In the 50 years that BMW’s M brand has terrorized race tracks around the world, the performance-focused sub-brand has undergone a number of key transformations as it attempted to maximize the performance that BMW products were capable of. It can be easy to forget that this gold standard of the performance-driving world once started out as a small in-house race shop. BMW has prepared a surprise to help celebrate the occasion, the 2023 BMW M3 50 Jahre Edition which helps celebrate the M3’s history, but are new styling touches enough to help this beast stand out in a crowd?
Retro Paint and Badging Make This Bimmer Potent Time Machine
We’ll admit the full BMW M3 50 Jahre Edition moniker rolls off the tongue about as gracefully as an elephant attempting to master Tai-Chi but look past that and the Jahre Edition (year in German) is still a unique offering. The core styling formula carries over largely unchanged, with the 50 Jahre Edition using the M3 Competition model as a base for its transformation. That means you get the Competition model’s wheels, the muscular curves, and even the large black accented twin-kidney grilles that would make any dam-building beaver green with envy.
All of the changes on the 50 Jahre Edition focus on the finer details with several retro-themed styling elements being added to help celebrate 50 years of M Series production. A prominent one is the exterior paintwork with all Jahre models getting access to several retro colors that were once in production on older M3 models. The colors cover the entire production history and in our case, we got to time travel back to the 1990s thanks to Techno Violet a hue that was last seen on E36-era M3 models. In addition to the snazzy paint, the large M-forged alloy wheels (19 inches up front and 20 inches in the rear) can be slathered in either Orbit Grey Matte or Gold Bronze Matte with the center caps getting a special dual-color treatment that’s supposed to pay homage to 1970s era M race cars. The BMW roundels front and rear also get this treatment too, and when viewed by the sum of its parts, the Jahre Edition certainly stands out in a crowd. But unless you’re a hardcore BMW fan, look for the full effect to be minimal with many observers simply admiring your ride for its overall curb appeal versus consulting BMW literature to get the full context.
Frills & Heritage Define Carryover Cabin
Slip inside the 50 Jahre Edition and you’ll find that like the exterior, the core elements of the interior carryover largely unchanged. The cabin is purpose-built and features high-quality plastics as well as soft-touch materials that convey the ambiance that the M3 is trying to project. Our tester arrived with the optional $4500 M Carbon Sport Bucket seats. They are tricky to enter and exit out of but once you’re seated they do deliver an impressive amount of comfort despite the carbon fiber shells occasionally picking up vibrations from the firm suspension when going over rough tarmac.
The M3 also gets BMW’s latest technology including the company’s Curved Display system which incorporates a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and a 14.9-inch touchscreen infotainment system into one piece of curved glass. It looks pretty at night but the iDrive 8 software is clumsy to use and replaces many analog controls with those baked into the screen itself. BMW claims that 8.5 will improve things but we’ll wait until we have a chance to experience it for ourselves to see if any of these improvements come to fruition or not. Rear seat room is tight for taller passengers but we suspect most buyers will fold the rear seats down to
Buyers that opt-in for the 50 Jahre treatment will get some minor additions to help signify that they’re in something unique. The door sills have Jahre exclusive treatment while the seats get a stripe treatment that’s embroidered into the headrests. A production plaque by the shifter denotes your car’s place in the production order and it’s a welcome exclamation point for buyers looking to show off their ride to friends and family.
Track Ready Performance For Any Occasion
The BMW M3 comes in three distinct performance flavors with all three using the same 3.0-liter, twin-turbocharged inline-six. The difference is in the way that they are tuned with the standard M3 making 473-horsepower. Buyers that move up to either the Competition package or the limited edition CS model will get 503 and 547-hp respectively. Our 50 Jahre tester was in the 503-hp club and the engine is a willing dance partner when the M3 is pushed to its limits. An eight-speed automatic is the only transmission here but in exchange, you get access to optional all-wheel drive. The 4WD and the eight-speed are enough to help the M3 Competition make the sprint to 60 mph in 2.8 seconds which is only outshined by the beefier CS model. Oh and the exhaust note is spot on too
But while our tester proved more than capable of going fast in a straight line, we wanted to see how the suspension could cope with winding twistier sections of tarmac. With our slice of Sterling Heights lacking such roads, we decided to travel out to Hell, Michigan to see how our tester would do on some of the scenic roads that dotted the area. All competition models come with adaptive dampers and when you combine that with the suspension tuning, it helped the M3 be a fun instrument with a very high degree of control even in sharp corners. The transmission did a good job delivering smooth shifts and the optional carbon ceramic brakes in our tester helped deliver smooth and steady stops. Our tester also managed to get its slice of attention later in the day when we happened to stumble upon a small car show where we managed to make some new friends while the BMW soaked in the attention provided by curious observers.
Value Quotient
Pricing for the 2023 BMW M3 is reflective of its role as a high-performance halo in BMW’s lineup with a base RWD model starting at $81,195 with taxes and fees tacked on. Adding all-wheel drive raises the price of entry to $85,295. Optional equipment will play a prominent role in how much you’ll ultimately pay with the carbon sport buckets adding $4,500 to the price while the carbon ceramic brake system is another $8,500 extra. When you factor that in with the 50 Jahre package itself, our tester arrived at a final as-tested MSRP of $109,695.
While that’s a figurative gut punch to many budgets, this special M3 is right on target with rivals from Mercedes-AMG and Audi with the trio turning up the heat in a performance war that has been underscored by increased demand for performance utilites. That said, the M3 still has its fans and no matter what flavor you go for, we think the M3 will continue to play a role in the company’s long-term sales future for years to come.
Carl Malek has been an automotive journalist for over 10 years. First starting out as a freelance photographer before making the transition to writing during college, his work has appeared on numerous automotive forums as well as websites such as Autoshopper.com.
Carl is also a big fan of British vehicles with the bulk of his devotion going to the Morgan Motor Company as well as offerings from Lotus, MG, and Caterham. When he is not writing about automobiles, Carl enjoys spending time with his family and friends in the Metro Detroit area, as well as spending time with his adorable pets.