It has already been 30 years since the production of a car that was to turn the sporty middle class upside down began. The first BMW M3 was presented in 1986 and is now represented by five model generations and is still in production today.
The creation of the first generation
BMW Motorsport GmbH used unfiltered racing technology in the development of the first generation BMW M3 and the result was a high-performance sports car suitable for everyday use. The concept of a sports car suitable for everyday use is still maintained today.
The original aim was to enter touring car racing with the first generation of the BMW M3. The idea was to build a racing car for motorsport that was also available for the road; a large series was not initially planned. It was only the statutes of the DTM (German Touring Car Championship) that prompted BMW to press ahead with the development of the production and racing car in parallel. The first generation of road cars was also strongly geared towards racing. The road car only differed from the racing car in a few respects, for example in its somewhat less aerodynamic shape.
The development over the last 30 years
The second generation was no longer specifically geared towards motorsport. It was much more discreet and was equipped with the new VANOS camshaft control system.
With wider wheel arches and an aerodynamically optimized luggage compartment lid, the third M3 generation was once again much more striking. The engine was completely redeveloped and produced 343 hp.
The fourth generation had a naturally aspirated V8 engine operating according to the high-revving concept instead of the previously used in-line six-cylinder engine.
The current fifth generation came onto the market in spring 2014. The engine is the old one again - an in-line six-cylinder but with M TwinPower Turbo technology and a high-revving concept.
Four prototypes did not make it into series production
Over the past 30 years, the company has continued to tinker with the car and has also presented several prototypes that never made it past prototype status - the BMW M3 Pickup from 1986, the BMW M3 compact from 1996, the BMW M3 touring from 2000 and the second BMW M3 Pickup from 2011.
The BMW M3 Pickup (1986) was for transporting work equipment and components on the BMW Motorsport department's premises. They themselves liked their product and wanted to use their own BME M3s for transportation. As the original, first series was not suitable for this, they built the prototype of their own pickup. The prototype was in use for more than 26 years before it was retired.
The BMW M3 compact (1996) was intended to attract younger customers in particular. It could almost be described as the ancestor of the BMW M2. It is said to have been lighter, more agile and tauter, and yet it never reached series production.
Unlike the M3 compact, which was also made available to journalists for test drives to gauge customer interest, the M3 touring (2000) was used exclusively for internal purposes: "We were able to show with this prototype that we could integrate an M3 touring into the ongoing production of the normal BMW 3 Series touring largely without any problems from a purely technical point of view," explains Jakob Polschak
The BMW M3 Pickup (2011) closes the circle. The pickup from 1986 needed a successor after a long period of use. As a joke, the rumor mill was heated up, and speculation about a series-produced pickup was indeed found. However, it remained a one-off that was used as a works car.
