[VIDEO] Joe Achilles’ Take on the All-Wheel Drive BMW M3

This is the first all-wheel drive BMW M3, and Joe Achilles has been hard at work building it. As far as we know, Achilles prefers rear-wheel drive over any other type of drivetrain. But the M3 xDrive offers the best of both worlds: rear-wheel drive most of the time, but all-wheel drive when necessary. After 4,000 miles of driving, what is his opinion of the vehicle?

Achilles has made a few tweaks to his M3 in the time he’s had it. Only the tiniest of tweaks were made, such as new wheels, better tyres, and a thorough alignment. However, despite their insignificance, they had a significant impact. Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tyres are wrapped around the lighter rims, and the alignment appears to have made a huge difference in terms of feel, responsiveness and precision.

He did, however, perform some more substantial mechanical improvements. It now has an Eventuri intake, a Milltek exhaust, new strut bars, and upgraded brakes, to name a few modifications. To put it another way, all of these modifications make the car’s engine and brakes perform better and sound better. Even though the M3 xDrive is fantastic as-is, I can only imagine how much better it will be with the aforementioned upgrades.

Achilles made an Alcantara wrap for the steering wheel by removing the padding. It’s a huge improvement over the modern python-like steering wheels from BMW that the rim is much thinner. Achilles drives his car to the south of France in this new video to put some fun miles on it. He discusses the M3 xDrive’s performance over the past four months and 4,000 miles on that journey.