Why are people comparing Porsche 911 to the M3? A 911 is a $100k+ car. The M3 is a $65k car. COMPLETELY different price ranges.
M3 is a 4 seater, the 911 is a 2 seater. The 911 is a purpose-built sports car, the M3 is not a sports car.
And according to this news item, there is a lot of bad information about the engine in this thread. The engine will be an inline 6, 3.0 liters (not 3.2), and will be more of a race-ready N55 than anything else.
http://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsAr...aspx?AR=258632
As far as the direction of the M3 goes...I am much more interested in BMW shaving weight off of the car rather than putting AMG-like ridiculous powerplants in the cars. A turbo 6 sounds like an ideal engine, but it needs to be done with forged pistons, and not suffer from heatsoak issues like the N55/N54.