Now let’s address the elephant in the garage, the V8. Its predecessor, the E46 M3, widely regarded as the Swiss Army Knife of performance cars, straight-six royalty, would be a tough act to follow. BMW’s answer? Two extra cylinders.

The E92 introduced the S65, a 4.0-litre, naturally aspirated V8. Inspired by Formula 1 electronic geekery, it uses quad-cams, 32 valves and double VANOS to achieve a redline that sails past 8,000rpm like it’s being chased up the stairs.

The S65 produces 414bhp and 400N.m of torque, that’s enough torque to topple large bovine livestock! The really clever bit, is even at a perfectly civilised 2,000rpm, the E92 is still serving up 340N.m. So, whether you’re quietly creeping past the Vicar’s house on a Sunday afternoon or giving it Das Boot down a B-road, the power delivery remains abundantly smooth.

Then there’s the dome. BMW calls it a ‘power dome’. You and I call it a bonnet bulge. It’s there to provide adequate headroom for that magnificent V8, but, more importantly, exists to make grown men feel like giddy school boys.

Weight has always been the handicap of the V8, not so with this one. Forged at the Landshut Light Metal Foundry (the same facility that built the BMW Sauber Formula 1 engines) the S65 tips the scales at just 202kg. That’s 15kg lighter than the previous M3’s straight-six! One large Spaniel, gone! Which means this M3 doesn’t lumber and lurch about like an ox-cart, it hunts.

Gearbox? Choose your weapon. A proper 6-speed manual for those who enjoy doing things ‘old school’, or the slick 7-speed Getrag M-DCT. BMW’s first dual-clutch gearbox, smoothly snapping through ratios faster than you can say “licence points.” The E92 M3 boasts a 0–62mph time of just 4.8 seconds in the manual and as is the case with this example, 4.6 seconds in the DCT. Not too shabby.