As near as makes no difference, the M3 versus C63 war has been waging for 20 years now, with 4.0- and 6.2-litre versions of each - those were the days! - arriving in 2007. And while that can seem like ancient history in the mid-2020s, there’ll be no separating old adversaries in the future, either: we already know that both an electric and a straight-six M3 are coming, and you can bet your bottom deutschmark that another hot C-Class won’t have just four cylinders. Meaning that four decades of super-saloon heritage, all the way back to the E30 and the 2.3-16, still has plenty to give.
Selecting just two to celebrate the very best of the M3 and C-Class AMG family trees isn’t easy. The E46 CSL will probably be worth more by the time you’ve finished this story than when you started it, thanks to the sound, the design, the feel and the sound again. Not since Zac Efron finished High School Musical and bulked for Baywatch has a physical transformation like CLK to CLK Black ever happened. Or caused such a stir. Once upon a time a C36 and an E36 both had naturally aspirated straight-sixes - that would have been cool.
But hopefully pitching GTS against BS as a coming together of the very finest shouldn’t be too contentious. They’re the ultimate versions of the ultimate era: before turbos, before xDrive, before an M4 or a CLE, before too much configuration. But absolutely fit to burst with power, attitude and exhilaration.
Only things weren’t always quite like that for these two. At the start of the last decade, the M3 GTS didn’t sell out. We’ll say that again, just to be clear: the 4.4-litre, 8,300rpm, 150-unit M3 special edition didn’t sell out. In all just 138 were produced, the £120k asking price - more than twice a standard car - was too much to stomach for a world still reeling from a financial catastrophe. And with enough orange already on TOWIE. The C, largely adhering to the template of the CLK, could never have the same impact as that original AMG trail (and tyre) blazer. It too was a long way past £100,000, when a standard C-Class coupe was more like £30k. And you know which standard car wasn’t £30k in 2011? The Porsche 911. It’s impossible to look past the GT3 when assessing the popularity of these two, for the simple fact that it was at its 997.2 zenith at the time. A GT3 RS 4.0, should you have been lucky enough, cost less than this Mercedes. So if you wanted a stripped-out German road racer with an epic engine 15 years ago, that’s what you bought. We didn’t know how good we had it.
The point still stands, though: imagine a V8 M car not selling out nowadays, or a naturally aspirated AMG of any stripe not being the most exciting car of the year. The cars were sensational, the timing not so much. It’s not just a hunch, either: there were 700 M4 GTSes announced in the mid-2010s (with 828 eventually made because of demand), and more than twice as many AMG GT Black Series a few years ago - at £350k a pop - than C63s.
Given the current obsession around M3 CSLs (check the asking prices again now, just in case), it can be forgotten just how extreme the GTS was. Rarity plays a part - 1,383 CSLs is 10 times the GTS figure - as does the less evocative name. But it really does feel like a forgotten gem in a legendary back catalogue. This despite stroking the famed S65 V8 to 4.4-litres (for just this car and the CRT saloon), fitting coilovers, saving 70kg with measures like polycarbonate windows and a titanium exhaust, plus fitting the WTCC spoiler. Perhaps because of the Fire Orange (look at that cam cover!), and maybe because of the modest aero enhancement, the GTS specialness is seldom fully appreciated.
It’s the exact opposite of the C63, basically, which could hardly boast more intent if its wheelnuts were knuckledusters. The arch extensions remain utterly outrageous, the stance is still seriously punchy, and the whole thing broods with malevolence. To the uninitiated, the M3 is someone’s own build; the Mercedes couldn’t have come from anywhere but the very limited acces s part of Affalterbach.
The home-brew feel of the GTS is evident throughout, from the exposed nuts (stop sniggering) and naff sill graphics to Recaro seats that could have come from your mate’s Clio. The cage that’s clinked by loose seatbelts is like something from a dedicated ‘ring racer rather than a BMW factory edition, and a pre-iDrive dash is amazingly basic. Beautifully built, but basic. And this is luxury spec - the audio and air con could have been deleted. The Merc, on the other hand, is the quintessential brute in a suit, comically muscular yet also kitted out with leather, screens and infotainment controls. If a remarkable amount of blank switches for so much money…
It’s understandable (and all too easy) to get a bit carried away with the carbon and the coilovers, though it shouldn’t be forgotten just how much went into C and 3. That long stroke 4.4 still revved to 8,300rpm, with more torque at fewer revs than standard; for the Black Series the M156 was treated to the lightweight conrods, pistons and crank of the SLS, for the most powerful version of the 6.2 outside of the gullwing. The wider tracks were accompanied by substantially lighter wheels, new anti-roll bars and revised steering. The GTS introduced adjustable aero to the M3 with the diddy rear wing, plus tweaked DSC and a unique brake setup, with six-piston calipers at the front.
Not that brakes are ever much of a consideration with engines like these. Like beef in a wellington, both V8s are what truly bring the joy here, albeit with a very strong supporting cast of ingredients. The BMW’s engine is strange to begin with, for the simple fact that it feels like driving the standard 4.0-litre down a hill. All the time. The characteristics are unchanged, thriving on wild engine speeds and with synaptic responses, albeit with the intensity ramped up even further. That rush to 8,300rpm seems fiercer, the torque bump (combined with the weight loss) seriously strengthens the mid-range, and the sound through the titanium pipes is divine: smooth yet savage, combining the rasp of a flat plane V8 with the thunder of a cross plane, it makes illuminating the shift lights less a commitment and more a total compulsion.
Hopefully it says a great deal that the C63 might possess the more impressive, intoxicating V8. Truly this 6.2 is a miracle of internal combustion, delivering the kind of muscle car torque the BMW could only dream of - while also revving with the abandon of an engine half the size. By 5,000rpm on a generous hoof of throttle the BS has already captured heart and mind, accelerating with the force of an avalanche and sounding like a NASCAR season review; but the final couple of thousand, as peak torque is reached and the Merc homes in on max power, must be experienced to be believed. Those lighter internals mean a freedom and a zeal no other M156 boasts, romping to the limiter like an engine of 6,208cc has no right to. It’s completely exhilarating.
The gearbox seems equally taken aback by the 63’s formidable engine, a bit dozy whether you choose the gears or it does. Fortunately gears aren’t tremendously important to the engine’s irresistible charm offensive; a good pull in any of the seven ratios will have you swooning. But the DCT of the GTS does show up the AMG’s MCT; the dual-clutch is so immediate and so immersive, the perfect complement to that tack-sharp V8. You’ll learn to live with the Merc’s auto, in truth; once the BMW has delivered a few sequential-style shifts up and down, you’ll struggle to live without it. While less pronounced than the engine upgrades, the GTS-specific DCT software has a similar effect; the best M3 engine is made more so, and ditto for the best M3 automatic.
Much has been made in recent times of that era from the start of the millennium to about 2015, a peak period for enthusiast cars where involvement, excitement, accessibility and capability are all perfectly intertwined. These two are undoubtedly perfect examples of the breed. Both were capable of sub 7:50 ‘ring laps when new (and you can bet on the latest tyres shaving more time), but speed is never at the expense of the experience. These are richly rewarding driver’s cars at all commitment levels, ones that just so happen to be capable of 190mph.
They’re proof, moreover, of the superfluousness of modes. There is no car, for example, sold with steering settings that can deliver anything like the sensation, clarity and confidence through the wheel of these two. In the AMG such delicacy and subtlety to the feedback is starkly contrasted with the brawny exterior; it looks like it should drive with all the finesse of a hammer (or a Hammer, in fact), but the reassuring weight and texture of the steering immediately point to a much more sophisticated machine. The nicest thing to say about the M3’s helm is that it doesn’t feel like BMW had much to do with it; faster than a standard E92 rack as befits the road racer vibe, yet it’s undeniably more feelsome as well. The lower ride height, adjustable camber, stiffer bushes and forged suspension parts must all contribute; the GTS feels connected and alive without ever being flighty, proof that great steering doesn’t have to be lightning fast. And that BMW can (or could) make a sensibly sized steering wheel, too…
Both underpinned by coilovers and with at least a tonne and a half to marshall down a road, the respective rides of GTS and BS are firm but fair. There’s no slack, precious little give, but a sense of purpose and rigour that eludes more workaday setups. Totally befitting of the respective remits, basically, and evidence of how effective a great passive arrangement can be. Your focus and appreciation can be on what the car is achieving, rather than which mode is necessary. Which, actually, is both making short work of a B road, absorbent and absorbing in equal measure. The AMG has the balance and poise that you’d never credit such a massive engine in such a large car with having; the M3 may have been built with track use in mind, yet it beguiles on the road with its agility and precision. They confound expectations at (literally) every turn, the trad AMG that’s willing to turn and the classic M car that has proper brakes. They must have felt borderline revelatory at the time, and still joyous now; you’d happily drive them both to the Nordschleife tomorrow, enjoy the laps, get home in relative comfort and wonder when it could all happen again. The C-Class in particular is a mighty ground coverer.
Then, when you want to do silly second-gear skids, they’re only too happy to oblige, simple stabs of big buttons setting them free. The BMW oversteers exactly as might be expected, taut and millimetre precise, steering just as perfect doing opposite lock. Once the AMG is sideways it feels a shame to bring it back, so natural and benign does it feel a little bit out of shape. The combination of so much torque, a mechanical AMG LSD from the old school and some very senior tyres on this one makes it a drifting demigod. Neither a standard M3 nor C63 of this vintage is exactly averse to mischief; but these are just better. Always.
And perhaps that’s the best takeaway from an unforgettable couple of days in their company. Realistically, few of us are looking at spending £150,000 on an E92 3 Series or C204 C-Class, but we could well be tempted by £20-30,000 on one of the cars these were built from. The thrill will never be quite the same, of course, though there isn’t a day that wouldn’t be improved by exposure to these engines - even in a slightly more modest tune. Ensure a C63 has a locking diff and an M3 has the GTS gearbox software and a significant portion of the appeal will be carried over. Which should make forking out for the fuel and tax a little more palatable.
Let’s not forget, either, that despite some recent blips, AMG and M seem committed to still making great cars like this. The CLE is set to get the V8 (at last), and the most recent M3 CS was a real gem. Times may have changed, but the desire to create truly special performance cars hasn’t. Nevertheless, these two stand proud as icons of the genre, the C63 and M3 blessed by wonderful V8s already yet elevated to hero status here by carefully wrought chassis overhauls. The Mercedes makes almost all the turbo AMGs seem a bit meek; the BMW honestly renders a CSL a bit ordinary by comparison. Both are very special indeed, sufficiently so to make you fall in love with cars and driving all over again. Forced to pick one, however, it must be the M3; the introduction of GT3-style discipline and focus, without compromising the innate appeal, is completely captivating. Maybe orange isn’t so bad after all.
SPECIFICATION | BMW M3 GTS
Engine: 4,361cc V8
Transmission: 7-speed dual-clutch, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 450@8,300rpm
Torque (lb ft): 325@3,750rpm
0-62mph: 4.4 seconds
Top speed: 190mph
Weight: 1,530kg
MPG: 22.2mpg (NEDC combined)
CO2: 295g/km
Price new: £117,630
SPECIFICATION | MERCEDES C63 AMG BLACK SERIES
Engine: 6,208cc, V8
Transmission: 7-speed AMG MCT automatic, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 517@6,800rpm
Torque (lb ft): 457@5,200rpm
0-62mph: 4.2secs
Top speed: 186mph
Weight: 1,710kg
MPG: 23.2 (NEDC combined)
CO2: 286g/km
Price new: £138,514.61
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