Thirty Years of the BMW 3 Series

Press Release

Top Performer and Popular Athlete: the BMW 3 Series in Motorsport

Not too many years ago, the big BMW 3.0 CSL Coup??????????????????s really hit the headlines worldwide in touring car racing. And back in 1977 the BMW 320i with its white body in the same striped design also bore testimony to the outstanding qualities of BMW Motorsport GmbH. Indeed, this was a real eye-catcher in Group 5 racing car trim, featuring huge wheel arches, a front spoiler and a big rear wing on its boot. Within the engine compartment lurked a thoroughbred BMW Formula 2 racing engine developing maximum output of 300 bhp ??????????????????????????????????????? and this was from a 2.0-litre four-cylinder! Obviously, the only way to safely convey power of this kind to the road was with a racing chassis and aerodynamic improvements of the highest calibre.

But even these technical features were not the only spectacular assets about the car. For the choice of drivers to take the wheel of BMW??????????????????????????????????????s three works cars also caused quite a stir both on the race track and elsewhere: Marc Surer, Eddie Cheever, and Manfred Winkelhock were three young hotspurs competing all-out for the German Motorsport Championship. This was the series with the world??????????????????????????????????????s best touring car drivers and works teams ??????????????????????????????????????? and the BMW Junior Team moved right up to the top almost immediately.

In all 28 units of the Group 5 BMW 320i were built in 1977/78. BMW Motorsport GmbH delivered these racing cars as kits to racing teams the world over, leaving the races for the German Motor Racing Championship in 1978 to tuning companies and private teams alike. At the end of the season Harald Ertl at the wheel of a Schnitzer-BMW 320i brought home the title, the Schnitzer Team from Freilassing in the far south of Germany focusing on turbo power: To enter races in Division II up to 2,000 cc, the Team using a turbocharger had to reduce engine capacity to 1.4 litres. Maximum output, however, was more than 400 bhp!

Expressing lots of courage and using even more power from a 2.0-litre turbocharged engine in the BMW 320i, BMW Motorsport GmbH entered the World Championship for Manufacturers in 1977, taking on ultra-low racing cars with a BMW touring car. In the Six Hours of Mosport/Canada Gilles Villeneuve and Eddie Cheever brought home the maximum number of points. And one year later BMW again focused on customer teams, the five national BMW teams winning the 2.0 litre category in all seven races for the Championship.

Moving on to the year 1980, the BMW 320i set out for the European touring Car Championship in less conspicuous Group 2 trim, that is with the specifications for touring cars close to their production counterparts. Developing 245 bhp from their high-performance four-cylinder power units, these fast cars made Helmut Kelleners and Sigi M??????????????????ller quick enough to bring home victory in the overall category.

BMW M3: the Winner.

In the first half of the ??????????????????????????????????????80s Formula 1 came right in the middle as the focal point of BMW??????????????????????????????????????s motorsport program: Powered by a four-cylinder BMW, Nelson Piquet became the world??????????????????????????????????????s first turbocharged World Champion in 1983. BMW Motorsport GmbH also concentrated on a four-cylinder power unit for its own sports version of the second-generation BMW 3 Series, Group A regulations for touring cars calling for annual production of 5,000 units of the basic model and allowing technical modifications only within strict limits.

Development of the ongoing and race versions of the BMW M3 therefore proceeded in parallel. The basic model with its wide steel plate wheel arches, front and rear spoilers, as well as the aerodynamically improved rear section and a new 2.3-litre four-valve four-cylinder high-performance power unit entered production in 1986, with power on the racing version boosted from 200 to not quite 300 bhp. The racing model also came with an amazing 28 metres of steel tubes serving as a safety cage and reinforcing the body, with chassis and suspension components being modified accordingly.

In 1987, its very first year in touring car sport, the BMW M3 became an immediate success, BMW??????????????????????????????????????s works cars in the famous BMW Motorsport colours winning the three most important titles in one single season: Roberto Ravaglia finished as the first World touring Car Champion, Winfried Vogt brought home the European Championship and Eric van de Poele won the Championship in Germany. Roberto Ravaglia also won the European Championship in 1988, the German touring Car Championship in 1989, and the Italian touring Car Championship back in his home country in 1990, becoming the most successful BMW M3 driver of all times, ahead of Johnny Ceccotto.

More than 60 national championships in road and hillclimb events as well as in rally racing, plus seven European Hillclimb Championships, five Mitropa Rally Cups, and 8 victories in the 24 Hours of N??????????????????rburgring as well as Spa-Francorchamps made the BMW M3 the most successful touring car the world has ever seen.

Super touring Cars: the International 2.0-ltr Class.

At this point in development, attempts were made once again to limit the use of high-tech systems on the racetrack. The second generation of the BMW M3 now powered by a high-performance six-cylinder was entered in the GT Class, while touring Car Regulations now required four-door saloons with a 2.0-ltr power unit.

The third-generation BMW 318i was therefore sent to the racetrack as of 1993 with 270 bhp in the engine bay, BMW works drivers entering major national touring Car Series in Germany, Britain, Italy and Japan, with Roberto Ravaglia, Johnny Cecotto, Joachim Winkelhock, and Steve Soper bringing home no less than six championships in three seasons. Private teams once again received complete racing car kits for assembling their own cars, ongoing development leading in 1995 to a new variant of the BMW four-cylinder power unit in the racing version of the BMW 320i increased in output in the years to come to more than 300 bhp.

Entering the 24 Hours of N??????????????????rburgring on the legendary Nordschleife in 1989, BMW had much less power, but achieved a far higher standard of fuel economy: In this race Hans-Joachim Stuck and his team-mates brought home the world??????????????????????????????????????s first overall victory in such a classic race at the wheel of a diesel powered by BMW??????????????????????????????????????s specially tuned direct-injection turbodiesel carried over from the regular production model.

Continuing its activities in touring car racing with production-based cars in 1999, BMW Motorsport again came along with new features: The fourth-generation BMW 320i was now powered by a straight-six engine also in racing. The racing kit versions initially churning out 200 bhp were subsequently upgraded to an even more superior 240 bhp only two years later, when, after a long break, the European Super Production Championship once again opened up the world of international touring car racing. Entering this Championship, BMW Motorsport came along with six national European teams. And after ten races, the winner was Peter Kox of BMW Team Germany in front of his Dutch fellow-countryman Duncan Huisman of BMW Team Netherlands.

Renaissance of the European touring Car Championship.

Driving a production-based BMW 320i, Peter Kox brought home BMW??????????????????????????????????????s 17th European touring Car Title in 2001. Then, starting in 2002, the up-and-coming FIA European touring Car Championship (ETCC) became an increasingly significant pillar of international BMW motorsport ??????????????????????????????????????? albeit not as a classic event with works teams, but rather through the involvement of various national sales organisations with up to five national teams on the grid.

And in the very same year ??????????????????????????????????????? 2002 ??????????????????????????????????????? BMW Team Germany led by Schnitzer Motorsport came out No 1, BMW works drivers J??????????????????rg M??????????????????ller and Dirk M??????????????????ller finishing second and fourth in the European Championship. BMW itself was second in the Manufacturers?????????????????????????????????????? Championship, again confirming its outstanding position.

With BMW Teams Germany, Italy-Spain, and Great Britain making their appearance, the 2003 ETTC was a genuine thriller to the last lap. With BMW already having clinched the Championship for Manufacturers with the upgraded 320i in the penultimate of 20 races, J??????????????????rg M??????????????????ller finally had to concede the driver??????????????????????????????????????s title by just one point in the very last race. But again, J??????????????????rg M??????????????????ller and Dirk M??????????????????ller were the fastest and best team at the wheel of a BMW 320i raced by BMW Team Germany under the management of Schnitzer Motorsport.

Entering the year 2004, BMW again succeeded in defending the manufacturer??????????????????????????????????????s title, with Andy Priaulx (GBR) this time also bringing home the driver??????????????????????????????????????s title in the ETCC ??????????????????????????????????????? European touring Car Championship numbers 19 and 20 in the history of the Company. Once again, BMW national teams had entered the Championship with the BMW 320i now powered by a two-litre straight-six developing no less than 270 bhp. For the third year in a row, BMW Team Germany (Schnitzer Motorsport) starred the two German drivers Dirk M??????????????????ller and J??????????????????rg M??????????????????ller at the wheel, Andy Priaulx once again racing for BMW Team Great Britain.

Yet another BMW Team, RBM, also raced a second BMW 320i on five of the 10 racing weekends, Kurt Mollekens (BEL) taking the wheel under the banner of BMW Team Belgium-Luxembourg. BMW Team Italy-Spain (Ravaglia Motorsport), in turn, saw Alessandro Zanardi (ITA) at the wheel for the first time after his devastating ChampCar accident in 2001 racing for the complete season together with Antonio Garcia (ESP).

Once again, BMW was able to clinch its second manufacturer??????????????????????????????????????s title in a row on the penultimate weekend of the racing season ??????????????????????????????????????? and at the same time Tom Coronel (NLD) was able to bring home the private driver??????????????????????????????????????s title at the wheel of his BMW 320i. Following races 17 and 18 it was also clear that the European Drivers Championship would go to a BMW driver, although the final decision in favour of Priaulx only materialised in the fiercely contested final race in Dubai. In all, this young British driver contributed five wins to BMW??????????????????????????????????????s overall score of 11 victories throughout the season, BMW drivers entering the race three times from pole position, scoring 10 fastest laps in the races themselves, and leading the field for no less than 124 laps.

???????????????????????????????????Lady First????????????????????????????????.

Technical features of cars in the German Production Car Championship are even closer together, making the various entrants even more alike. This time a lady helped to bring home ultimate success for BMW, Claudia H??????????????????rtgen from Aachen becoming the first female driver to win a German touring Car Championship in 2003 when the contest was still called the German touring Car Challenge. In 2004 she proved that this was no coincidence, bringing home the title in the next series of the same championship, the Production Car Category.

The Marathon Winner.

Racing the BMW M3 GTR, the most powerful racing car based on the 3 Series ever built in Munich, BMW continued its ongoing story of success in the 24 Hours of N??????????????????rburgring in June 2004, bringing home a one-two victory. This was indeed BMW??????????????????????????????????????s 17th overall win in the history of this toughest long-distance race in the world. The victorious drivers in the ultra-powerful and muscular M3 GTR with its 500-bhp V8 power unit were the three Germans Dirk M??????????????????ller, J??????????????????rg M??????????????????ller, and Hans-Joachim Stuck. And finishing second in their ???????????????????????????????????sister car????????????????????????????????, Duncan Huisman (NDL), Pedro Lamy (PRT), and Boris Said (USA), clinched BMW??????????????????????????????????????s 7th one-two victory on the legendary Nordschleife or Northern Circuit of N??????????????????rburgring. Then, only six weeks later, BMW scored yet another class victory for GT Sports Cars in the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.