BMW's New M3 49: A Revolutionary Drive Experience

The BMW M3 49 is the latest addition to the company's line of high-performance vehicles, and it's shaping up to be one of the best cars on the market. With its newly developed three-liter straight-six twin-turbo motor, this car produces a whopping 369 pounds of torque, making it capable of accelerating from zero to sixty-two miles an hour in just 4.4 seconds. This impressive performance is thanks to the innovative technology that BMW has incorporated into this vehicle.

One of the standout features of the M3 49 is its four-wheel drive system, which has become a standard on all M series models. The addition of this feature marks a significant change from previous generations of the 3-series, as it's the first time that a BMW hasn't offered a standard rear-wheel drive configuration with a six-cylinder petrol engine. This new approach is likely aimed at improving the handling and stability of the vehicle.

The M3 49 also features an optional adaptive damping system, which adds to its already impressive performance capabilities. With this feature enabled, the car's suspension becomes even more responsive and engaging, making it a joy to drive on both twisty roads and track circuits. The DSC (Dynamic Stability Control) system has been switched off in our test car, allowing us to fully experience the car's handling capabilities.

When put through its paces, the M3 49 proved itself to be an exceptional driving machine. With the four-wheel drive system engaged, it handled like a conventional rear-wheel drive sports car, providing a razor-sharp cornering response and precise control. However, with the adaptive damping system switched on, the car became even more refined and responsive, making quick work of even the most demanding corners.

The M3 49 also features advanced safety features, including an optional accident sport rear differential, which adds to its performance capabilities. The new active diff developed from the one on the outgoing M3 has been optimized for better traction and handling, further enhancing the car's overall driving experience.

In terms of design, the M3 49 is likely to be a subject of debate among fans and critics alike. While some may find it less stylish than previous generations, others will appreciate its more refined and sophisticated appearance. The new features and technologies incorporated into this vehicle are undoubtedly the most significant factor in determining its overall appeal.

One of the most impressive aspects of the M3 49 is its ability to deliver an engaging drive experience without sacrificing comfort or practicality. With advanced safety features and a range of convenience options, this car is well-suited for both enthusiasts and everyday drivers. Whether you're cruising down the highway or carving through twisty roads, the M3 49 has everything it needs to make your driving experience unforgettable.

In conclusion, the BMW M3 49 is an exceptional vehicle that marks a significant shift in the company's approach to performance and luxury. With its innovative technology, impressive handling capabilities, and advanced safety features, this car is sure to be a top contender in the compact executive saloon market. Whether you're a seasoned driving enthusiast or just looking for a reliable and engaging daily driver, the M3 49 is definitely worth considering.

For those who want more information on the BMW M3 49, our team will continue to bring you updates, reviews, and test drives as soon as they become available. In the meantime, be sure to subscribe to our channel for the latest content, including exclusive articles, videos, and live streams. With your subscription, you'll never miss any of our in-depth coverage, from behind-the-scenes insights to detailed car comparisons and analysis.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwe're now from forty years more than 50 million units and six full model generations into the astonishingly successful life story of the BMW 3-series this is the new one the seventh one a car that a great many people who do a great many UK motorway miles every year will have been waiting for you know even though we're generations deep now into X ones and X 3s and one series this is still the most important and the biggest selling car that BMW makes you can buy one in March 2019 and today we're going to drive this 320d on the road and an M 340i on the track before we start don't forget to subscribe below if you enjoy this video and click the bell to turn on notifications this time around new really does mean you for what's probably the world's defining compact executive saloon car BMW has switched this car onto the lightweight aluminium and steel cluster architecture platform used by its bigger saloons it has made 3-series a few inches longer about half an inch wider than the last car the interior has had a big redesign more on that later the car suspension and steering systems have been widely redesigned and we specified and the familiar range of four and six-cylinder petrol and diesel engines will feature some of them all new and others having been given thorough overhauls what do you think the pictures have been out a while now it's been a couple of Motor Show use fair to say the reaction has been a little bit mixed some people think it's great great looking car but the people mmm they kind of take issue with a few things on it maybe the grills too big headlights aren't quite right wheels mmm bit blingy maybe generally it's just a slightly overwrought fussy kind of surfacing treatment for a 3-series I have to say I've got a foot in both camps on this and I think it's one of the better-looking saloon cars around the moment but we hold BMW to a very high standard for design don't we and I don't think this car has got the perfect proportions of like an e30 or any 46 or even dare I say an out for Julia it looks fine when the sun shining on it like this on a sort of a grey morning covered in dirt in basil Stoke well wait and see right let's start on the 320d shall we that's the important one after all there's a few technicalities to cover before we crack on the four-cylinder engine in this car is new instead of using twin scroll turbo charges like the last one it uses two sequential turbo charges a big one and little one and it makes the same peak power and peak torque as the last 2-liter did in the 320d but it's a left to be more efficient and more responsive in the 320d peak power is 187 horsepower and peak torque is 295 pounds foot you can have 2 litre turbo petrol power in the 255 horsepower 330i or a 3 liter turbo straight-6 engine either the 330 D or in the M 340 ie that I'll be driving on track later and you know giving us only a four-cylinder diesel when the engine is pretty strong it's a 4 Thunder diesel so it's always gonna be more about torque and power it's never better sound that great we know that but judge by the right standards it actually revs really cleanly pretty much all the way to the red line at 5,000 and it provides a really nice broad spread of torque you can sort of tell that maybe BMW hasn't got the refinement measures in this car that it puts in the bigger saloons like 5 Series because the engine sounds a little bit gruff at times when you work it when you rev it yeah you can tell it's awesome to diesel it's not the most refined engine of its kind but then MD will use they've never been outstanding in that respect it's fine it just sounds like a 4-cylinder diesel but it's a good one coming on to chassis and suspension there's a bit more of a departure to report there so yes the car is bigger than the last 3-series got a longer wheelbase but the front track has actually grown in greater proportion and beyond all that you've got stiffer Springs stiffer anti-roll bars stiffer mountings more negative camber on the front axle and all of that's going on below a body structure that's 25% more rigid than that had the last 3 Series that's what gives been debris permission to stick up the chassis rates without compromising the right hopefully they're really an innovative thing in the chassis or what BMW calls lifts related dampers and then I adaptive dampers as such but they do have little individual structures within the reservoirs that actually provide more damper support at the extremes of the travel so a full compression at full rebound the dampers just work a little bit hard harder for the car and that allows them to perhaps be a little bit more laid-back and fluent right in the middle of travel and that provides more ride comfort that's the theory anyway if you don't want nose you can have shorter firmer m-sport suspension Springs which also come with firmer anti-roll bars yet more negative camber for those from wheels and variable sports steering and then beyond that if you want to go even further you can have adaptive m-sport suspension with the proper adaptive dampers with the cvd although by and large 3-series buyers don't tend to go quite that far which is interesting it the other thing bendable you've done it's sort of spaced out the ratios in the 8-speed automatic gearbox at the car gets so the shorter ones the lower ones are shorter the higher ones are taller and at times maybe when you're using manual mode sometimes you feel like you're in the wrong gear you know you're a gear higher than you expect to be and it can feel a bit weird sometimes when you're just sort of tooling around town in like fourth and fifth but you leave it in Drive if it's really slick works really well and apparently being abused and a lot of work on the six-speed manual box that's in this car as standard so it'll be interesting to see what that's like when we get a chance right so the crux of the matter how's the ride and handling spot-on I would say better and respect to handling maybe a little bit of a trade-off on the ride but but a perfectly accessible one the right one I would say so yeah there's a firmness to the ride I mean you almost wouldn't describe it as firmness it's it's never course it's just a little bit excitable you know it wants to deal with bigger inputs quickly and then get on with it and the trade-off is a car that handles really really nicely it's a precise as you turn it in it's balanced as you drive it through it feels classically rear driven it's kind of everything you want a 3-series to be and it's not too dialed up so the initial off-center steering response is is fairly gentle actually you can feel the front tires load up and get lots of confidence and then off you go you just sort of enticed to drive it on quicker and quicker and to have a lot of fun with it and this is just the four cylinder diesel right this is impressive right so we'll park up and we'll talk about interior so this is the all-new interior for the 3-series first impressions it's a really up market treatment in here this is a sports pet car it's obvious got aluminium trim but it looks really plush still BMW have obviously noticed that we're up against a Mercedes c-class and an Audi a4 and both of those cars are really at market cars all of a sudden and this is the response and it's pretty good we've got digital instruments in front of us you get elliptic gauges speedometer on the left rev counter on the right the rev counter reads backwards I'm not sure there is easy to read as they might be and they look a bit stylized but you know whatever floats your boat all the controls are organized in what they call islands so it's supposed to look neat and tidy as well as be easy to use you supposed to be able to find things very easily I think you can I prefer these drive mode buttons all individually selectable like that rather than a toggle and still feels like a pretty small car inside but I can sit behind me and I'm not a small that as you can see so the cars BMWs latest by dr7 infotainment system innit it's got a bigger touchscreen it's all touchscreen ball and you can still use the iDrive rotary controller if you prefer the new innovation about it is it's an all new voice control system which allows you to speak really naturally to it as if it was another human being and you can call it what you like if you want to call it charlie you can call the Charlie if you want to call it a kit you could call it kit but it will always recognize hey BMW hello what can I help you with take me to the racetrack I put them out okay then welcome to the Algarve's most visited tourist attraction among the motoring journalists fraternity these days quarter-mile circuit and we're in the new top-of-the-range version of the 3-series the m3 49 this guy uses a newly developed version of the three litre straight-six twin turbo motor that we've seen in the corner of upper level three series for a while it's got 369 horsepower this time it produces 369 pounds for the torque which makes for a nought to sixty two miles an hour acceleration claim of just 4.4 seconds in this car you get the accident sport rear diff that you have to pay extra for as part of the other m sport cars 330i 330 now 339 330d both ought to be pretty decent sports car I've certainly got the makings of it given that new active diff has been developed from the one on the outgoing m3 the anything about this car is its extra life it is four-wheel drive now by my reckoning this is the first time I think since 1977 that BMW hasn't sold a standard drive version of the 3-series with a six-cylinder petrol engine whoo yeah that kind of feels like a big change to me some people may be made just a little bit uncomfortable by that on them I think what it means is this car better be damn good to drive the handling better be spot-on so let's find out well okay it feels pretty real butter someone say this car has the optional adaptive damping that comes in extra cost so I've got in Sport+ I guess that means the xDrive system set up to the sportiest talk distribution anyway it's fast it's certainly fast and I've got the DSC switched off just to see how poised how rear driven this thing can feel when it wants to so let's see second gear corner bit of gas yeah move around a bit and yeah I would say it handles I mean we know this that way we know four-wheel drive is nothing to be worried about when it comes to the corner balance the handling balance alert of a four-door saloon these days we have seen evidence of this a lot recently but normally we see it in proper em cars where you can just turn off the front drive shafts completely or in a savings mg or you know proper upper level performance sports saloons that's not what this is this is kind of the top of the normal range 3-series and technically I haven't really done anything to the four-wheel drive system it's just being just being itself it's just being the 3-series for that our our system being pretty adjustable isn't it it's sort of a step on from the active four-wheel drive systems that we know so you can just get a bit more attitude in the car you use a bit more opposite lock before the drive line start shuffling talk forwards again and put on the car out the slide it just failed more regiment the natural cornering balance of the car is really good as well it turns in really keenly there's not a hint of understeer in it and body control of these three and the faster you go current better the car gets this is on 19 so it's optional wheel sports attire I've been driving it pretty hard now for a while the tires are really hold it on quite nicely brakes are standing up and I think it sounds really good as well I was listening to them roar up and down the pit straight before I go in job well done I think honor is restored there you have it BMW is defining compact executive saloon may not be quite as compact as it used to be and it may not be quite as great to look at though that depends on your point of view but it's got a clearer sense of the luxury and technological wizardry about it now than it ever has before and despite its size it also does what every generation of this car has done so well over the decades by delivering a more engaging drive than you'll find in so many of the saloons of this kind and as ever by convincing you more by what it does and what it is that it might just be one of the very best cars in the world stay tuned to alter cars YouTube channel for more 3-series content published gifs as soon as we can bring it to you subscribe now and you won't miss any of itwe're now from forty years more than 50 million units and six full model generations into the astonishingly successful life story of the BMW 3-series this is the new one the seventh one a car that a great many people who do a great many UK motorway miles every year will have been waiting for you know even though we're generations deep now into X ones and X 3s and one series this is still the most important and the biggest selling car that BMW makes you can buy one in March 2019 and today we're going to drive this 320d on the road and an M 340i on the track before we start don't forget to subscribe below if you enjoy this video and click the bell to turn on notifications this time around new really does mean you for what's probably the world's defining compact executive saloon car BMW has switched this car onto the lightweight aluminium and steel cluster architecture platform used by its bigger saloons it has made 3-series a few inches longer about half an inch wider than the last car the interior has had a big redesign more on that later the car suspension and steering systems have been widely redesigned and we specified and the familiar range of four and six-cylinder petrol and diesel engines will feature some of them all new and others having been given thorough overhauls what do you think the pictures have been out a while now it's been a couple of Motor Show use fair to say the reaction has been a little bit mixed some people think it's great great looking car but the people mmm they kind of take issue with a few things on it maybe the grills too big headlights aren't quite right wheels mmm bit blingy maybe generally it's just a slightly overwrought fussy kind of surfacing treatment for a 3-series I have to say I've got a foot in both camps on this and I think it's one of the better-looking saloon cars around the moment but we hold BMW to a very high standard for design don't we and I don't think this car has got the perfect proportions of like an e30 or any 46 or even dare I say an out for Julia it looks fine when the sun shining on it like this on a sort of a grey morning covered in dirt in basil Stoke well wait and see right let's start on the 320d shall we that's the important one after all there's a few technicalities to cover before we crack on the four-cylinder engine in this car is new instead of using twin scroll turbo charges like the last one it uses two sequential turbo charges a big one and little one and it makes the same peak power and peak torque as the last 2-liter did in the 320d but it's a left to be more efficient and more responsive in the 320d peak power is 187 horsepower and peak torque is 295 pounds foot you can have 2 litre turbo petrol power in the 255 horsepower 330i or a 3 liter turbo straight-6 engine either the 330 D or in the M 340 ie that I'll be driving on track later and you know giving us only a four-cylinder diesel when the engine is pretty strong it's a 4 Thunder diesel so it's always gonna be more about torque and power it's never better sound that great we know that but judge by the right standards it actually revs really cleanly pretty much all the way to the red line at 5,000 and it provides a really nice broad spread of torque you can sort of tell that maybe BMW hasn't got the refinement measures in this car that it puts in the bigger saloons like 5 Series because the engine sounds a little bit gruff at times when you work it when you rev it yeah you can tell it's awesome to diesel it's not the most refined engine of its kind but then MD will use they've never been outstanding in that respect it's fine it just sounds like a 4-cylinder diesel but it's a good one coming on to chassis and suspension there's a bit more of a departure to report there so yes the car is bigger than the last 3-series got a longer wheelbase but the front track has actually grown in greater proportion and beyond all that you've got stiffer Springs stiffer anti-roll bars stiffer mountings more negative camber on the front axle and all of that's going on below a body structure that's 25% more rigid than that had the last 3 Series that's what gives been debris permission to stick up the chassis rates without compromising the right hopefully they're really an innovative thing in the chassis or what BMW calls lifts related dampers and then I adaptive dampers as such but they do have little individual structures within the reservoirs that actually provide more damper support at the extremes of the travel so a full compression at full rebound the dampers just work a little bit hard harder for the car and that allows them to perhaps be a little bit more laid-back and fluent right in the middle of travel and that provides more ride comfort that's the theory anyway if you don't want nose you can have shorter firmer m-sport suspension Springs which also come with firmer anti-roll bars yet more negative camber for those from wheels and variable sports steering and then beyond that if you want to go even further you can have adaptive m-sport suspension with the proper adaptive dampers with the cvd although by and large 3-series buyers don't tend to go quite that far which is interesting it the other thing bendable you've done it's sort of spaced out the ratios in the 8-speed automatic gearbox at the car gets so the shorter ones the lower ones are shorter the higher ones are taller and at times maybe when you're using manual mode sometimes you feel like you're in the wrong gear you know you're a gear higher than you expect to be and it can feel a bit weird sometimes when you're just sort of tooling around town in like fourth and fifth but you leave it in Drive if it's really slick works really well and apparently being abused and a lot of work on the six-speed manual box that's in this car as standard so it'll be interesting to see what that's like when we get a chance right so the crux of the matter how's the ride and handling spot-on I would say better and respect to handling maybe a little bit of a trade-off on the ride but but a perfectly accessible one the right one I would say so yeah there's a firmness to the ride I mean you almost wouldn't describe it as firmness it's it's never course it's just a little bit excitable you know it wants to deal with bigger inputs quickly and then get on with it and the trade-off is a car that handles really really nicely it's a precise as you turn it in it's balanced as you drive it through it feels classically rear driven it's kind of everything you want a 3-series to be and it's not too dialed up so the initial off-center steering response is is fairly gentle actually you can feel the front tires load up and get lots of confidence and then off you go you just sort of enticed to drive it on quicker and quicker and to have a lot of fun with it and this is just the four cylinder diesel right this is impressive right so we'll park up and we'll talk about interior so this is the all-new interior for the 3-series first impressions it's a really up market treatment in here this is a sports pet car it's obvious got aluminium trim but it looks really plush still BMW have obviously noticed that we're up against a Mercedes c-class and an Audi a4 and both of those cars are really at market cars all of a sudden and this is the response and it's pretty good we've got digital instruments in front of us you get elliptic gauges speedometer on the left rev counter on the right the rev counter reads backwards I'm not sure there is easy to read as they might be and they look a bit stylized but you know whatever floats your boat all the controls are organized in what they call islands so it's supposed to look neat and tidy as well as be easy to use you supposed to be able to find things very easily I think you can I prefer these drive mode buttons all individually selectable like that rather than a toggle and still feels like a pretty small car inside but I can sit behind me and I'm not a small that as you can see so the cars BMWs latest by dr7 infotainment system innit it's got a bigger touchscreen it's all touchscreen ball and you can still use the iDrive rotary controller if you prefer the new innovation about it is it's an all new voice control system which allows you to speak really naturally to it as if it was another human being and you can call it what you like if you want to call it charlie you can call the Charlie if you want to call it a kit you could call it kit but it will always recognize hey BMW hello what can I help you with take me to the racetrack I put them out okay then welcome to the Algarve's most visited tourist attraction among the motoring journalists fraternity these days quarter-mile circuit and we're in the new top-of-the-range version of the 3-series the m3 49 this guy uses a newly developed version of the three litre straight-six twin turbo motor that we've seen in the corner of upper level three series for a while it's got 369 horsepower this time it produces 369 pounds for the torque which makes for a nought to sixty two miles an hour acceleration claim of just 4.4 seconds in this car you get the accident sport rear diff that you have to pay extra for as part of the other m sport cars 330i 330 now 339 330d both ought to be pretty decent sports car I've certainly got the makings of it given that new active diff has been developed from the one on the outgoing m3 the anything about this car is its extra life it is four-wheel drive now by my reckoning this is the first time I think since 1977 that BMW hasn't sold a standard drive version of the 3-series with a six-cylinder petrol engine whoo yeah that kind of feels like a big change to me some people may be made just a little bit uncomfortable by that on them I think what it means is this car better be damn good to drive the handling better be spot-on so let's find out well okay it feels pretty real butter someone say this car has the optional adaptive damping that comes in extra cost so I've got in Sport+ I guess that means the xDrive system set up to the sportiest talk distribution anyway it's fast it's certainly fast and I've got the DSC switched off just to see how poised how rear driven this thing can feel when it wants to so let's see second gear corner bit of gas yeah move around a bit and yeah I would say it handles I mean we know this that way we know four-wheel drive is nothing to be worried about when it comes to the corner balance the handling balance alert of a four-door saloon these days we have seen evidence of this a lot recently but normally we see it in proper em cars where you can just turn off the front drive shafts completely or in a savings mg or you know proper upper level performance sports saloons that's not what this is this is kind of the top of the normal range 3-series and technically I haven't really done anything to the four-wheel drive system it's just being just being itself it's just being the 3-series for that our our system being pretty adjustable isn't it it's sort of a step on from the active four-wheel drive systems that we know so you can just get a bit more attitude in the car you use a bit more opposite lock before the drive line start shuffling talk forwards again and put on the car out the slide it just failed more regiment the natural cornering balance of the car is really good as well it turns in really keenly there's not a hint of understeer in it and body control of these three and the faster you go current better the car gets this is on 19 so it's optional wheel sports attire I've been driving it pretty hard now for a while the tires are really hold it on quite nicely brakes are standing up and I think it sounds really good as well I was listening to them roar up and down the pit straight before I go in job well done I think honor is restored there you have it BMW is defining compact executive saloon may not be quite as compact as it used to be and it may not be quite as great to look at though that depends on your point of view but it's got a clearer sense of the luxury and technological wizardry about it now than it ever has before and despite its size it also does what every generation of this car has done so well over the decades by delivering a more engaging drive than you'll find in so many of the saloons of this kind and as ever by convincing you more by what it does and what it is that it might just be one of the very best cars in the world stay tuned to alter cars YouTube channel for more 3-series content published gifs as soon as we can bring it to you subscribe now and you won't miss any of it\n"