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2009 BMW M3 CONVERTIBLE WHAT BMW HAS TO SAY ABOUT THIS CAR: Image/Text Source: BMW Motors The BMW M3 model family is being upgraded by yet another fascinating player: The new BMW M3 Convertible, the third body version of BMW's high-performance sports car following the Coupé and Saloon, offers new possibilities to experience uncompromising driving dynamics. Beneath the engine compartment lid lurks the V8 power unit displacing 4.0 litres and with all the features of a high-speed engine developed brand-new from the ground up for the BMW M3. Above the heads of the driver and passengers is either the three-piece hardtop opening and disappearing completely into the rear roof compartment at the touch of a button in just 22 seconds or of course the blue sky and the thrill of open air. The new BMW M3 Convertible is a top-flight athlete able to offer truly outstanding performance not only as a sports car, but also with many other qualities, top performance, and highlights in motoring elegance, making every moment in the car an experience in driving pleasure and keeping the driver and passengers top fit at all times. The BMW M3 Convertible draws its exceptional dynamic driving potential from its new eight-cylinder power unit developing 309 kW/420 hp from 3,999 cubic centimetres. Maximum torque of 400 Newton-metres or 295 lb-ft is just as impressive as maximum engine speed of 8,400 rpm. This high engine speed concept so typical of BMW M engines comes straight from the latest Formula 1 power unit raced by the BMW Sauber F1 Team. Clearly, this outstanding principle of engine power ensures unique torque and muscle also in the BMW M3 Convertible in transmitting engine power through the variable M Differential Lock to the rear wheels. Acceleration to 100 km/h comes in just 5.3 seconds and the car continues to surge ahead with increasing power and performance as the driver keeps his foot on the gas pedal, all the way to the car's top speed of 250 km/h or 155 mph, where the engine's electronic control unit sets a limit to the ongoing speed and performance of this open-air athlete. Outstanding performance and thrilling dynamics of this kind create the first impression conveyed by the BMW M3 Convertible right from the start: This very special two-door performer not only comes with the same drive technology as the BMW M3 Coupé and the BMW M3 Saloon, but is also a brand-new development from the ground up, again boasting all the features so typical of a BMW M model. The BMW M3 Convertible thus transfers motorsport technology to everyday motoring, meeting even the greatest demands made of such a high-performance car. In its character, therefore, it is first and foremost a BMW M3, while nevertheless betraying its unique identity side-by-side with the Coupé and Saloon. Retractable Hardtop Since the two following generations of the BMW M3 Coupé were also joined by a BMW M3 Convertible, this concept has a long and consistent story to look back on, although the fourth edition differs from its predecessors on one essential point: For the first time a retractable hardtop protects the driver and passengers in the BMW M3 Convertible from wind and weather. Within the passenger compartment the three-piece roof ensures unrestricted all-year driving pleasure and excellent noise control. It offers truly impressive robustness and sturdiness in design and construction, highlights the sheer value of the car and, through the large windows, ensures optimum all-round visibility featuring a genuine coupé ambience within the interior. Interior Creating the interior, the designers and other specialists at BMW M have successfully reached their objective to offer the occupants maximum driving pleasure in an ambience perfectly tailored to their requirements. This applies particularly to the driver's seat, with all elements required for active motoring being modified accordingly and, through their enhanced functions, reflecting the exceptional power and performance of the BMW M3 Convertible. As soon as the retractable hardtop folds up into the rear compartment, the driver and front passenger enjoy a truly incomparable open-air atmosphere further promoted by the low-slung shoulder line, the seating position moved far to the back, and the short windscreen. The result of this concept, obviously, is an optimum experience of open-air motoring. The frame round the windscreen keeps a generous distance from the heads of the front passengers, allowing the sun and, to a pleasant degree, the wind to flow smoothly into and around the interior. A further highlight is that the occupants now enjoy an even more direct, undiluted experience of the V8 power unit with its unmistakable acoustics. Despite the low and sporting seat position, the waistline of the car is also surprisingly low. And since this attractive body line flows almost parallel to the road all the way to the rear, the passengers on the two rear seats designed and finished as single seats also enjoy unlimited pleasure of driving in the open air. Lots of fresh wind as well as unrestricted visibility in all directions therefore characterise the unique experience of driving the new BMW M3 Convertible with the roof down. Engine After a great 15 years, the straight-six power unit featured in the two preceding generations of the BMW M3 and lauded several times over as the Engine of the Year has now found a worthy successor: For the first time all model variants of the new BMW M3 come with an eight-cylinder power unit. The specifications of this all-new high-performance V8 clearly prove the competence of the engine specialists at BMW M GmbH derived directly from motorsport: Displacing 3,999 cc, the new V8 develops a supreme 309 kW/420 hp. Maximum torque of 400 Newton-metres or 295 lb-ft, in turn, comes at an engine speed of 3,900 rpm. And some 85 per cent of this maximum torque is readily available throughout the enormous engine speed range of 6,500 rpm. The eight-cylinder nevertheless owes its most outstanding characteristics to the high-speed engine concept so typical of BMW M. Because revving all the way to 8,400 rpm, the engine boasts truly shattering thrust and flexibility. The experience of power and muscle is therefore simply unique all the way. Power is transmitted to the rear wheels by a six-speed manual gearbox and the all-new final drive. This combination of engine and transmission provides a feeling of acceleration quite comparable in its spontaneity and ongoing surge of power to the dynamic potential of the most supreme high-performance thoroughbred sports cars. Apart from specific output of 105 hp per litre, average fuel consumption of 12,9 litres/100 kilometres (equal to 21 mpg imp) determined in the EU test cycle is a clear expression of the engineering art and outstanding skills of the engine development specialists at BMW M GmbH. Through this quality alone, the new BMW M3 Convertible ensures a standard of efficiency quite unique in the small segment of open high-performance sports cars. Weighing just 202
kg or 445 lb, the V8 power unit of the new BMW M3 is a genuine lightweight.
Indeed, it is even 15 kg or 33 lb lighter than the engine in the former
model – a six-cylinder. OUR TAKE ON THE 2009 BMW M3 CONVERTIBLE: The fourth generation M3 returns again in 3 configurations as the second series did: Coupe, Convertible and Sedan. The convertible M3 follows in the path of the Mercedes Benz SL and Lexus SC with a retractable hard top that will appeal to a wide variety of enthusiasts. The BMW M3 Convertible follows the same lines as the E93 convertible but packs a powerful punch with its class leading 405 horsepower V8 powerplant used on the coupe and sedan models. The open top gives enthusiasts a roadster option with all of the exterior and interior amenities of the other M3 variants. THE BMW M3 CONVERTIBLE COMPETES WITH: Mercedes Benz SL, Lexus SC, Audi RS4 Convertible, Porsche Boxter, Volkswagen EOS OTHER BMW MODELS YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN: BMW 3 Series Coupe, 3 Series Convertible, BMW M5 Sedan, BMW M3 Coupe, BMW 1 Series Convertible, M Roadster RELATED ARTICLES, REVIEWS AND SITES:
AUTO WALLPAPERS - BODY KITZ - CARBON FIBER HOODS - VERTICAL DOOR KITS - TRANCE FORM - MYSPACE LAYOUT - LEXUS IS 350 - MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 3 |
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