BMW M3 Competition Review: The Best Value Rental in the Fleet

The BMW M3 Competition is the best value in our fleet. It's $495 a day with a $1,000 deposit, it has 5 seats and a real trunk, and it will keep up with cars that cost 3 times as much to rent. If you've never rented a performance car, this is the one I'd hand you first.

We run two of them. A 2025 in white with a red interior, which is the newer 523 horsepower car, and a 2023 in grey with a white interior at 503 horsepower. Both are all-wheel drive. Both do 0 to 60 in under 4 seconds.

What it's like to drive

The engine is a 3.0 liter twin-turbo inline-six, and the thing people notice first is that there's no dead spot. It pulls from low in the rev range all the way to redline. On an on-ramp it's quick enough to make your passengers grab the door handle. In Sport Plus the exhaust pops on the overrun, and it stops sounding like a sedan.

The all-wheel drive is what makes it a good rental. On Ortega Highway or Santiago Canyon it puts the power down coming out of every corner without drama. The steering is direct, the suspension firms up in the sportier modes, and the electronics catch mistakes before they become expensive. It's the car that makes a canyon road feel approachable instead of scary.

What it does that a supercar can't

Every mid-engine car in our fleet comes with compromises. 2 seats. No trunk. A nose you have to baby over every driveway. The M3 has none of that. You can take 4 people to dinner in Newport, park it in a normal spot, put golf bags in the trunk, and still have the fastest car in the parking lot. It's the only car in the fleet that does performance and practicality at the same time, and that matters more on a rental than people expect.

Where it falls short

It doesn't get the reaction a Huracan gets. It's a BMW sedan, and to most people on the sidewalk that's what it looks like. If the point of your rental is the reaction, the M3 won't give you that. If the point is the drive, it gives you more of that per dollar than anything we have.

It's also not exotic in the strict sense. I know that. It earns its place in the fleet on merit, not on the badge.

Who should rent it

First-time renters, because it's forgiving and cheap to deposit. Anyone with more than one passenger. Anyone planning a long drive, because at $4 a mile over the 100 mile allowance it's the cheapest car to take far. And anyone who's already rented the loud cars and wants to actually drive something this time.

It's the car I'd rent with my own money on a Tuesday.