M CARS FOR 2001: ALL-NEW M3, PLUS UPDATES FOR M5, M ROADSTER AND M COUPE

Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey... Model year 2001 brings a host of new developments from BMW M, with the all-new M3 coupe taking center stage. Yet the M3 is not alone, as all other M Cars for 2001 incorporate product enhancements and updates ranging from detail to major. The overview:

M3 coupe. As the first of a pair of all-new M3 models, this 5-seater coupe returns to the M Cars stable in all-new form after a 1-year absence. Engineered and designed on the basis of the current 3 Series, the new M3 is a significant advance over its illustrious predecessor, which proved that BMW M can combine stunning performance and road manners with true everyday practicality and utility. At $46,045 including destination charge, the new M3 coupe has moved upscale from its predecessor, primarily via a brand-new, race-bred engine delivering almost 100 horsepower more than its predecessor.

Yet heightened performance is only one of the M3's attractions. Drawing upon the best qualities of the previous M3 and the present 3 Series, it achieves a new level of road capability, topping even that of the car that Car and Driver declared in 1997 "The Best-Handling Car for Over $30,000." New exterior design, new developments in seating, and features never before available in an M3 complete a constellation of features that will capture the hearts and minds of enthusiasts and critics as never before.

M5. Introduced for 2000 and enjoying strong demand on its limited production (as well as some over-new-price offerings on the used-car market), the most powerful, spacious and luxurious M Car moves into 2001 at the same base price ($70,045) with a significant amount of updates and refinements. Among these are new front and rear lighting design, a wider monitor for its standard navigation system, and a newly available upgrade audio system. Automobile Magazine's May 2000 issue called the V-8, 396-hp M5 the Best Sport Sedan.
M roadster and coupe. Having completed their 2000 model year in June '00, these sports cars will reappear in early 2001 as '01 models. They get essentially the same new 3.2-liter inline 6-cylinder as that powering the M3, and thus will offer even stronger performance than they do now. Refinements to their suspension and wheels, the addition of Dynamic Stability Control, and detail design evolution inside and out round out a package of updates that give these entertaining 2-seaters new sparkle for the new year.

THE CREATOR: BMW M

All M Cars are creations of BMW M. The full name of this illustrious BMW subsidiary is BMW M GmbH: GmbH is the German abbreviation for a limited-liability company (Ltd.), normally associated with companies smaller than the AG (stock-corporation) type such as BMW AG. Indeed, though BMW M is part of BMW , it is also separate. Irreverent Americans might refer to it as a "skunk works," and as long as you put that in the German context of precision and perfection in machinery, that's a fair characterization.

Employing some 500 associates, BMW M is headquartered in two complexes outside the immediate sphere of BMW AG. The main one is in Garching, Germany, a town north of BMW's home city of Munich; this is where much of the conceptual activity and overall vehicle development, as well as BMW M's marketing, takes place. The other is where the heart of every M Car is developed, in the north of Munich not far from BMW's famous 4-cylinder headquarters building: BMW M's engine-development facility.

Not to be forgotten in the M scheme of things is BMW Motorsport Ltd., a separate group based in Britain and charged with developing cars and strategies for BMW's racing programs. Among Motorsport's recent achievements is the open-bodied V12 LMR racing car that, powered by a 550-horsepower version of the BMW V12 engine, won the 24 Hours of Le Mans race in 1999. Other exciting Motorsport activities encompass BMW's return to Formula 1 racing, Class II Touring Car competition, and in America, the American Le Mans Series GT Championship. It is this last series that the racing version of the new M3 is, indeed, already competing.

Please be sure to download the attached files for more detailed information about the M3 for 2001. The press kit includes:

- M car update
- M3 conv. text
- M3 conv. highlights
- M3 coupe text
- M3 coupe highlights
- M3 coupe & conv. features
- M3 coupe & conv. specs.
- M3 prices

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