[M4TW]

The significance of this review takes on extra meaning when you consider that it was the April edition of Car and Driver 46 years ago that is credited with launching the predecessor to the 3 series in North America.

"Turn Your Hymnals to 2002" was so chalked full of exuberant praise for the 2002 that BMW itself points to this definitive 1968 article as being a turning point for the brand. Automotive journalistic pieces such as this helped engrave "handles like a BMW" into the collective motoring consciousness.

Car and Driver has consistently sung the praises of the BMW 3-series ever since.

So it is not without some moment that the same magazine on the 46th anniversary of this famous car-piece has taken a massive dump on the current model's handling - calling it numb and uncommunicative - and thus striking at the core value of what the 3 (and now 4) series is supposed to be all about.

The outgoing M3 was the undisputed champ of every comparison and test it was thrown into. Not only do the new M3/4 have big shoes to fill, now that BMW has apparently gone all Lexus and Lincoln on the 3/4 series, it must preserve the brand's image as maker of ultimate driving machines.