BMW's sports sedans are perennials on the top ten lists and performance shootouts of all of the major car magazines. In addition to being the darlings of young professionals and car enthusiasts, the German sedans command a high level of respect from well-heeled luxury buyers and the status-conscious. All of this attention naturally elevates the sticker price to a level at which the average car buyer has to ask what makes it so special.

Park a BMW M3 next to a Honda Civic coupe and you'll notice that they're about the same size. Both cars have two doors, four wheels, and so on--all of the components in the proper places. So what makes the BMW so special? Why does BMW call their cars "Ultimate Driving Machines," with a straight face?

I'll try to explain.

To the casual observer, the M3 is benign. It's just another European luxury coupe, right? Wrong. It's a monster. The familiar BMW 3-series sedan's conservative shape--twin-kidney grille, moderately athletic, aerodynamic design, rounded-off trunk--is rippled with additional wheel flares and hood bulges, as if a 330 had spent several weeks at the gym bulking up. The M3 seems to hunker at the curb. Unlike some other sports cars, it's not all posing, either. The flared wheel wells are there to cover race car sized 18" wheels and tires. The hood bulge quietly reminds onlookers of the powerplant beneath. There are gill-like vents in the sides, for ventilating underhood components. The front bumper has been modified from that of a standard 3-Series with an integrated spoiler and a wide, mesh-screened grille for the oil cooler. You may have to be careful over some speed bumps, but at least it's for a good cause.

The multi-textured interior is a nice place to be, with choices of several leather and cloth, and a special three-spoke steering wheel. Bright metal rings accentuate the instrument panel, and all of the instruments have ominous red needles. The various panels and colors make the M3's interior seem like it was formed rather than manufactured. The seats are aggressive, poking and prodding your body until you're exactly where the M3 wants you to be. Don't let the fancy leather fool you; the M3 would be just as happy with the carpet stripped out and a roll cage installed. The steering wheel is thick, like a strong dog's leash. The M3 makes it clear that it's not a car to be taken lightly. You don't just sit in this car, you wear it.

BMW's "M" cars have all been developed as directly as possible from factory racers. The M3's unique sport suspension is all-independent, with special forged aluminum lower arms in the front and a "thrust plate," which helps to absorb the lateral forces generated by hard cornering. With a stiffer front end, the tires keep better contact with the road at the limits of handling, resulting in more confident performance. At the rear you have a multi-link setup which is wider than that of the standard 3-Series. There's a stiffening brace whose task is similar to that of the thrust plate. The M3 is designed to go around corners as hard and fast as possible. Rack-and-pinion steering is also part of the package. As a result, the M3 has a highly balanced, sticky chassis that's reminiscent of Honda's race-bred S2000, but it's not evil enough to make the CD player skip when you hit a bump in the road. The M3 doesn't follow the crown of the road either, a common complaint among big-tired sports cars. It tracks without wandering and turns as if it was reading your mind.

Plenty of other cars do that, however. Where the M3 leaves them behind is with its wonderful 333-hp straight-six cylinder powerplant. The 3.2 liter straight-six has a cast-iron engine block, rather than aluminum, to better enable it to spin at Formula One-engine speeds and remain compact. BMW's VANOS variable valve timing (if you must know, VANOS is an acronym for the German "Variable Nockenwellen Steuerung") has separate programs for low and high engine speeds. Other race-track bred tricks include an incredibly high compression ratio (to more fully burn fuel), machined combustion chambers and intake ports (for smoother airflow into the engine), individual throttles for each cylinder (to reduce throttle lag) and a special valve mechanism that reduces reciprocating mass inside the cylinder head. What all of that engineer-speak adds up to is this: the M3 is a stunningly powerful road car. It's never a car to be taken lightly. Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) aside, it takes a measure of vigilance just to keep it from ramming the car in front of you whenever you touch the accelerator. Power is seamlessly available at any time, in any gear. Driving the M3 in traffic is like walking a hungry wolf through a flock of sheep. It's almost an addictive feeling.

BMW's six-speed manual gearbox can be challenging. The M3 seems to be annoyed if you don't get each up- and down-shift just right, as if the car is trying to train the driver even while it's taming the road.

The complex Sequential M Gearbox (SMG II) is a $2400 option. It's basically a Formula One-style clutchless manual. Unlike "manumatic" transmissions like Porsche's Tiptronic and Chrysler's AutoStick, the SMG II is more than just a way to shift an automatic transmission up or down manually. The SMG II is directly based on the straight-line transmission used in BMW's very successful European race cars. It's similar to a motorcycle's transmission, and moves directly from gear to gear via a central shift lever rather than requiring the driver to follow a shift pattern as in conventional transmissions. The fully automatic clutch keeps the driver's input basic; push forward to shift down, and pull back to shift up. Shifts are lightning fast, and only the most hard-core gearheads will feel like they could do it faster. Once you've mastered it (and remembered not to punch the lever forward for 3rd or 5th gear), the SMG II is a quick, if less satisfying, way to go fast. Missed shifts are impossible, unless your hand slips from the steering wheel paddle. The SMG II likes to be driven hard, offering crisper shifting when the M3 is driven in anger. Unlike Toyota's similar system, SMG II has a fully automatic mode as well. It doesn't make a particularly good autobox--the gearchanges are slow--but it's nice to have an alternative for days when you don't feel like playing with the sequential shifter, or get sick of trying to master it. Our test car spent much of the week in automatic mode; it's a neat toy, but we prefer the traditional three-pedal M3, and the price savings that goes with it.

Of course, BMW will turn your M3 into a luxury tourer if you'd like. In addition to the SMG II, there are rain-sensing windshield wipers, reverse-sensing parking assist, a Harman Kardon audio system, and satellite navigation to drive the bottom line up.

For the driver who wants to master its capabilities, the M3 is almost unbeatable. Nothing else with a sub-$60,000 price tag matches its all-around athletic ability. It's available in coupe and convertible form only, and pricing starts at $45,900 for the coupe. Buyers who prefer a less "committed" drive will probably be happier with the M3's 330i siblings, which share its good ergonomics and well-above-average handling, but offer a slightly less caffeinated driving experience.

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