars had infected what used to be a purist’s dream platform all combined in this torrent of disappointment whenever I even thought about it. Contrary to where many of the online community concentrated their opinions, I was not entirely upset by the beaver-tooth grille. I saw the subtle attempt at recreating the 328 Mille Miglia grilles that persisted through the Bavaria, the Neue Klasse sedan, and some of BMW’s earliest models as they transitioned to the Hoffmeister-era of design. The grille I could reluctantly accept at the time. | | | No, what upset me the most were the completely unnecessary Dodge Charger-Esque hood strakes that merged into the front bumper cover and created this pseudo-aero look not found on any previous BMW models. I felt that the proper way to design the hood, if the car is supposed to pay tribute to past M3s, would be to incorporate the gorgeous center hump the E46 M3 CSL first featured to clear the S65 V8 predecessor that sat under it. That hump was carried into the E9X, the S65’s actual recipient, and even allowed the air to water intercooler to sit atop the engine in the F8X chassis, which also featured a similar hood design. With the G8X, all we get are these aqueduct-looking strakes that serve no purpose other than to break up what would have otherwise been a desert slab of a hood. | | | However, I have since changed my opinion. Yes, there are still a few elements of the car that just don’t do it for me, like the extremely boxy rear diffuser piece, the weird, unpainted side flares, and the double-staggered wheels (at least on the Competition versions.) But, there is more about the car that I’ve come to love. Particularly, the front end. Up close, looking at each piece individually, you can find faults with each component of it. Together as a whole picture, that criticism melts away. When you see that front end bearing down in your rearview mirror, the only thought you can experience is ‘my GOD, is that car aggressive!’ | | | The first time one of our engineers took it home, they happened to follow directly behind me in my 911. I decided to see if they would try and show me up on the series of corners that led to our on-ramp to the highway, so I heeled down into second, planted my foot on the throttle, and unleashed everything my 3.4 flat-six could muster. The G8X stayed glued to my 911, despite carrying nearly double the Porsche’s weight through the corners, and then rocketed past me without breaking a sweat as we both merged onto the interstate. The entire time my concentration was on just how seriously imposing that car looks both bearing down on my rear bumper and screaming by my Porsche. Even at full tilt, running at 7,000 RPM in fourth, my 911 couldn’t touch the G80 as it blistered the pavement between us while widening the gap. I’m fairly certain my chin was completely recessed into my neck as I watched it disappear in front of me. | | | At that moment, every negative thought I’d ever had about the car escaped me. All I could think about was the way it looked dominating my rear views and then the overpowering sound of turbo spool as it blew the doors off of my Porsche. Since then, I’ve had a hard time finding overall fault with the car. No, it isn’t perfect. It could stand to be smaller, shorter, and a little more visually congruent, but still. The G80 M3 is an astonishing car in almost every way. | | | All this was before I even had a chance to drive it. Since my first time behind the wheel, the G80 M3 has continued to cement itself in my mind as a proper German sports car. The caveat is, though, I don’t think of it like I do the previous M3s. Particularly, the E9x generation and prior. The G80 behaves and feels more like M5s have since the E60 debuted. Not just in its external and internal dimensions, which are similar to that of an aircraft carrier, but in the way that it delivers power and isolates you and your passengers from the speeds the car can achieve. Coming from a background in E30s and E36s, one of the aspects I’ve always attributed to proper M3s is their raw connectivity. I know, the days of tiny, barely protected, completely mechanical cars are decades behind us now, but the G80 seems to take an opposite approach to luxury performance than its predecessors. | | | Even the F82, a notoriously big coupe for the category it finds itself inhabiting, still has a sort of telepathy to it that it shares with the driver. You feel entirely responsible for every twitch, sound, motion, or behavior of that car. The cabin lets in just enough road noise and vibration to remind you that you’re not in some land yacht, you’re in a high-performance car that’s just as home on the track as it is your morning commute. You feel the paint on the road, the mechanical connection of the gearbox to the shifter, and experience the sensation of speed quite accurately in the F82. With the G80, the inside of the car feels like you’re somewhere else. It’s how I imagine drone pilots feel, sitting in their shipping container ‘cockpits’ somewhere in the Nevada desert while they command a remote drone halfway across the globe. In terms of what they ‘see’ and ‘hear,’ it’s all somewhere quite far away, happening in another world or not happening in this reality at all. There is no tangibility to it, yet, the results are very, very real. | | | You don’t quite have an accurate gauge on how fast you’re going in the G80. Even looking at the speedo to see you’ve jumped over 100mph in the time it takes you to draw a breath doesn’t feel real. It’s like it’s happening in virtual reality, or that it can’t be how fast you’re actually driving. All the muscle memory you’ve developed in a lifetime of experiencing fast cars just can’t make heads or tails of the speed without the physical sensation hitting you, which it never truly does. Maybe if you lived with it day in and out for a few months, your body could acclimate to the feeling, or lack of, and take different stimuli to tell your brain ‘hey, you’re doing double the speed limit, guy.’ But I haven’t had that time, so to me, it feels alien. | | | I find that sensation more closely attributed to M5s and 750iLs. The G80 certainly has tight steering, firm suspension, body-hugging seats, and crisp shifts, but it all just feels encased in this overwhelming blanket of luxury. All the gadgetry, all the different settings, the infotainment display, the wide dash, roomy cabin, all make the car feel like a flagship sedan rather than a compact sports car. But then, it really isn’t a compact sports car anymore. That space has been taken by the M2, which was initially created to both replace the outgoing 1-series and fill the growing void left by the M3 as it ballooned in size. For that, I don’t think I can fault the M3/M4. The customer base is a partial explanation, as even the performance car segment struggles to keep up sales figures amidst the crossover hell American roadways have become. Additionally, as cars become more expensive, it’s hard to justify purchasing a single-purpose vehicle. Everything has to be like your smartphone; it has to be a performance car, commuter, family hauler, road trip car, grocery-getter, and more all at once. | | | With the M3/M4 taking more of a luxury flagship/grand tourer role in BMW’s lineup, the dimensions and feel of the car make more sense. As soon as you train your brain to think of it not as a compact performance coupe but as the only BMW you’d ever need to own, one that you can live with daily for whatever you need it to do, the purpose of the new G8X becomes clear. It is the soul of M3s reincarnated into what they could never be: a truly all-purpose M-car that gives you almost everything its older siblings did, and more. The staggering power, the comfort, the usability, and the striking visual elements of the G8X are what make it the pinnacle of German luxury performance. Thinking of it as a big-body performance sedan or Grand Tourer coupe helps it retain that poise and presence that would otherwise be lost on our culture were it a gritty, raw, compact sports car. | | | The fact is, as we become increasingly aware of road safety, technology as it applies to our daily drives, and the capabilities we can imbue upon cars, our culture has shifted away from the values we desired in sports cars of the past. Turning up to a dinner function or garden party in a bare-bones racer no longer carries the ‘cool’ factor that it did in the late 80s and 90s. Were the G80 M3 more similar to, say, the E36, it would be lost on us and built for a time that no longer exists. The G80 has a maturity to it, grace, and presence that fits our definition of success, luxury, performance, and status. It has all the telltale hallmarks of a top-shelf sports sedan, even as a larger platform, but it doesn’t sacrifice in terms of comforts, equipment, or usability for those characteristics. For these reasons, it just might be the best M3 ever produced when the time and culture for which it was built are considered. | | | Yes, the G80 M3 has a few things we’d like to change, but hey, that’s why we’re here. We’re already hard at work designing both performance and visual upgrades for the platform to help owners transform their M3s and M4s as they see fit. But honestly? If I had one myself, I don’t know if I’d do more than equip some KW H.A.S. adjustable springs, a short shift kit, and a set of BBS CH-R wheels. It just doesn’t need anything to make it better, like so many of the previous M3s did. In that regard, the fact that it doesn’t demand changes, I can safely say that fact makes this M3 almost the perfect embodiment of what the namesake was always meant to be: a discerning driver’s dream car and the last one they’d ever need to own. | | | What do you think about the new G80 and G82? Have your opinions changed, or will you never be able to consider it a ‘real’ M-car? We always want to hear your thoughts and you can share them with us at [email protected]. Who knows, maybe you’ll find your take in a future edition of Turner Motorsport Weekly. | |
About the Author
Craig Daugherty is a die-hard BMW enthusiast with a particular taste for E30s, engine swaps, and manual transmissions. A graduate of Lipscomb University in his hometown of Nashville, TN, Craig holds an undergraduate BA in English alongside an MS in Renewable Energy. Before introducing Turner Motorsport Keys to Performance and Turner Motorsport Weekly in 2017, he was the co-owner and co-founder of Tennessee30 Garage in Nashville and an active member in the Old Hickory BMWCCA chapter. With more than a decade of BMW experience and as an amateur or professional automotive journalist, his interests are evident in each weekly article. He’s the man behind the keyboard and who many of you correspond with in response to each edition and the source for all things BMW news here at Turner Motorsport!
Thanks for reading!
Craig Daugherty | | | | |
