The Sport Evolution has been honed by serious drivers for kindred spirits – Supercar
Scribbled at the end of my notes on the BMW M3 Sport Evolution are some unusually emotive eulogies. ‘Think M3,’ it says here, ‘and you think four-seater Porsche.’ Then there’s this hackneyed observation: ‘A boy-racer for adults.’ As you will gather from such approbation, I rather liked the M3 Sport Evolution, a wonderfully entertaining machine.
When the definitive book entitled Sports Saloons of the 20th Century is written (it has been? Ah well), BMW deserves a whole chapter, and the M3 Sport Evolution star billing alongside the 2002 Tii, 2002 Turbo, 3.0CSL and others. Worthies have suggested elsewhere that this BMW is an irrational indulgence. It is certainly an indulgence, but it is any more irrational than, say, a Porsche 944 S2 which, at £35,682, is over a grand more than the last variant of the outgoing M3? I think not. There is little to choose between the two on performance, and the BMW also has four seats and a decent boot.
Of the 600 Sport Evolutions that BMW made, a tenth, all left-handed and either red or black, were earmarked for Britain. On the face of it, the upgrading of an ordinary M3 (£28,200) into a Sport Evolution (£34,500 basic) does not justify a £6300 premium. The law of diminishing returns is verging on the silly at this level. What you get for the extra cash, just to recap, are the results of a further workout in BMW M-Sport’s steroidal gymnasium. Extended wheel-arches accommodate 225/45 Michelin MXXs on 7.5J alloys and the car’s squat, road-hugging appearance is enhanced by lowered front suspension and an airdam that is impractically close to the ground.
Front and rear aerodynamic addenda can be adjusted, with patience and tools. No-one who uses this car on British roads is going to fiddle around with downforce, though, so particular go-faster refinement can be dismissed as a homologation ruse.
Not so the uprated engine, bored and stroked to increase its displacement by 165cc to 2467cc. This special M-Sport 16-valve four yields a heady 238bhp, which is 11 percent up on the ordinary 2.3 litre M3. Torque is also better, says BMW, though not by: with 177lb ft at 4750rpm, it is some way short of the S2’s 207lb ft. And it shows.
First (and misleading) impressions are that this car is off the pace. Driven with the usual acclimatising restraint, it is hard to believe the Sport Evolution is capable of clocking the blistering times BMW claims for it – 0.60 in 6.3 seconds, top speed 154mph. The tingly engine lacks the silk-glove delivery of the mainstream straight-six in the 325i, never mind its low-rev boisterousness, pulling without serious vigour in the lower reaches. Muscle flexing starts at 4000rpm, burgeoning power only when the tacho needle has soared beyond 5000. The last 1500rpm – from 5500 to 7000 – are the most telling. Here’s the M3 is scorchingly fast.
Competition ratios you will not find, and more’s the pity. There’s a dispiritingly big gap, for instance, between third and fourth (you notice it most when changing down) that draws attention to the need for closer stacking within the Getrag box. Notchiness mars the action of the short-throw, suede-topped lever, its gat dog-legged to the left, so first is out on a limb, rather than fifth.
You don’t get into an M3 Evolution so much as tug it on. The heavily bolstered bucket seat embraces so intimately, locking hips and thighs into the machinery, you have to push against a massive footrest to wriggle in, all the better to sense the car’s action. You sit low, nicely in command, behind a fixed three-spoke wheel, it’s rim grippily textured with rough suede (don’t think about sweaty summer palms). Pedal play comes naturally, without ankle distortion, and the switchgear is well deployed. Even more than in other BMWs, you sense the Sport Evolution has been honed by serous drivers for kindred spirits.
If the powerful, peaky engine gives the car its racy timbre, it is from the chassis that the press-on enthusiast will derive most tactile pleasure. Why can’t all cars handle like this? The suspension is pretty firm, but the ride is not uncompromisingly hard or jittery with the electronically adjustable dampers (costing £1494 extra) at their normal setting.
The final Evolution is a wonderfully taut, balanced, responsive car. Its assisted steering is not especially sharp, but it is beautifully precise, accurate and communicative. Cornering roll is resisted with iron-fist resolution, just like a competition kart, and the ample rubber does not easily relinquish grip. One corollary of the engine’s modest low-rev torque is that power oversteer is unlikely unless deliberately provoked. Roadholding is tremendous, the car’s composure close to flawless, even though its fat tyres are sometimes prone to mild tramlining, especially under braking.
The great thing about the M3 Sport Evolution is its ability to be most things to most people. It is comfortable, practical (four seats, ample luggage space), civilised (powered windows, decent heating and ventilation, reasonable noise levels), easy to drive (assisted steering, light brakes) and hugely entertaining (all those g-forces). It is also still available.
At the time of writing, BMW (GB) Ltd said it had five cars left of the 60 allocated. Production ceased last December (though the M3 convertible is still being made) and successor has yet been announced. Of all the M3s since the ‘86 launch, the Sport Evolution is dynamically the best.
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June 1, 2009
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