Our pal Joe Achilles has been busy with his BMW M3 Competition xDrive, the first-ever all-wheel drive M3. Typically, Achilles is a rear-wheel drive purist, who prefers it to all other drivetrain variants. However, the M3 xDrive seems to provide the best of all worlds: rear-wheel drive most of the time but all-wheel drive when added grip is needed. So now that he’s owned it for 4,000 miles, how does he feel about it?
Since he’s owned his M3, Achilles has modified it a bit. Some thing were minor, such as new wheels, upgraded tires, and a comprehensive alignment. Despite being minor, they made a big difference, though. The lighter wheels are wrapped in aggressive Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires, which help provide added grip, and the alignment apparently made a world of a difference in terms of feel, responsiveness and accuracy.
However, he also made some more mechanically significant upgrades. For instance, he gave it an Eventuri intake, a Milltek exhaust, new strut bars, and upgraded brakes. All of which improve the car quite a bit, by making its engine respond better, sound better, and making its brakes bite better. The M3 xDrive is great out of the box but I imagine it’s even better with the aforementioned mods.
My favorite mod Achilles made, though, was having some padding removed from the steering wheel and wrapping it in Alcantara. While I’d admittedly have kept it leather (Alcantara can get gross with sweaty palms), the thinner rim is a huge improvement over BMW’s modern python-like steering wheels.
In this new video, Achilles takes his car to the south of France (sure, if he takes a road trip south, he ends up in Nice. If I do it, I end up in Delaware. That’s not fair, Joe!) to put some fun-driving miles on his car. During that trip, he gives his thoughts on the M3 xDrive over the past four months and 4,000 miles. Which is important because this is the first-ever M3 xDrive and owner experiences are going to be pivotal to the car’s success. Does it still feel like an M3 (the G80 doesn’t really feel M3-like to begin with), is it better than the rear-drive car, and is it worth spending the extra money on? Watch the video to find out.
