Can a supercharged 2011 BMW M3 Coupe make the hall of fame?

This 2011 BMW M3 Coupe gets an Active Autowerke supercharger, making it the most powerful example I've driven. Can it reach hall of fame status?

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Perhaps I owe a debt of gratitude to the E92 M3. It’s the car that put me on the map, so to speak. I’ve owned one the longest of any car. Shot so many. Reviewed three. It’s the car people ask me about most often. Despite all that, I’m just not sure I want another.

But what if we add more power? A lot more power…

Get one

  • Shhh – I’m revving the engine
  • Looks that held up
  • Feels small compared to modern M3s

Don’t get one

  • ‘Charger costs as much as a daily
  • Bad ride in Sport +
  • Squishy brakes
Soul Score

10/10

BMW would charge six figures for this car if they made it today. Maybe seven.

The 2011 BMW M3 Coupe Overview

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A long time ago, in a BMW dealership far, far away, I had no idea what the hell I was doing when it came to ordering a car. So I built a spec with the dealer, and then went home to think about it. That was April of 2010. The very next day I went to go build the car at home online, and it was different! What’s this?

Zee–Cee–Pee?

BMW faithful know the term – Ze Competition Package. And in the E9X, it didn’t really amount to all that much. New 359M wheels. A 10mm lower ride height with retuned traction control and a firmer Sport mode. Annnddd…that’s it. But to 25-year-old Mike, it might as well have been a pair of General Electric F-14 engines strapped to the trunk. Take my money!

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All the E9Xs reviewed on this site have been pre-LCI examples, and there were updates aside from the Comp Pack. However, one thing that never changed was the S65 V-8 – until you add a supercharger on it. 640 horsepower from an Active Autowerke kit makes this the most powerful example I’ve driven yet.

So here it is. The biggest of boys. Is it enough to make me want one back in the MWS garage?

Performance Score: 8. Less guts, more glory

This is a 15-year-old car that never embarrasses itself. Actually, in some ways it’s better than a new one. Some…

Engine

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Revs come fast once the power is up.

We’ve covered this engine plenty. Stock, it’s just average. Supercharged, it’s brought to life. But with this kit, it’s something else entirely.

First, let’s peak at the butt. I spy a fully customized exhaust with racing cats (AAW recommends you take away the stock units). This results in bringing out the alto in the S65 – more F1, less stock car. With this setup, you never get beat up in the highway, but it does get loud near the red line. When I say loud, I mean being in the front row of your favorite band’s concert, singing the best part of your favorite song. It’s goosebumps.

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The car needs an aftermarket exhaust to bring it alive.

Sure, your ears will ring tomorrow. Who cares? And shhh, come closer. Don’t tell anyone, okay?

I like it better than a GT3’s sound.

The other half of this intoxicating formula is the power. The Active Autowerke kit pumps 8 psi through the V-8, and boy do you feel it at the top end. Working with this red line in comparison to so many other cars is not an easy thing to pick back up – you’re constantly short shifting until you remember that, yea, I have the room.

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Can you hear a picture?

You buy this 2011 BMW M3 Coupe because of this engine. The kit alone costs $12,000, plus you gotta install. But it’s a shining example of what I usually point out. You want to spend $100k for a silly orange paint job on a Lime Rock Edition, or you want to get an older coupe, sort it out, and slap one of of these for a grand total of less than 60k?

Transmission

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Long live the DCT.

I’m living the life now – no clutch to contend with. I love it – but for a special third car, it would have to be stick, right?

Naaaah – this DCT is so good! It fires off upshifts like the minigun on an A-10, and it’s synced perfectly with the V-8, even with all the extra power. Some add the tune from BMW’s Euro-only GTS M3, but even without it this thing kicks butt.

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Adjustable shift-quickness can be changed here.

Around town, I find it behaves just like any normal automatic, if perhaps just a bit more clunky. It works as well as modern Porsches and Corvettes. I can’t tell you what my final decision would be for my own ride, but there’s no doubt that BMW intended for the E9X to be had with twin clutches and a computer brain in between.

Steering and Chassis

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Actual steering feedback remains a compelling reason to get one of these.

Clarkson always loved this M3, and he praised it endlessly, but when the Competition model came out, he said the changes amounted to a little button on the dash that made the car worse.

Is that true? I don’t think so. Put the car in Sport + mode (press that console button twice), and you engage a damping rate that’s stiffer than a regular M3’s stiffest setting. Quite the Viagra competition we have going on here. Thing is, it works. I found this example to be stiffer indeed, with less body roll and a more direct turn-in response. Some don’t have the adaptive suspension at all, and it really does make a difference.

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ZCP cars were lowered from the factory by 10mm.

Well maybe Mr. Clarkson meant off-track. Yup, can confirm – it’s brutal around town, but you’d never leave it in full attack mode all the time anyway. In this regard, an M3 without EDC at all is a better bet.

Of all the examples I’ve driven, I’d say the coupe with a coilover kit is probably your best bet, making the ZCP option more “nice-to-have” rather than required when shopping for used ones.

Brakes

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Fine for the street, but nothing more.

I never liked the stock brakes on this car. They fade. They warp. And they wear quickly. Ask me how I know this, and I will point to the sets I’d burn through every other track day.

Adding power only makes the problem worse, but if you’re not tracking the car the stock units are fine. They don’t even look nice though – what the hell BMW?

Lifestyle Score: 8. Don’t hate me

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Kid seats fit in back, even in the coupe.

Tom, the very nice man who owns this M3, asked if I wanted him to remove the child seat for the photo shoot. Nah. And you know what? Everyone tells me the kids love it, sedan or coupe. Can confirm with my own offspring.

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Couches that you sit on, rather than in.
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The car is big enough to fit your life, it’s an M3.

I once fit a TV in the trunk of mine. Tom has life in the trunk. It’s an M3 – use it. Does the fact that it’s practical make it less special? Maybe a little. But what do you consider special? A Vette has two trunks. A 911 has a back seat. It’s all relative.

Fuel Economy: 5. Press the button

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So insulting.

The supercharger kit isn’t terrible on fuel, behaving much like a normal car if you don’t rev the snot out of it at every single light. Doesn’t help though.

Let’s take this moment to point out the auto start/stop feature. On 2011 models such as mine (built in 2010), I never had it. But BMW added it in by September of that year, calling it a 2011.5. Whatever – just press the button on the dash and turn it off forever. But its presence annoys me. Really? On a V-8 that revs to 8,000-plus RPMs?

Features and Comfort: 8. Modern misfit

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For all the talk about how much BMW has changed over the years – have they really? They still make cars where the climate control numbers are red, like an alarm clock.

LCI inside

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This is a double hump example.

Inside the 2011 BMW M3 Coupe are minor changes. There’s a revised climate control panel that now says “ALL” instead of “REST” because God forbid they make it easier to use.

There’s iDrive 3 here, up from V2 on the original model. Works fine – get yourself an Apple Carplay unit and you’ll have everything you need. Most of the functions related to drive modes aren’t controlled through iDrive anyway.

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iDrive 3 still works well enough, but get CarPlay for actual directions.
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The iDrive knob changed in 2010.

Nice touches here include an Alcantara steering wheel (press the red M button for your saved drive mode settings) and soft black Merino Leather. Still dislike the seats, but you can live with them. Cup holders are still useless too. Mrs. Machines would not appreciate her Stanley falling out during one of my patented “watch this!” moments.

That’s a wrap

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359M wheel are a ZCP must-have.

It is, and it looks great, as does nearly any blue on the E92. This San Marino-ish color would have been a great factory option.

We also have those 359M Competition wheels in black, as they came on the GTS model. The only visible difference from pre-LCI models are the tail lights. This was very important – the worst LCI of all time goes to the E92 3 Series Coupe with its ugly headlights. Looks like a damn owl getting an enema. M3s were spared.

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The LED taillights of the M3 are its only LCI giveaway.

Black grilles and gills with LED angel eyes round out the changes. I think we’re now past the point where this car might look “old” – it just looks good, and it always will.

Others sport cars and coupes to consider

The 2011 BMW M3 Coupe is a hall of famer, but not the hall you think

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I love pasta. Ravioli specifically. If I could eat just one thing for the rest of my life, Ravioli it would be. But it’s a rich dish, and when we have leftovers I invariably think that yea, these tasted better yesterday.

This tortured analogy might have you think the Ravioli represents the 2011 BMW M3 Coupe. Nope – I’m referring to something like a Corvette Z06 or a 911 GT3 RS. Rich cars that you enjoy for a day, and then put back because man, they leave you full.

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The E92, even when supercharged and producing the sound of 10,000 angels singing in unison, is still just an M3. Which is really just a 3 Series. That makes it useful. Comfortable. Spacious. Practical. Dirty words for sports cars. It’s a better all-around automobile than a GT3 or Z06, and if you could only get one, I’d park your butt in one of these. It’s never too rich, and never resembles eating broccoli. Yea, just right.

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Which is why I lean toward not getting another. Been there, done that. I want something silly this time. One M3 is plenty.

Said no one, ever.

Regardless, it doesn’t change the fact that among these pages, the E92 M3 Coupe is officially GOAT’d. Burn the incense, light the candles.

I have anointed.

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2011 BMW M3 Coupe Specifications

VEHICLE TYPE

Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, four-passenger, two-door coupe

PRICE

Base: $60,575

POWERTRAIN

4.0-liter supercharged V-8
414 horsepower @ 8,300 RPM (640 supercharged)
295 lb-ft @ 3,900 RPM
Seven-speed Dual-Clutch transmission

DIMENSIONS

Wheelbase: 108.7in
Length: 181.7 in
Width: 71.0 in
Height: 55.8 in
Curb Weight: 3,704 lbs

FUEL ECONOMY

Combined/city/highway: 16/14/20 MPG

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