The interior differences between a full fat M3 and one of BMW’s lesser 3 Series M Sport models are quite subtle. You do get a sexy set of front sports seats and some M Sport coloured stitching on the door panels and steering wheel, but the biggest difference is additional buttons mounted to the right of the gearshift. These can be used to adjust the steering weighting, gearshift aggression and suspension firmness. They’re also supplemented by a couple of M buttons on the sports steering wheel, which can be pre-programmed via the i Drive, to instantly summon up any combination of your favourite driving menus. Other than that, the uninitiated might struggle to notice they’re sitting in anything other than a run-of-the-mill 3 Series.

Despite a wide range of steering wheel and seat adjustment, the M3’s driving position is not perfect. The steering wheel is slightly offset to the left, and while the driver’s seat is inclined towards the centre of the car to compensate, this only makes the accelerator and brake pedals feel more aligned to the right. The M3 comes with a bespoke dual-clutch gearbox that features a unique gearshift selection pattern. There’s no obviously defined park position, and reverse is selected by pushing the lever left and up, not dissimilar to a manual gearbox. In practice, it’s a rather awkward arrangement and nowhere near as intuitive to use as a standard BMW automatic.