BMW M3 - Everything You Need to Know | Up to Speed

It was only supposed to be a racing car, but it became the envy of all the workshops in the world. It is just a variant of another model, but it is the most famous line that its manufacturer has. And the company that made it only sold it because they had to. This is

everything

you

need

to

know

to get up to

speed

with the BMW M3. (8-bit music plays) (Inhale) In the early '80s, Mercedes revolutionized the German racing scene when they turned their small 190 compact sedan into a monster. Even with a detuned Cosworth engine, the updated 190 E 2.3-16 - yes, someone decided that was a good name for a car - completely obliterated

speed

and endurance records, and made Mercedes the go-to badge for the prestigious DTM racing series. .

This was a homegrown German series, and all the major German manufacturers wanted to win it as a way to make their brand stand out and, you

know

, to tie it together. So when the new Mercedes took the DTM crown, BMW stood up and said “Nein!” BMW CEO Eberhard Keuenheim decided they

need

ed to put a cooler engine in their 3 Series if they ever wanted to win the DTM again. But who could do such a thing? Well, it turns out that BMW had a motorsports division, called M. For motorsports. That's how German they were. “It's for motorsports. What should we call it? “What if we call him M?” "Oh, Hanz das is GENIUS." So han, so smart.

Until then, the M division only worked on racing-spec cars. And really, that's all Keuenheim wanted: a racing version of the 3 Series that could beat up Mercedes on the track. Just like my dad used to spank my butt when he ate too much Christmas jam! But there was a problem! Homologation! To qualify for the racing series that BMW wanted to participate in, homologation rules required BMW to produce at least 5,000 units of the car. Racing leagues didn't want companies to produce track-only hypercars, they wanted modified versions of street-legal cars. Because of this rule, they were going to have to make this new 3 Series available to… ugh… the public.

BMW's sales department did not think there would be enough demand to justify a production of 5,000 units. But Mercedes' challenge did not stand! Keuenheim cursed the torpedoes and decided to greenlight production anyway. And so, M was off to the races, literally! The first task was to build an engine and it turned out that Bimmer's motorsports division knew a thing or two about building pretty good engines. They took the inline six-cylinder engine from their previous M1 sports car, but discovered that it was too heavy for the small 3 Series. Solution? Cut two cylinders! Very German. With a now four-cylinder block, they added the rest of the parts and went from scratch to a working prototype in just two weeks.

It took my dad two weeks to go buy cigarettes one time and these guys built one of the best racing engines of all time? Wow! Engine finished, now it's time for the bodywork. Hey, it's a Series 3, it already had a body, right? Well, yes, he did. And M threw out all but four panels. All other parts were redesigned to be more streamlined, efficient and aerodynamic. Additionally, M retuned the suspension. And the accelerator. And the brakes. Basically, it was about as far away from the standard car as you could get and still claim they were related. Sort of like your brother who looks suspiciously like Mario Lopez, my mom was an extra on "Saved by the Bell," just saying.

The final result in 1986 was a BMW 3 Series designed for space travel. Armed with its new 200 hp inline four-cylinder engine and steering tuned by the Nurburgring grandmasters, the new car went like a bat on the straights and turned quickly in the corners. Obviously, BMW wanted to make a good car, but even they couldn't know how good the end result would be. There was no truly great innovation here, no new invention that changed cars forever: the car was simply perfected by being a car. Just as I perfected

everything

I do. What would you say my job is? All I needed was a name!

Remember, this is the company that named their motorsports division: M. With that kind of creativity, guess what they called their M-designed 3 Series? If you guessed "M3", you have no imagination at all. Also, you are 100% right. The M3 did its job quite well: it won a host of racing trophies and, against BMW's expectations, sold its entire production run of 5,000 units. In fact, he sold another 5,000 on top of that. And then another 5,000. And then another 3,000! How ridiculous. BMW couldn't believe that people actually liked such a fantastic car. Who knows? Due to the unexpected popularity, the Bavarians made some variations, such as the Evolution and Sport Evolution models.

And they even made an M3 pickup truck! Oh really. Of course, it never went into mass production, but the M Division retained the truck concept and used it for another twenty-six years. Man, I'd love to sit on the tailgate of that M3 truck and drink a cold weihenstephaner, hug my mausi and savor sauerkraut, schupf noodles and kugels. Why are noodles dessert? In all, the original M3 became an icon of its time and remains a halo car to this day. But here's the thing: that original E30 M3 was always intended to be a race car. It didn't have many features, the interior wasn't great, and it didn't exactly scream "luxury." Like this: Luxury!

So when it came time to update the M3 to match the 3 Series of the '90s, Munich decided to make the car look more like a real BMW. When the E36 M3 was launched in 1992, it had a luxurious interior, a range of standard equipment and a much more sober exterior. See you later, sparklers, mom says you have to go, go on, get out of here. I never liked you anyway. You were too good for this world. But the Germans still got a little eccentric, didn't they? They replaced the two cylinders they had cut from the original engine, so that, although it looked modest on the outside, it was a straight-six rocket on the inside.

And what an engine it was: with 282 HP in 3 liters, it had the best HP/L ratio of any naturally aspirated car of the time! The United States, for unknown reasons, was saddled with a detuned version of the engine. As always, screw us, right? I mean we're America, we don't like fast cars, right? "America, fuck yes!" While the original E30 may capture the hearts of enthusiasts, the E36 is the M3 that set the direction for all future models. The next model, the 2000 E46, was for the M3 what the M3 was for the 3 Series, not so different, but perfect.

With the last naturally aspirated inline six-cylinder engine in the line's history, it produced 338 hp, more than a hundred more than its predecessor. Otherwise, it was just an M3, right? Okay, yes. But better. The E46 was the true giant of the M3 range, with more than 85,000 units sold worldwide. Remember when BMW didn't think it could sell 5,000? Road and Car magazine called it their favorite sports car of all time. All the time! That's all the time! Again, the E46 didn't invent new technology, it just worked well. Really, very good. And the GTR version had a big, powerful V8 engine.

But BMW wouldn't do that to the M3 again, right? Mein Gott! That sounded Scottish. For the 2007 E90 model, BMW made the V8 the standard and only engine option for the M3. Who cares about subtlety, go big, damn it! Halfway through this generation, BMW updated it as the E92. Which was exactly the same as the E90. Only better. And with a sedan variant. For some reason, the convertible received a completely new version number: the E93. But that's not what people wanted: what they really wanted was another M3 pickup truck. And they got one! Literally one: BMW built another concept truck, because apparently someone still thought it might be a good idea.

In 2014, BMW updated the M3 to the F80 and with it, split the brand in half. The new M3 was only available as a four-door compact sedan; The two-door coupe became a new flagship, the M4. This was because... I guess even numbers are two doors, and then odd numbers are four doors, unless it's a six, then it could be both or I have no idea why. Nobody does it, it's exactly the same. Did I mention my name is Javier now? Either way, the new M3 reverted to the old inline-six engine, this time with two turbochargers. That's right, the Ultimate Driving Machine, a pure distillation of driving excellence, has gone turbo.

And also electric steering. Purists didn't like the sound of these changes, but none of that limited the M3's styling. Because when it was launched, the F80 was considered another Munich masterpiece, a 425-horsepower monster with a top speed of 174 mph. Almost three times faster than a Tyrannosaurus Rex. If they had these in Jurassic Park, no problem, the movie would be like five minutes long. After all this time and five different generations, the new M3 is still the king or queen of its class. For thirty years, the BMW M3 has proven that sometimes you don't need to reinvent the wheel: you just have to make the best wheel.

From the E30 on the racetrack to the F80 on the road, the M3 doesn't have a single reason why it's the best. It simply is. Just like me dad. This is everything you need to know to get up to speed with the BMW M3. This episode was filmed in front of a live studio audience. (Health). Plus, I'm still trying to buy that Lambo. Please send me a dollar. If we get one, we'll do whatever you want us to do to it. Some people are sending money. Now I have two dollars, so I only need 79,998 more. As always, don't forget to like, comment, subscribe and share.

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