I had the opportunity to see the 2021 BMW M3 Competition at UDE NJ earlier today 8/23.
The car is absolutely stunning. I have been one of the biggest critics of the front end, I’ve made numerous comments about it across various different forums. The front end looks on-point. The car is not ostentatious whatsoever. The design is extremely sophisticated, yet completely distinct. You will not be able to mistake this for an M340i or an M340i for an M3. Literally every single panel is different. Super aggressive yet subtle at the same time. That seems impossible in theory but they’ve pulled it off.
The car I saw was Isle of Man Green exterior with South Africa Orange Interior.
The combo really works. The shade of green is perfect, and the new orange looks elegant.
-CS style hood except it has dual vents instead of a single vent and no power dome
-Striking side profile. It was never this distinct in previous model
-Super aggressive rear and front ends
-Overall the car has an extreme amount of “aero stuff” lots of lines…
-Interior quality is truly next level (This car appeared to have the full-merino option) Not sure if that’ll be the case on the standard car
-If it were my guess, this was probably a high MSRP build.
In my opinion it looks better than all previous M3s. This is going to be a game changer. BMW is no doubt going to sell a ton of these. Can’t wait to see how it drives.
I wish I went to Monticello as well; as I would’ve gotten the opportunity to see the M4.
BMW has made this M3 a highly distinguishable car. As I said before, you will absolutely not be able to mistake this for an M340 or an standard 3 series. The M340i looks like a very tame car in comparison.
In this segment, no other car has this amount of insane road presence.
This might sound a bit weird but you absolutely cannot tell anything about the car in pics & vids…
There is a lot “3Dness” going on which is why you kind of have to see it in person.
It does not look anything like the 440 Coupe (at least on video).
You can’t really underestimate just how aggressive the front end is on the M3. The front bumper is absolutely crazy…paired with the blacked out grill that I saw it looked perfect.
The 340s/440s look considerably tame compared to the M3. You will not able to mistake an M3 for an M340 as literally every panel is different.
I don’t know if you saw the press release for the 2022 M4 GT3 race car. If anything it resembles the GT3 race car more than it resembles the M440i.
It seems crazy but its true. To sum up the answer to your initial question-- it’s far more distinct.
I haven’t seen the M440.
The grill works really well on the M3. In person it does not seem huge or ugly at all.
It was all blacked out though as it was a ZCP model.
I was one of the biggest skeptics about this car. Made countless posts on BimmerPost criticizing it.
Once you see the entire package put together, you will see its not a bluff. Car looks absolutely gorgeous and the grill works with the ultra aggressive front end.
I hope so, I’ve accepted that the front might not been up to par, but if it had a normal front end, it’ll be one of the greatest cars ever made. Like you mentioned the engineering and stuff behind it is WILD.
Honestly you have to see it to believe it. There is no way to imagine it otherwise. It is one of the most aggressive looking M cars out there and looks substantially better than the F80 M3 which is a huge compliment. The F80 looks very tame compared to it.
Personally, I still did think it was very big and a little strange. Especially with the horizontal slat design.
Also, the sensor cluster which looks like a single large sunglasses lens, covers nearly a quarter of the grill on the lower right quadrant. For all those who are saying “just throw an aftermarket bumper extender over it” the sensors are going to pose a problem with that.
This part I do agree with, it’s very distinctive. No need to look twice to tell if it’s an m3 like previous gens. It has incredible presence.
The aero on the front splitter was very aggressive. Like carbon fins jutting out from the front lip like mech-sharks skimming just below the surface.
It will be the most recognizable sports sedan from any of the German cars.
The quad exhaust that was on it was entirely real and looked incredible. Although, I wonder if it’s a stock exhaust, it was really large and very chrome-y.
I’m already used to to the grille…took me a longer than the oversized grilles BMW started last year, but really liking the the m3/m4/4 series now. Absolutely won’t confuse it with a lesser trim or order version
Interesting, can’t wait for the reveal, still curious as to how the front end looks since I have written it off and contemplating an M2C as the successor to my M340i when the lease ends. However, the G series should be the last of the purely ICE M3/M4 and as such it would be great to own one. With how good the M340i is, this generation of M cars will be epic.
