You can never satisfy everyone all the time and BMW realizes that.

Take the company’s M3 model as an example. Since we first saw it in 1986, it has been a hot topic of discussion among connoisseurs, as well as those less informed who find it necessary to impose their ignorance on anyone willing to listen to it.

Essentially, much of the history of the M3 has been littered with fierce criticism of BMW’s engineering decisions when it comes to the various models (there have been six generations, including the new one) and in particular the choice. engines chosen to propel them.

The original car, the E30 to the true pupil of the M3, was originally intended for special homologation to qualify for the DTM, the German Touring Car Championship. It was fitted with a modest four-cylinder engine that produced 192 hp, but this was later increased to 2.3 and 2.5 liters with incremental power increases to 296 and 374 hp respectively, although these units were only seen on the track and in the stages.

He was a legend as a track racer and crack rally car around the world, as well as a street racing hero, but then BMW came up with the second generation E36 version in 1992 with a six engine. cylinders in line which was initially a three liter which was eventually conceived in a 3.2. The critics were hysterical. BMW betrayed the faithful, they moaned.

The fact that the car was also fitted with an automatic transmission was also a serious sin and the complainants were dismayed.

The third generation remained powered by a six, which quelled the hapless for a while, but in 2007 BMW produced the fourth generation E90 and it had a V8 engine. The world has come to a standstill as we see the enormity of this vicious perfidy being perpetrated on humanity.

But, for those of us who were simply amazed at the thing’s extraordinary performance (414 hp, 4.6 seconds from 0-100 km / h and a top speed limited to 250 km / h), it’s was far more of an engineering marvel than a show of duplicity on the part of the manufacturer.

It wasn’t the end of the windbags, however. In 2014, BMW reverted to inline six, but there was a but… a big one. Much to the horror of the faithful, the company had the absolute recklessness and nerve to turbocharge it. Overeating. By God, that was positive proof that we were all going to hell – in an extremely fast handcart.

Again, this was a sensational machine and I don’t care how much people want to play doggy in the nursery with their endless whining and brutally ill-informed opinions. This time around there was 425 hp and the 0-100 time had dropped to 3.9. The bloody thing was mind blowing.

But the Waffles embossed and turned their aimless fury into endless treatises about how BMW abandoned the stalwart. Their often-tinged halitosis breath was more of a stain on the car than anything the engineers did to it.

And now we have the new M3 – as well as an M4 coupe which is essentially the exact same thing mechanically but with two doors instead of four – and this week we’re testing them both. Again, however, the carping classes are unsatisfied.

The main strengths this time around are increased overall weight and dramatic new styling – especially those overgrown kidney-shaped twin grilles that have eschewed BMW’s traditionally conservative design approach and have become a talking point for those who don’t. ‘have nothing more to say.

Believe me, these two cars – and the engineers have gone out of their way to make sure both have near-exact handling and performance – have levels of speed, balance, handling and precision that are almost right. inhuman. Both are demonic by design and can only be amazed by mere mortals like me.

Both are powered by three-liter twin-turbocharged inline-six engines, which are new and have a different displacement. That means it has 510 and not 444bhp, which is a substantial gain in every way, but opponents accusingly point out that 0-100km / h is only a tenth faster. (3.8 seconds against 3.9).

This is easily explained by the fact that the new cars have an additional 135kg weight gain (which includes the carbon ‘M’ bucket seats for an additional cost of € 5,870), but that doesn’t dilute the monstrosity of what’s on offer here.

The M3 and M4 will only be sold here with an added ‘Competition’ label, meaning there’s no manual version offered – instead you get a seven-speed car that was in the origin seen in series 7.

Again, this is the water of the so-called purists, and they may be right as this unit feels slightly laborious and heavy compared to the last version which had a dual-clutch transmission. But when you have an engine as muscular as this, you would still want to be the reincarnation of Ayrton Senna for finding miniature flaws in this beastly package.

Featuring cutting edge technology that lets you configure the car setup to almost anything you want it to be. Endlessly scroll through the engine, gearbox and electronic shock mappings and you will have endless fun. Your prompting and scrolling might not make you faster behind the wheel, but at least you’ll be entertained.

The majority of entertainment, however, does not come from electronics. It comes from the strength of personality that these two cars have. Just leave it in the ‘Comfort’ settings and you’ll still have a beast that you need to be in great shape to master.

Pages of text on the intricacies of M3 and M4 could be filled in easily, but since space is an issue, we’ll tackle some personal tacks.

Of the two cars, the four-door M3 was the one I liked the most. I know the engineers claim that the two mirror each other in terms of performance and handling, but I have to say that the M3 struck me as much more sorted than the M4. It was as if it was welded to the road.

The M4 was a slightly terrifying thing to drive because it felt like it wanted to immerse you in the scenery if you flexed your arm or leg excessively. It seemed to me to be a lot more of a wire-frame number than the M3.

Maybe I’m overly sensitive, or something, but the M4 didn’t seem to have the same sense of security as the M3. The former seemed to be overzealous and picky, while the latter was a cinch to hit its handling limit and get it over the edge without causing you unnecessary terror.

These are both – in some ways – cars that will easily overwhelm you if you let them, but the M3 seemed to be less inclined to do so than the M4.

Both are pretty fast cars and both have the kind of power and handling attributes that will have people like Porsches looking in their mirrors.

So don’t believe some know-it-alls by any means that because they’re heavier, don’t have a manual option, and are mule-styled, they’re not real “M” cars.

They fully deserve their status as brilliant, strong, safe, and blazingly fast (no matter what anyone says) cars, but I would still prefer the M3, personally.