An M3 that’ll leave you cold

Let’s get it out of the way: this car costs R1 180 000.

That’s almost Audi R8 monies, china. And you’ll look much more stylish showing up in an R8 than you would in an M3 that looks like you washed it with a Scotchbrite pot scourer. Sorry BMW – that matte finish actually does look pretty awesome, but as much as we want to like this M3 – and we love the M3 – it’s hard to justify the 1-bar price tag.

Look, it is a sexy looking machine.

The Frozen edition has 330kW and  420Nm (a stock one has 309kW/400Nm) – the extra power comes courtesy of some AC Schnitzer bolt on bits. An exhaust, intake and new software (or chip, for the street racers), to be exact. It’s important to note that these goodies do carry a BMW seal of approval, so Motorplan is not affected. Another standard-fit performance part is the 7-speed M-DCT gearbox. You save R41 000 not having to specify that, and with the extra power the DCT ‘box helps the limited edition M complete the 100km/h sprint a smidge faster than the stock version: 4.5 seconds versus 4.6.

Cosmetic changes, the ones making this M3 instantly recognisable, aren’t just limited to the matte grey or black paint. The 19-inch wheels are now gloss black and behind them are some racy red (woohoo) brake calipers. The interior gets a helping of sexy, too: red contrast stitching on the black leather looks the part.

Gloss black or not: we still prefer the 18-inch wheels on the stock M3.

Contrast stitching makes us lust even more.

Only 25 of the local-only models will be sold, so if you can justify paying an extra ~R300 000 for exclusivity, best rush down to your dealer right now.