The biggest difference between the G80 BMW M3 and the M3 Competition is power. The standard car makes 473 horsepower, while the Competition makes 503 horsepower. However, that power disparity can be fixed, with a bit of a tune, as evidenced by this new video from AutoTopNL.
AutoTopNL’s G80 BMW M3 is a standard model, with a six-speed manual gearbox and a fantastic Zanzibar Metallic paint color, In this video, they took the M3 to Race Chip to get a tune. What’s interesting is that Race Chip doesn’t have a tune for the standard G80 M3 just yet, which is why they decided to use AutoTopNL’s M3 as a test bed for a tune.
The tune comes with seven different maps to choose from, which is done with the push of a button. That button can also completely turn the tune off, bringing it back to stock. The most powerful map it comes with is the seventh map, which brings the engine up to a whopping 650 horsepower. That’s more than the BMW M5 CS, in a much smaller car, with only rear-wheel drive, and a manual transmission. Bumping power to 650 horsepower was able to shorten its 100-200 km/h (62-124 mph) time by about two seconds, which isn’t an insignificant number.
As impressive as that is, though, there are concerns about its durability. The clutch in the G80 BMW M3 was not designed to handle that much power. In fact, the standard M3’s torque was tuned down by BMW, versus the Competition, because the manual transmission and clutch couldn’t handle it. Jumping from 473 horses to 650 horses is a massive jump and one that might not make the clutch very happy. Though, I’m not so sure it matters, considering that it looks like it’s a lot more fun and it seems to make its owner very happy.
