Three Luxury Super Sedans Undergo Challenges Only The Rich Care About

How well can someone draw in the backseat while hooning the tires off?

Compromise is not a word the ultra wealthy like to hear very often, not from their butlers, tailors, or the automakers they choose to do business with. That’s why the companies that cater to them, in this case Porsche (presumably standing in for Audi given that it’s the newest super sedan of the VW family), BMW, and Mercedes, like to reserve the upper echelons of their price brackets for cars that offer both supreme luxury and unrestrained performance without compromising either.

Porsche has just released its newest version of the Panamera Turbo with a not so small price of $141,000 while BMW has offered the $117,000 M6 Gran Coupe since 2013. Mercedes is about two years into the run of its current S-Class coupe, which comes in at $164,750 in S63 AMG guise making it the priciest of the bunch.

However, it's also the longest running nameplate of the three meaning it also has the respect from the wealthy out of the group. So all three offer ludicrous amounts of power, a cocoon of luxury that could make the Queen of England feel petty, and are priced high enough to ensure no one mistakes its driver for a pleb, so how does one go about determining which is the best? According to Autocar, numbers don’t matter here because in the real world, rich people use these cars for fun as well as transport, making tests like drawing cartoons in the back seat while the driver hoons the car more practical. Can you guess which executive German brute takes the trophy?

Watch The 2018 BMW M3 CS Undergo Final Nurburgring Testing

Could it officially debut at LA next month?

The current F80 generation BMW M3 will soon come to an end. With a new 3 Series just around the corner, BMW’s M division has also begun prepping the next M3, but at the moment the focus is making sure the current model goes out with a bang. As expected, the M3 CS (Club Sport) will arrive in the very near future. Automotive Mike managed to catch an M3 CS test mule recently at the Nurburgring undergoing some final testing. It isn’t heavily disguised, which makes sense considering we all know what the current M3 looks like.

But there will be some cosmetic differences, such as a vented hood and carbon fiber reinforced polymer rear spoiler and front apron lip, with the latter hidden with some camo in this video. Fortunately, the BMW M4 CS has already made its debut, so upgrades will mostly carry over.

The prototype here is also wearing 19-inch wheels up front and 20-inchers out back. Under the hood, the twin-turbo 3.0-liter inline-six will receive a power increase to about 460 hp and 442 lb-ft of torque. Sources say the M3 CS will match the M4 CS’s 0-62 mph time of 3.9 seconds. Also like the M4 CS, sedan production will be limited, probably to around 3,000 examples. BMW tells us it has some exciting reveals coming up next month at the Los Angeles Auto Show, so it’s entirely possible the M3 CS will make its debut appearance in the City of Angels.