Is it real? Yes. As in previous M3 introductions, the hardtop version came first, the convertible followed a respectful distance behind. So it is with the latest M3.

What they said: “And even though the M3 is inspired by the best race cars, what is really significant about it is the balance it achieves between really sporty racecar performance on the one hand and something you can use to take your kids to school on the other.”

 What they didn’t say: Based on the existing 3 Series convertible, the M3 unfortunately gets that car’s convertible hardtop. Although having a steel roof over your head instead of a ragtop sounds like an upgrade, it isn’t if you actually plan on using the trunk with the top down. Good luck getting the kids’ soccer equipment in there. To make up for the top eating up the trunk space, the back seat folds down for more storage. There’s even hooks to hang plastic grocery bags — yes, in an M3.

What makes it tick? A 414-horsepower V-8 with 295 pound-feet of torque replaces the in-line 6 of the E46, the last M3. And like the E46, the convertible weighs a few hundred pounds more than the hardtop version, making its 0-60 time convertible almost a half-second slower. The car comes with a 6-speed manual transmission, but is also being offered with a new 7-speed double-clutch transmission, which BMW says provides more continuous power than the SMG transmission that was offered in the E46.

Arriving as much of the U.S. awakens from a long, cold winter, the BMW M3 convertible is an ideal New York auto show debut to usher in the coming warmer months.

Available this spring, the M3 convertible will start at $65,725 including the $775 destination charge and features a power-retractable hardtop and a 414-hp V-8 that can propel it from zero to 60 mph in as little as 5.1 seconds.

Start shopping for your dream BMW M3 Convertible at deep discount:

Blazing toward 8400 rpm in sixth gear on an autobahn in a BMW M3 is already intense. Doing it in the brand-new Convertible — roof down with a more direct sonic route from eight open throttles and four fat tailpipes to your ears — is more intense still. Doing it with the brand-new M DCT double-clutch transmission, the shift lights blinking, just a finger-tap from an instantaneous (and we mean instantaneous) shift to seventh? Well, that’s probably all the intensity most of us will ever need.
As exciting and versatile package it is, the real news here is BMW’s new M DCT twin-clutch gearbox that stands in for the previous SMG transmission, which had its fair share of haters.