By: IOL Motoring Staff
Munich, Germany - When an exclusive nameplate such as the M3 (you don't even have to say 'BMW' first) has been going for three decades, it has history.
And it's nice to pick up on that history when building a commemorative special such as the '30 Years M3' anniversary edition you see here. Because the signature colour for the 500 examples of this limited-edition model is Macao Blue metallic, which back in 1986 was an exclusive colour available only on BMW Motorsport's new hot-rodded 3 Series two-door.
Also read: BMW unleashes more powerful M4 and M3
The anniversary edition is based on the Competition Package option for the current M3, which includes an engine tweak that boosts power output by 14kW to 331kW, M-specific adaptive suspension with special springs, dampers, anti-roll bars and remapped driving modes, as well as an uprated active M differential and forged 20 inch M alloy rims wearing 265/30 front and 285/30 rear radials.
All of which knocks a tenth of a second off its 0-100km/h sprint - with the optional seven-speed dual-clutch transmission option the M guys claim it'll hit a hundred in four seconds flat.
The anniversary M3 is trimmed throughout in merino leather, in your choice of black and blue or black and grey, with colour-matched contrast stitching.
The special cutaway M sports seats have woven-in M strips, and the '30 Years M3' logo embroidered on the head restraints, to match the logos on the door sills and the numbered plaque on the instrument panel.
The best news of all is that 30 of these bad boys have been allocated to South Africa, and BMW SA says pricing will be released closer to launch. In Europe the edition carries a hefty price premium of €10,000 (R175 000) over the standard M3 Competition Package.
A BIT OF HISTORY
Although it was shown at the Frankfurt motor show in September 1985, it was nearly six months before the first motoring journalists got to try the '3 Series supercar' at Mugello.
Its 2.3-litre, 16-valve twin-cam four delivered 147kW, in a car with plastic bumpers, side sills and boot lid, including the spoiler that weighed in at only 1200kg, giving it 0-100 in 6.7 seconds and 235km/h flat out, respectable numbers even today.
A photo posted by Dolomites street ® (@dolomitesstreet) on May 16, 2016 at 11:14am PDT
1988 saw the Evo version, tweaked to 162kW and 243km/h, and in 1990 the four-cylinder M3 peaked out with the Sport Evolution, limited to 600 cars, bored out to 2.5 litres and boasting 175kW.
The second-generation M3 (E36), released in 1992, differed from the original in that it wasn't specifically designed for the racetrack.
A photo posted by Jonaël Brosseau (@jonaelbrosseau) on May 22, 2016 at 3:14pm PDT
Nevertheless, its three-litre straight six with Vanos variable camshaft timing set records at the time for specific power (71kW per litre) and torque (108Nm per litre) output.
It could sprint to 100km/h in six seconds flat and was electronically limited to 250 flat out, while its distinctive double bridged mirror housings were to become a signature design cue on M models.
In 1994 the M3 was released in convertible and sedan format; while the performance of the topless model suffered a little due to its additional weight, the sedan was just as quick as the coupé, which pleased a lot of dads.
A major model upgrade in 1995 saw the engine bored out to 3201cc, now with variable timing on both camshafts, upping power to 236kW and knocking half a second off its 0-100 sprint time. A year later, it was made available with a paddle shift auto transmission, which BMW claimed as a first for a volume production car. Despite being panned by the purists, almost every second M3 customer at the time chose it.
The third iteration of the M3 legend, the E46 introduced in 2000, got a distinctive boy-racer look with a power bulge on its aluminium bonnet, big wheel-arch flares, a specially spoilered boot lid and four tailpipes. It's all-new 3246cc straight six was good for 252kW, 365Nm and 0-100 in just 5.2 seconds.
A photo posted by BMW M club CZ (@bmw_m_club_cz) on Apr 27, 2016 at 12:49am PDT
Three years later, the M skunk works upped the ante with the M3 CSL (Coupé, Sport, Light), its engine uprated to 265kW and weight trimmed to 1385kg, not only by omitting luxury features but also by fitting a carbon-fibre roof and thinner glass in the rear window. 0-100km/h took less than five seconds, 0-200 just 16.8.
The fourth-generation E92 M3 of 2007 kept the carbon-fibre roof but broke with tradition by ditching the hallowed straight six in favour of a high-revving, naturally aspirated four-litre V8. This engine was actually 15kg lighter than the 3.2 six it replaced, and could launch the two-door M3 to 100km/h in 4.8 seconds - even the sedan version, later the same year, was only a tenth slower.
A photo posted by Ivan Tabi (@i_am_tabi) on May 1, 2016 at 7:29pm PDT
The 2014 launch of the fifth-generation Ms was the first to present the sedan and coupé at the same time - and to give them different designations, with the two-door version (and the convertible, which followed a few months later) being renamed M4, in line with the new 4 Series coupé models.
A photo posted by The World's Hottest BMW's (@m_motorsports) on May 16, 2016 at 5:23pm PDT
They reverted to straight-six power (BMW's core product has been six-cylinder engines for more than a century) but with twin-scroll turbo induction for outputs of 317kW and 550Nm, good enough for 0-100 in 4.1 seconds with the optional seven-speed dual-clutch transmission.
Each is also 80kg lighter than the V8 M3, thanks to extensive use of carbon fibre panels and aluminium suspension components.
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