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The brand new and much anticipated BMW M3 Coupe was went on sale throughout the UK in September, having been unveiled as a breath-taking concept at the Geneva Motorshow
earlier this year. The unveiling caused a major sensation in the motoring world
seeming to promise the production of a muscular and radical new sports coupe.
The previous versions of the M3 were extremely good sports coupes;

mind-bendingly quick, superbly designed and with the famous BMW build quality -
these were highly desirable cars.

When M3 Coupe concept was unveiled, the world marvelled at the aggressive stance, the hard, muscular body and the menacing look of the front end. When I got the press release, I loved it immediately and thought "I hope the production car looks like that". The press photo of the silver showpiece immediately took pride of place on the wall in front of my desk,
where it remains to this day. I was relieved when M3 was launched in the UK
in September and it looked exactly the same as the beautifully rendered concept.

I've driven the previous 3 generations of the M3, finding
each successively better than the last and each time I was amazed that it was
possible. All eyes are on the brand new 2008 version, hoping that the latest
car wouldn't break the spell. By the time September 2007 arrived, I'd been
waiting for a chance to drive this car for some months.

I headed to a great selection of demanding and once there, I armed the M' button (selects sport mode), set the suspension to sport' and opened the throttle. What happened next was incredible; several things happened at once and the entire car instantly came alive. There was a bracing surge of power from the newly engineered 4 litre V8, the G force pushing me back into my supportive leather sports seat, the rev counter needle shot to the 8,000 RPM
end of the clock. The urgent snort from the front and with a deep bellow from
the rear combined to produce the most thrilling cacophony of sound. Cornering
at speed is incredibly good, thanks to the multilink rear suspension and
advanced electronic driving aids combined with the addition of the electronically
managed M-Differential system; a direct inheritance from BMW's F1 technology.

This is an excellent car, built with BMWs famous attention to detail, beautifully honed, tapping into the existing M3 heritage and racing technology. It can be used everyday as a practical and comfortable commuting car but when the mood takes you, let the 414 horses free and enjoy the rush.

The 2008 M3 Coupe is every bit as good as I expected and I'm thoroughly convinced that it's better than its predecessor, a seemingly almost an impossible feat. It's a fantastic sports coupe with a strong, legendary tradition.

Learn more about this author, Damian Doyle.
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