If you’re the type of person who would rather spend £20,000 to £25,000 on a used M-powered BMW rather than something like a brand new midsize sedan, know that you’re not alone.
As long as you can afford to pay higher than usual maintenance costs, anything with an M-badge should satisfy your spirited driving needs a lot better than an everyday family saloon, or anything else that doesn’t feature at least six cylinders.
So if you fancy either an E92 M3 Coupe, an F10 M5 or perhaps a tuned M135i, here’s how you can expect them to compare in a straight line. For starters, this modded M135i (which isn’t even a proper M-car), came with 390 horses courtesy of a Birds tune, and at 1,545 kg (3,406 lbs), it’s the most lightweight car here.
The E92 M3 comes in at 1,580 kg (3,483 lbs), with its naturally aspirated 4.0-liter V8 engine putting down 420 PS (414 HP), so on paper, it doesn’t sound like a heck of a lot more than you get in the M135i, as long as you don’t forget to tune the latter.
Finally, the F10 BMW M5 stands proudest with its 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8, producing 560 PS (553 HP). It’s also the heaviest car here, but by far the most powerful.