How is the M3 not what BMW says it is? I am confused by that statement. It may not be as fast as the GT-R, but surprisingly it holds its own. Yes it is a bit pricey when compared performance wise, but the new M3 has a right to cost as much as it does with the rich history it has had since the E30 M3.

Haha, no I do not work for BMW. As much as I would like to at times, I do like writing about them as an enthusiast much better.

You compare the GT-R and the BMW just as heavily as the media. It is not made to compete against the M3, not at all. The CSL will compete better. The M3 is a different kind of car. The M3 has more luxury built into its skin, while the GT-R still has odd Nissan bits.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the GT-R (I wrote a great article about it on RawAutos.com), I just think the media is comparing it too much against everything. It doesn’t have a manual either, which really bothers me.

I wrote this article to compare the C6 Corvette and the 997 911 Carrera 2S against the M3, which has been its main competition for years. I wanted to show that finally the M3 has the pricing to match the Corvette, the performance to match both and the luxury (4-seats) that neither the Porsche or the Corvette have.

Do you work for BMW? The M3 is far from being “The Ultimate Driving Machine”. The CSL when that comes out will surely be a lot closer to the mark.

The fact that people are willing to pay over the list price for a GT-R does not reflect the cost of a car, and does automatically make a car that people will not pay over list price for (i.e. M3) a bargain. In some countries this regulated against. If people in the U.S. are prepared to bend over for a GT-R then so be it. IMHO that just indicates that the GT-R pricing in the U.S. is too low.

The European GT-R pricing was announced yesterday, and though much more expensive than in the U.S., it will still be on par with the euro price of an optioned M3. What is luxurious about an M3 with respect to the GT-R anyway?

The bottom line is that the M3 is a great car, for a typical BMW price – nothing bargain about it.

The biggest thing is, yes, it does cost as much as the GT-R, and with more luxury as well. But, the biggest question is, where can you find a GT-R for $70,000? They aren’t available in the U.S. yet, and when they get here there is already a promise that you won’t be able to buy one for under $80-90K and a lot of people are expected to pay almost $120K for them (same as a 911 Turbo). So that is why it is a bargain. It can hold its own against the GT-R, GT3, C6 Corvette, 911S and others while still being a good all-rounder on street and track. That is what makes BMW “The Ultimate Driving Machine”

I did that because I made the Corvette fully loaded with equipment like the Z51 Package, nicer rims and such. All of the things I did to the Corvette I did to the M3 to make it fair. Can you build an M3 for cheaper? Of course, but don’t forget, you can also buy a based out Corvette for about $39-42K. So in order to keep it slightly fair I kept it fully loaded to fully loaded and show why the M3 cant still be the smarter buy even when more expensive.