E90 BMW M3 Saloon released
Sunday October 07, 2007
After the debut of the 2007 E92 BMW M3 Coupe, the next version of the latest M3 range has been officially unveiled. The 4 door saloon model has been officially announced by BMW. The distinctive front end is retained, and the body gains 2 extra doors.
Compared to the Coupe, the M3 Saloon has very similar technical details. The CdA (co-efficient of drag multiplied by the frontal area) is down slightly to 0.673 from 0.684 (lower is better), and the weight too drops from 1655 kg to 1605 kg. Despite this, the claimed 0-100 km/h sprint takes an extra tenth of a second in the Saloon, at 4.9 seconds. CO2 emissions are unchanged, at 295 g/km, and fuel consumption remains quoted as 17.9/9.2/12.4 l/100km urban/extra-urban/combined.
The body of the M3 Saloon is 35 mm shorter than the M3 Coupe, now a more compact 4580 mm long from front to back, whilst height is up from 1418 mm to 1447 mm.
The meat of the package, the fabulous naturally aspirated V8, remains unchanged. Sharing the bore and stroke of 92.0 mm x 75.2 mm and the 90 degree vee angle with the big daddy M5, the V-8 displaces 3999 cc (the M5, 4999cc; courtesy of 2 more cylinders). The 4 litre unit pumps out 420 PS (309 kW) at a dizzy 8300 rpm, and produces 400 Nm of torque at 3900 rpm. This power is put down through the rear wheels via a six speed manual gearbox.
Compared to the Coupe, the M3 Saloon has very similar technical details. The CdA (co-efficient of drag multiplied by the frontal area) is down slightly to 0.673 from 0.684 (lower is better), and the weight too drops from 1655 kg to 1605 kg. Despite this, the claimed 0-100 km/h sprint takes an extra tenth of a second in the Saloon, at 4.9 seconds. CO2 emissions are unchanged, at 295 g/km, and fuel consumption remains quoted as 17.9/9.2/12.4 l/100km urban/extra-urban/combined.
The body of the M3 Saloon is 35 mm shorter than the M3 Coupe, now a more compact 4580 mm long from front to back, whilst height is up from 1418 mm to 1447 mm.
The meat of the package, the fabulous naturally aspirated V8, remains unchanged. Sharing the bore and stroke of 92.0 mm x 75.2 mm and the 90 degree vee angle with the big daddy M5, the V-8 displaces 3999 cc (the M5, 4999cc; courtesy of 2 more cylinders). The 4 litre unit pumps out 420 PS (309 kW) at a dizzy 8300 rpm, and produces 400 Nm of torque at 3900 rpm. This power is put down through the rear wheels via a six speed manual gearbox.
