BMW M3 Celebrating 20 Years of a Sporting Legend

Hartge E30 BMW M3

How the legend was born

Press Release

The M3 kept its promises
In order to find out how the M3 performed in real life, test drivers and customers alike still had to be patient for at least another six months. It wasn’t until spring 1986 that the first pilot-production cars were ready and the M3 was launched to the press – appropriately on the racing track at Mugello.

The test drivers established that the aerodynamic profile of the M3 was an understatement rather than an overstatement – high-quality racing technology was housed under the beefy bodywork.

Axle kinematics, suspension and damping had changed. The braking system with ABS as standard comprised brake discs with ventilation at the front and a high-pressure pump operated by the engine. This servo pump delivered power to the steering at the same time so that both systems were able to operate independently of the negative pressure of the engine.

235 km/h top speed for 58,000 marks
The refined aerodynamic work paid off with an outstanding cW value of 0.35. The lift at the front axle was around half that of the other two-door 3 Series car. The large rear wing reduced the lift on the rear axle by some two thirds.

Bonded front and rear windscreens contributed to higher bodywork stiffness that in turn exerted a positive effect on driving performance. This was evident to the driver in the form of increased driving stability and more precise steering characteristics at very high speeds.

The standard M3 still reached a top speed of 230 km/h with catalytic converter and 235 km/h without catalytic converter. And yet it was relatively fuel efficient when running on super. Using the current Euromix formula made up of speed 80, 120 and town cycle, the M3 consumed significantly less than 9 litres for every 100 km/h driven.
The muscular M3 came at a price: 58,000 marks when it was launched in 1986. By comparison, the 325 Convertible at 43,300 marks was the next car down the 3 Series list.

Finding customers for the specified volume of 5,000 vehicles wasn’t a problem. In the summer of 1986 – long before delivery started – purchase contracts for the M3 at a premium price were being offered on the relevant advertisement pages. In actual fact, it wasn’t until 1987 that all 5,000 units of the first M3 were gathered on the BMW parking lot in Munich-Freimann for a family photo before being shipped all over the world.

300 bhp for competitive racing
An entire build programme disappeared again into garages and workshops to be given a new outfit. After all, the M3 had been designed as a racing car, and now was the time to prove that it really could “race”. A World Touring Car Championship was held for the first time in 1987. And that was exactly what the M3 had been built for.

But not quite in the guise in which it was seen on the streets. Instead of 200 bhp, the 2.3 litre engine delivered up to 300 bhp at 8,200 rpm in the racing version. This put it on a par with the BMW 635 CSi. BMW didn’t line up on the starting grid with its own team, but supported a number of famous racing outfits like Schnitzer, Linder or Zakspeed. Drivers like Markus Oestreich, Christian Danner, Roberto Ravaglia and Wilfried Vogt took the wheel, and Anette Meeuvissen and Mercedes Stermitz formed a ladies’ team.

But “the established racing community didn’t like the car at first”, noted one commentator. “The first test drives in Misano, Italy, turned into a battle with the more popular 635 CSi Coupé, a favourite especially with Schnitzer Team Manager Charly Lamm. When the new car proved far superior to the old one, Lamm drove the last lap in his coupé with a black flag in the righthand footwell as a signal that he was changing over to the M3.”

Roberto Ravaglia in an M3: First World Touring Car Champion
The first race for the 1987 World Touring Car Championship started on 22 March in Monza – and ended with a sensation. All the M3 cars were excluded from the placings. The vehicles were checked under chaotic conditions and disqualified because of sheet-metal thicknesses that were allegedly contrary to the regulations. BMW appealed but the sports tribunal decided that the appeal had been lodged too late. There was no longer any talk of infringements of the rules. All the brouhaha naturally didn’t have any effect on the result of the championship. At the end of the season, Roberto Ravaglia was standing on the podium as the first World Touring Car Champion. But that was only the pinnacle of the success list. Wilfried Vogt took the title of European Champion. Altfried Heger came in second – both driving a BMW M3.

The sportiest 3 Series car was also winning competitions off the race track. An M3 crossed the finishing line in first place in the Corsica Rally and secured a victory for BMW after a gap of 14 years in a race for the World Rally Championship.

“Sportiest saloon of the year”
The well-informed public rewarded the success story of the newcomer when readers of the magazine sport auto voted the M3 “the sportiest saloon of the year”. The high-profile 3 Series also became increasingly exciting in its civilian version. In 1987 it became the first BMW to be equipped with electronically adjustable shock absorbers. Drivers had a knob beside the handbrake lever which allowed them to choose between the adjustments sport, normal and comfort. A control lamp on the instrument panel displayed the setting that had been selected.

Evo arrives: Taking M3 to a new high
The resilience of the four-cylinder under tough operating conditions on the race tracks rewarded private customers with two very special offers in 1988. BMW created a small special series of even more powerful M3 cars with the suffix “Evo” for Evolution. Identifiable by even more opulent spoilers, this special M3 was powered by a 220 bhp engine. Naturally, there was also a version with a catalytic converter – this generated 215 bhp. The second offer was intended for a very special circle of customers: an open M3 based on the 3 Series Convertible. The 215 bhp convertible had a top speed of 239 km/h and was by far the fastest open-top four-seater to be bought in a limited series.

24 Hour Race: M3 scores a double victory at the Nürburgring
In the meantime, the BMW M3 was really getting going on the race track. The two-door car didn’t just win the German Touring Car Championship. It also took six other national titles, including France, England and Italy. In the following year, the BMW racing car was equally difficult to beat.

The M3 packing 300 bhp beat its touring-car competitors in Germany, Belgium, Holland, France, Italy, Finland, Spain, Sweden and Yugoslavia hands down. Belgian Marc Duez battled through the Monte Carlo Rally with an M3 and took eighth place as best driver in a car without four-wheel drive. The driver teams Piro/Ravaglia/Giroix and Heger/Grohs/Manthey crowned the success story with a sensational twin victory at the 24 Hour Race on the Nürburgring.

Specials: Evo 2 and 320is
The M3 had a commanding presence on the international touring car racing scene for five years. It became the most successful touring car of all times by winning the Champion’s title several times in the European Touring Car Championship, twice winning the German Touring Car Championship, and numerous victories and championship wins at international level. Depending on the competition rules, the four-valve engine had to be adapted to national regulations. The capacity for England was limited to 2 litres while for Germany and France it was raised to 2.5 litres with effect from 1990. This enabled the four-cylinder to deliver up to 360 bhp.

Depending on the version and the deployment profile, engine and mixture management also varied. The suction side was managed by independent throttle valves and valve control systems.

In the version with the biggest capacity, the engineers of BMW M GmbH went hard up against the limits of what was feasible, in order to make full use of the 2.5 litre limit, they not only increased the stroke of the 2.3 litre unit from 84 to 87 mm, but also increased the bores of the four cylinders from 93.4 mm each to 95.5 mm.
This reduced the width between the cylinders to just 4.5 mm.

But success proved them right. The engines withstood the stresses and strains of touring car racing even at maximum output without any problem.

A road-going version of the original M3 with the biggest capacity drove onto the roads with the additional name of Sport Evolution. Characteristic features of the car were its adjustable front apron and rear wing. The 238 bhp rocket was limited to 600 units. There was also a version of the 2.0-litre engine used in Italy for everyday use. It was designated 320is and had the stroke reduced to 72.6 mm, but at 10.8 : 1 it had a slightly increased compression.

This allowed the 2.0-litre engine to deliver 192 bhp and it was sold in Italy and Portugal so as to fall below the valid capacity limits for highly taxed luxury cars.

First generation cars notch up another victory
By the end of 1992, 17, 970 first generation M3 cars had left the small facility of BMW Motorsport GmbH, including 800 convertibles. Nobody had anticipated this overwhelming success, either on the road or on the racing circuit.

Technical data for the BMW M3

Motor

Number of cylinders 4
Bore x stroke 93.4 mm x 84.0 mm
Capacity 2,302 cm³
Output 200 bhp (147 kW) at 6,750 rpm
Torque 240 Nm at 4,750 rpm
Compression 10.5 : 1

Power transmission

Gearbox 5-speed
Gear ratio 3.72; 2.40; 1.77; 1.26; 1.00; –4.23
Final drive ratio 3.25; limited-slip differential
Brakes Disc brakes, front ventilated, brake servo

Chassis

Front axle Independent suspension with suspensionstruts, transverse links and tension strut
Rear axle inclined trailing links, coil springs and telescopic shock absorbers
Steering Rack-and-pinion steering

Dimensions and weights