The BMW M3 Performance xDrive Sedan has drawn the battlelines. Picture: Mark Jones
For as long as time itself, well since the late 80s anyway, BMW’s M division and Mercedes-AMG have been at war with each other. And no more fiercely so than with the BMW 3-Series and C-Class cars that still rages on strong today.
Munich’s current available weapon of choice is the BMW M3 Sedan Competition in rear-wheel drive and X all-wheel drive configuration. Affalterbach has just launched the controversial all-new electrically-assisted C63 S E Performance Sedan locally.
A brief history lesson as recorded by me over the years shows how this M vs AMG war has ebbed and flowed. The 252kW/365 Nm 3.2-litre straight-six E46 M3 was bludgeoned into submission by the 270kW/510 Nm 5.4-litre V8 C55. The 0 to 100km/h times were 5.91 seconds compared to 5.17. Ouch.
Munich came back with a 309kW/400Nm 4.0-litre V8 of their own in the E90 BMW M3. But Merc once again simply bullied that into the reeds with a 336kW/600Nm 6.2-litre V8 C63. The AMG recorded a time of 5.10 seconds compared to 5.57.
It was with the shift to downsized engine capacity and turbocharged power along with some weight gain by the C63 AMG that saw the tables start to turn in favour of the BMW M3. The F80 M3 now offered a 317kW/550Nm 3.0-litre straight-six twin-turbo that was able to get off the line quicker than the heavier and slower shifting 375kW/700 Nm C63 AMG with a sprint time of 4.01 seconds to 4.21. The C63 AMG coming back and laying claim to fact that it would be going faster at any of the measured distances and quicker from 100km/h to 200km/h in a time of 8.54 seconds to 9.97 seconds.
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The arrival of the G80 BMW M3 Competition also offered 375kW/650Nm through the same basic 3.0-litre straight-six. The slightly heavier, slightly dated C63 AMG now wore an S badge but delivered the same 375kW and 700Nm as before. This was driven down to the rear wheels by a nine-speed double clutch now instead of a seven-speed unit. It was not hard to guess that the BMW M3 was going to stay top of the time sheets.
It does that in style with a segment-first sub-four second time of 3.64 seconds to 100km/h. The C63 S AMG actually went a bit slower to 100 km/h than its predecessor did with a time of 4.09 seconds.
What really rubbed more salt in the wounds was that this BMW M3 was now also so much quicker through any of the measured distances, and quicker from 100km/h to 200km/h with a time of 8.01 seconds to 8.87 seconds.
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With this matter of the “King of Rear Wheel Drives” sorted and in favour of the BMW M3, this topic has been dormant for the past few years. But with the unveiling of the all-new AMG C63 S E Performance 4Matic The Citizen Motoring decided to coax the BMW M3 Competition xDrive out for a test in preparation for what will come when we get our hands on the potent new 500kW/1 020Nm 2.0-litre C63 4Matic which has a healthy dose of electrical assistance.
The BMW M3 Competition xDrive delivers 375kW of power and 650 Nm of torque, the same as its rear-wheel-drive sibling. But this urge runs down through an eight-speed M sports automatic to all four wheels, just like the new C63 does.
This is now a game of grip and the F80 BMW M3 Sedan has all of it as can see by the recorded times. A supercar-like 0-100km/h time of 3.34 seconds and even higher exits speeds than before. And a sub eight-second 100km/h to 200km/h time keeps the BMW firmly on top of the charts. For now…
