castagna

Maybe it's that the M3 it's much faster than the C63

Or that AMG's engine sounds much worse.

BMW fanboys are starting to get defensive

Beemer B773ER

I absolutely agree with your final point about cars with exposed engines. When the engine is clearly visible from the outside the designers should put a little effort into making the engine look like the big, brutal powerplant that it is... but with 'normal' cars I couldn't care if BMW painted the entire engine bay in a Barbie Doll Pink colour.

Tycoon

As i was saying, who gives a damn how it looks? What's underneath is what matters... And in M3's case, there's a lot underneath...

vedjo01

Thank God (and brilliant engeeners at BMW) for that !!

Guibo

I think the CSL will probably have a CF intake like the E46 version had.

None of these engines looks particularly great, but the Audi's is a step up. But when you look at the M3's engine, you get the idea that the engineers kept the stylists at bay, so to speak. Like much of the rest of the car, it reeks of stereotypical German minimalism, some would say austerity. Take for example the oil filter housing. It's right out for easy access, unencumbered by the need to remove any cover as it does in the Audi (and probably the AMG too). It's not a big deal to remove covers, but it's little functional things like that that I wouldn't trade for glitz. Note that practically all of the fluid access points are grouped together on one side of the engine; can't help but think that that is by design.
The part of the M3 engine area that gets a huge thumbs down from me has also to do with function: there's no dipstick.
Frankly, most engine bays nowadays, excluding those of exotics/supercars, are completely underwhelming. Not even the megabuck 8C Competizione (with its red cam covers and all) has the dramatic appeal of this engine:

Beemer B773ER

I'll drink to that!

The thing with the M3 is every design element follows the 'function over form' message that BMW and M so proudly believe in when it comes to their performance cars.

The rear diffusor make look sexy with all those curved and very much different to other diffusor designs out there, but it still serves the function of increased rear downforce. The front of the M3, M5 and M6 have the noticeable omission of foglights due to the need for increased air-intake to keep those demonic high-revving engines cool. The carbon fibre roof isn't there simply for looks (unlike the CL63 AMG which has CF side mirrors, I mean come on, like that's going to make much difference on its own).

Probably the only cosmestic design element on the M3, M5 and M6 is the M side-gills. Other than that, these cars were designed by engineers, with the designers only adding the finer touches to bring all these functional features into one cohesive, appealing, emotive and DAMN HOTT looking piece of automotive metal (and plastic ).

I can honestly say I do not see the same level of focus and strictness in design philosophy with the C63 or RS4.

Sunny

I think the barbie doll pink color is really pushing it...

Matt

uhhh, what your looking at in the C63 engine bay is simply a flimsly silver plastic cover.....BMW didnt put the money in to design one thats as good looking-but they did spend money on making their car 400 lbs lighter than the C....

Merc1

Some related videos:

RS4:

- ONLY REGISTERED AND ACTIVATED USERS CAN SEE ALL LINKS - CLICK HERE TO REGISTER


C63 AMG:

- ONLY REGISTERED AND ACTIVATED USERS CAN SEE ALL LINKS - CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

M3:

- ONLY REGISTERED AND ACTIVATED USERS CAN SEE ALL LINKS - CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

M

GTA8.5

Those vents are there to cool the heat in the oil pressure. That`s not just a cosmetic treatment. At Mercedes-Benz, form still follows function, it`s there for a reason.