The BMW M3 is 25 years old

[Sticky]

The BMW M3 has officially turned 25 years old. 4 Generations of cars. Motors ranging from 4 cylinders to 8 cylinders. Coupes, sedans, and convertibles. Manuals, automatics, sequentials, and dual clutch transmissions. An untold number of smiles from the drivers behind the wheel.

The BMW M3 is a special automobile. It is the car many of us most readily associate with M. It isn't the most powerful M car, the most expensive, or the most flashy. It is the most fun, the best drivers car, the choice of the M enthusiast. It is a vehicle that elicits superlatives across the automotive world and the target many others shoot for but one they haven't been able to hit. The M3 is quite simply one of the greatest all around cars in the world and it has been since its introduction, 25 years ago.

Cheers to you M3, and may the next 25 years be just as special!

Press Release from BMW:

The anticipation began in August 1985. That summer Germany’s automobile magazines built up their readers’ expectations for the fastest 3 Series BMW of all times. The key data revealed a sports car that would punch way above its class: 200 hp, top speed in excess of 230 km/h, sprint from a standing start to 100 km/h inside 6.7 seconds. However, the story was that “the most dynamic BMW 3 Series drivers” would have to wait until mid-1986. The pundits were right on that count. But one prediction missed the mark by a mile: anyone who “wants to be in the A Team needs to be turbocharged under the bonnet”. Not true.

The BMW M3 became the most successful touring car in motor-sport history. The M3 project was launched just a few months earlier. Production of the M1 mid-engine sports car had already been discontinued for some time and BMW CEO Eberhard Kuenheim commissioned a design for a successor, almost as an aside, according to legend. After one of his regular visits to Motorsport GmbH in Munich’s Preußenstraße he said, almost as he was leaving: “Mr. Rosche, we need a sporty engine for the 3 Series.” His aspiration was in good hands. Motorsport GmbH with its managing director of technical development Paul Rosche had demonstrated its expertise with the legendary 5 Series saloons driven by M engines as well as developing the Formula 1 turbo engine that powered Brazilian Nelson Piquet to win the World Championship in the Brabham BMW in 1983.

The new 3 Series engine had something in common with this: the crankcase. It originated from volume production and actually formed the basis for the two-litre engine with four cylinders. Four cylinders meant less weight and high torque, an ideal platform for a sports engine in the projected displacement class. Naturally enough, the series four-cylinder engine was much too tame for a sports engine. A comprehensive power boost was called for in order to turn the plucky daily workhorse into an athletic and sporty power unit. The BMW design engineers increased the displacement to 2.3 litres and applied a formulation that had already achieved significant successes over a period of many years: four-valve engineering. There was also another reason for the decision to opt for a four-cylinder engine and not adopt the six-cylinder engine introduced in the BMW 3 Series. The longer crankshaft in the big engine started to vibrate much earlier than the shorter four-cylinder shaft. The design engineers therefore designed the crankshaft drive of the BMW M3 with sufficient torsional stability to achieve 10,000 revolutions a minute and more. By comparison with the four-cylinder engine installed in the series vehicles, this represented an increase of more than 60 percent. The rated speed for the road version of the BMW M3 was still significantly below the critical range at 6,750/min and therefore offered sufficient scope for further developments.

Paul Rosche recalls: “We started work immediately. One advantage was that the big six-cylinder engine originally had the same cylinder gap as the four-cylinder engine. We therefore cut two combustion chambers off the four-cylinder head of the M88 and bolted a panel over the hole on the rear side.” This meant that the new four-cylinder engine had a second forebear. The six-cylinder engine that had initially created a sensation in the M1 and had meanwhile transformed the M635CSi into one of the fastest coupés in the world. Paul Rosche: “Whether you believe it or not – we had created an outstanding four-cylinder engine for the 3 Series within the space of two weeks. Under the development name S14, this engine was to generate headlines in sport and in volume production over the years to come. One Sunday, I drove to von Kuenheim’s flat and gave him the car for a test drive. When he came back he said: ‘Good, I like it.’ And that’s how the M3 came into being."

[Tochenzo]

Great picture, can't wait to see how things develop in the future

[Scorpion]

That's a nice visual time line, it came a long way.

[1cleanAMG]

Sticky that picture is from bimmerpost. If you open it in a different window it will link you to bimmerpost.

[Sticky]

Sticky that picture is from bimmerpost. If you open it in a different window it will link you to bimmerpost.

Yes, it is, thank you. And it is hosted there, it doesn't link you there

Regardless, since I guess we shouldn't even link to pics hosted there problem solved, check the address.

[GG///M3]

M3='s 25 years of rape.

[M3_WC]

I have put many miles on e36, e46, and e90 M3's. But zero on a e30 M3, that will change eventually.

I am still in love with the e36 M3, over ten years later.

[Sticky]

I have put many miles on e36, e46, and e90 M3's. But zero on a e30 M3, that will change eventually.

I am still in love with the e36 M3, over ten years later.

No reason not to be, I can say I was more in love with the E46 than I ever was with the E92 even though the E92 is a better car in every respect. Just nothing like your first time.

[Sticky]

[Irishace]

Happy b-day M3. Interested to see the latest installment.

[Sticky]

Happy b-day M3. Interested to see the latest installment.

BMW should have done something cool to commemorate this, like giving the USA a few examples of the M3 GTS. Instead we get a matte paint job, lame.

[GG///M3]

BMW should have done something cool to commemorate this, like giving the USA a few examples of the M3 GTS. Instead we get a matte paint job, lame.

Bmw always seems to miss the boat. I remember back in 2002 many were saying they should have made a special model named the 2002 for just that year.

[Sticky]

Bmw always seems to miss the boat. I remember back in 2002 many were saying they should have made a special model named the 2002 for just that year.

Well... that is asking a bit much perhaps to just specifically honor the 2002. However, the M3 is an ongoing model and the 25 year mark is something special.

[1cleanAMG]

They just keep getting better and better. Cant wait for the FI M3