Timothy “Tiff” Needell of Fifth Gear has the best job in the world. He gets to test drive and tear the living crap out of the most sought after sports cars for our viewing enjoyment.

In this latest video, Needell drives the car every auto enthusiast has been waiting for, the new BMW M3. The outgoing E46 M3 model which Tami drives, is one of Tiff’s all time favorites.

The new M3 is more powerful and boasts a ‘power’ button to make it even more aggressive. On paper all the indications are good, but there’s really only one way to find out for sure – put the man in the driving seat and let him floor the gas pedal.

BMW launched the E92 M3 on September 8th 2007 in the UK. Looking similar to the 335i BMW Coupe but with a new front air dam, quad exhaust pipes, an aggressive hood bulge, an M6 style carbon fibre-reinforced roof and vents on the front quarter panels reminiscent of the E46 M3.

The E92 M3 is powered by a 4.0 L V8 engine, instead of theinline-6 engine as used in the last generation E46 M3. While the E92 M3 resembles the regular E92 3 series, almost all the body panels are unique to the M3. The engine produces 420 hp at 8,300 rpm, and peak torque is 295 lb-ft at 3,900 rpm, which represents a power increase of 22% over the E46 M3.

The new V8 weighs 33 lbs less than the outgoing six cylinder for a total weight of 445 lbs. The styling follows the trend of slightly more aggressive M cars as started by the E60 M5. A six-speed manual transmission will be standard. While an SMG transmission was initially expected to be available as an option later, BMW is said to be planning the introduction of an all-new double-clutch gearbox, titled DCT, a year after the release of the E92 M3. It is predicted to be sold in the United States starting in the middle of 2008.

I can’t wait to get my hands on one!

The first BMW E92 M3 commercial has been released with glimpses of the beast from different angles. Although it’s a great looking car, I still prefer the last generation BMW E46 M3. The bump on the hood is a little out of place and the fenders could’ve been a tad wider.

I’m hoping it’ll look a lot better in person.

The official press photos of the M3 concept have been released and revealed at the 77th Geneva Motor Show. The E92 BMW M3 features a high-revving 4.0L V8 that many speculate will produce close to 420 HP.

The M3 concept car borrows heavily from the lines of the BMW 335ci coupe, but has been enhanced with slightly more aggressive lines.

The new M3 doesn’t look bad to me, but it doesn’t seem to have that instant “wow” factor. Of course it’s still in concept form so my opinion may change when I see the final production car. For now, It’s not quite beefy enough or balanced like the last generation E46 M3. I’d like to see what aftermarket gurus Hamann and AC Schnitzer have in store for this car.

Mwerks M3 Gallery

M3 Post Gallery

Story

The E46 BMW M3 currently in it’s third generation, has been refined to be one of the finest and most fun high performance cars on the road today. The M3 is fitted with a 3.2 liter, inline six-cylinder engine that produces 333hp and 262lbs/torque. Apparently that amount of power wasn’t good enough for Ronnie Renaldi, and a Dinan supercharger was installed to boost the power to a whopping 440hp. Definitely enough power to rumble the pants off your next date. The M3 is beautiful in its stock form, but subtle carbon fiber accents and a CSL like transformation has set this M3 apart from its stock counterparts.

Interview

K: You chose CSL components for your route of modifications. What was your reasoning behind going with the CSL kit?
R: I chose the CSL kit because it’s not over the top, it has a clean and classy look.

K: The Kinesis F110 is a fabulous looking wheel, not to mention it’s one of the lightest on the market as well. Were there any other wheels you hand in mind before making your final decision?
R: Yes, I was considering to get a set of HRE wheels, especially the HRE 540R with brushed aluminum center. But ultimately I bought the Kinesis F110 wheels instead because they are light for 19″ wheels (18 lbs for 19″x8.5″ and 19 lbs for 19″x10″ compared to HREs that usually weigh around 25 – 26 lbs). And since the spokes on these Kinesis wheels are pretty widely spaced, they show my yellow Brembo calipers nicely.

K: Alot has been put into the car, but if you had to name one mod that stands out from the rest, what would it be?
R: It’s the Dinan supercharger. Not many people have this supercharger kit. It puts down about 110 more hp (at crank/flywheel) than a stock E46 M3 but from outside, you can not tell that my car has a supercharger.

K:What’s next in your mod plan?
R: Some interior mods and ICE. Or maybe skip these and get a new car ;)

Pictures

Modifications List

Exterior:
- Vorsteiner CSL front bumper
- BMW OEM CSL trunk
- CSL style CF rear diffuser
- CF Kidney Grilles
- CF Side Grilles
- CF Headlight trim set
- Smoked front corners
- Black Roundels
- Silvervision turn signal bulbs
- Umnitza Predator Chromium DDE
- ProLumen 6000K HID bulbs (not installed)

Wheels & Tires:
- Kinesis F110 19×8.5 (18 lbs) and 19×10 (19 lbs) wheels
- Bridgestone S03 245/35-19 and 275/30-19 tires
- Turner Motorsport 8mm spacers

Suspension & Braking:
- Brembo GT 4-piston front calipers (custom painted yellow) with 14″ front rotors
- Brembo 4-piston rear calipers (custom painted yellow) with OEM 12.9″ rear rotors
- Goodridge stainless steel braided front brake lines
- Hawk HPS F+R brake pads
- KW Variant 2 coilovers
- Dinan front swaybar
- Quattro CF front strut bar (not installed)

Engine:
- Dinan Vortech Supercharger (4.6 psi Boost Pressure)
- Dinan high flow cold air intake
- Larger capacity fuel injectors
- Racing-Style aluminum radiator
- Dinan engine management System
- Dinan high flow throttle bodies
- Evosport headers with ceramic coating
- Evosport high flow cats
- Milltek section 2
- Milltek exhaust
- UUC Stage II lightweight flywheel
- UUC UltraSmooth Cerametallic clutch kit
- Rogue tranny mounts
- UUC EVO3 SSK
- UUC DSSR
- Defi control unit & BF gauges (Boost, Oil Temp, EGT)
- Modified CDV from Zeckhausen.com
- CF engine cover and other parts

Interior/Audio:
- Silver CF steering wheel
- UUC RK Shadow CF shift knob and CF e-brake
- LeatherZ alcantara shift and e-brake boots with red stiching
- LeatherZ Gauge Panel
- Valentine One radar hardwired
- OEM homelink
- Silver CF interior trim set (not installed)
- Tru Technology T-2.100 amp (not installed)
- Seas Excel 6″ midbass speakers (not installed)
- Phass AT28 tweeters (not installed)
- Custom passive crossovers (not installed)
- JL 10W6v2 subwoofer (not installed)
- JL 500/1 mono amp (not installed)

Komamura, makers of the popular RolleiFlex mini digital camera, has introduced a new replica: the Minox DCC Leica M3(4.0). The camera uses the familiar body of the Leica M3 in a miniature form factor. It can take pictures in a range of resolutions from 1.3 megapixels to 3 megapixels, and even simulates 4 megapixels. It measures 65×48x44mm and weighs 95 grams. Despite the small form factor, the next picture lever and shutter are fully functional.

The camera has a built-in 3.2 megapixel CMOS image sensor. It can record pictures with resolutions of 2304×1728/2048×1536, and it can function as a webcam. The Minox DCC Leica M3 comes with 32MB of built-in memory. The camera can connect to a computer via USB and is compatible with Microsoft Windows 98SE/ME/2000/XP and Mac OS 8.x and above.