Mick Walsh discovers the appeal of BMW Motorsport’s sublime M3 – the track-day king that also reigns on the daily commute – Classic Sports Car
You don’t need rose-tinted Ray-Bans to appreciate the original BMW M3. Its status among Thatcher’s city cats before they stepped up to that essential Porsche turbo has long evaporated but its subtler driving charms are proving to be vintage Bayerische. Like Madonna, its defiant character has only matured. A new breed of young enthusiasts, such as 30 year old Andrew Wells, are snapping up these homologation gems. His M3 yearnings started as a teenage, fuelled by reading about Roberto Ravaglia’s giant-killing antics in the dazzling. Warsteiner-sponsored works racers in the late 1980s. “I was a big touring car fan and had a thing about the M3,” says Wells, technical director of a software house. “Maybe it’s the perfectionist in me but I love German engineering.” That long-promised M3 baptism had to be with a mint example and for two years Wells searched for that meticulously built Bavarian prize: “I wanted a low production model, either an Evo II or preferably the last of the line Sport Evo. It had to be something different.”
Over the past five years Wells combed private ads and test drove a few, but none were good enough. Then, earlier this year, he heard, from a friend about an immaculate Misano Red Sport Evo discovered in a French BMW dealership: “An English enthusiast had spotted it in the showroom of Haas Hubert and imported it to the UK. He planned to keep it forever but marriage and a house purchase forced its sale. The mileage was 29,000km and the condition was dazzling.” New toys seldom quite satisfy that longing from youth but now, with hard-earned funds, the change to buy an out of production dream car in precious timewarp state was impossible to pass up. Wells felt the asking price of £22k wasn’t unreasonable: “With a limited production of 600, I could always see a demand and my search had already confirmed how rare really good cars were. When owners finally get one they rarely seem to sell.
“At first I thought the left-hand drive and gearbox would be a problem but you quickly adjust to it. The handling is so rewarding and the steering has fantastic feedback but, unlike my old RS Turbo, the performance is so refined. The boot is a good size and the engine doesn’t intrude but I love that exhaust rasp when it comes on song. Above all the M3 feels so usable. On one leisurely trip it gave 35mpg and even my parents come out in it. The biggest problem was getting it insured. Most companies always look at the low book price. An agreed value at £22,000 was a real struggle but eventually Asset Trust sorted out a limited mileage policy for £825. They were really helpful.” Wells uses the M3 every weekend and he’ll regularly head down to the coast or to his favourite road, a twisty section of the A26 between Uckfield and Crowborough where that race-bred chassis really excels: “I wouldn’t take it on the track because I’d never forgive myself if it got bent. But a friend who owns one, a Munich Legends-built Trackmeister, took me to an aerodrome test day and, even in the company of Mitsubishi Evos and Lotus Elises, the M3 was fantastically capable. I’d be tempted to buy another car just for track-day fun.”
The moment you set eyes on Wells’ mint Sport Evolution, it’s easy to understand the nostalgia for these individual, exquisitely crafted road racers. Against the brash Sierra RS Cosworth or brutish Audi Quattro, it has an understated compactness – fit and trim, mannered yet masterful, exclusive and brilliantly purposeful. The spoilers, skirts, signature cross-spoke wheels and bulging wings achieve a purposeful balance without being flash. Like the classic M Power monogram, the reworked 3-series shape makes a clear but discreet statement where its commonplace production brother looks dull and blandly familiar. Just sitting silent, that cheeky profile conjures up images of Soper, Sytner, Cecotto and Hoy outgunning all to champion glory.
The M3’s exclusivity and surefire classic status is down to its unique origin. Where most manufacturers take a production model and transform it for the track, BMW created a pure-bred racer and then set about building a limited series for the road. It’s those motor sport chromosomes that guarantee both the M3’s driving pleasure and its collectability. Think back and that elite group includes Bugatti Type 35, Alfa Monza and Ferrari GTO. Where driving entertainment is the benchmark, the M3 is right up there with all-time greats such as 911 2.7 RS. You discover its charms, can’t stop driving it and smugly don’t need anything else. Little wonder that ‘as new’ examples such as Wells’ Sport Evolution are now making top money.
Nostalgia is peculiarly English characteristic and we habitually spot future classics early. For years British M3 enthusiasts have been scouring its homeland for cherished, low-mileage cars and now, report Tony Halse of Munich Legends, the Germans are coming here to buy good M3s protesting that we’ve left only “worn out rubbish” on the Continent. But the M3’s appeal goes far deeper than the prestige of owning a low-production Evolution or special edition Johnny Cecotto or Roberto Ravaglia. These are fabulous drivers’ cars and you don’t need the ultimate spec 2.5 litre model to appreciate its beautifully balanced chassis, razor-sharp steering and sweet-singing twin-cam ‘four’.
“Anorak enthusiasts get all worked up about rare models and it drives me mad,” continues Halse. “Sure the last Evo Sports had a little more power and torque but on the open road few would tell the difference. Whether you’re driving an early D-reg £9000 car or an Evo Sport at £22,000, you get out at the end of a drive with the same big grin. On a 100-mile cross country run, both cars would still arrive bumper-to-bumper.”
Some enthusiasts are disappointed by the M3 experience because they haven’t analysed the car’s specification and true appeal: “I spend my life telling people if you want neck snapping accelerating and all that bullshit bar talk, then buy a TVR or a Porsche turbo. You buy an M3 because you are a driver in the true sense. I grew up in the ‘60s in the age of Lotus Cortinas when handling took precedence over grip. If you got out of shape there was a chance you could catch it. The M3 has some of that classic hooligan element but with a good level of modern refinement. Nimble, compact, easy to park, fits four people (just) and suits today’s motoring – any sorted M3 is just a wickedly good fun machine.”
Enthusiasts discover the M3’s dazzling charms from different directions. Historic racing supremo Willie Green rates it as the best car for amateurs to learn about control. Recently giving tuition in a Ferrari F40 around the Nürburgring he talked Robert McKenzie, the supercar’s owner, into an M3 after discovering the Ferrari’s true potential wasn’t realistic and McKenzie was searing himself in the process. The fun factor was missing but now, with a newly acquired Evo Sport, he goes out to play in the wet. “I love the car,” McKenzie explains. “It’s wonderfully forgiving and very flattering. When you get out after a good drive it makes you feel like you could have given Ravaglia a run.”
Launched at the ‘85 Frankfurt motorshow, it was almost a year before press and buyers could sample the M3’s exhilarating package. Even at £5000 more than the 325i, and in left-hand drive only, demand was instant for this homologation marvel. The M3 was the first car to be conceived, designed and developed by BMW Motorsport’s Garching factory but this specialist facility wasn’t big enough to make the required 5000, so the cars were batch-produced in the main Munich plant. Unlike the 3-series saloon, production started with teams assigned to engine and suspension which were taken on the main production line for final assembly. Although based on a two-door E30 bodyshell, only the bonnet is a common panel. Even the rake to the rear screen was revised to improve airflow toward the rear spoiler, giving extra downforce at racing speeds. Today tired early M3s are being snapped up for as little as £4k as buyers are scared off by stories of big bills for timing chain replacement, but they’re a perfect basis for a sorted track-day car. Cherished early M3s are creeping back to £10k.
Continual improvements demanded by the Motorsport division to keep pace with the Cosworth Mercs and Fords forced special editions of the road car which are now so appealing to connoisseurs. In early 1987 the first Evolition arrived, with improved aerodynamics including extended front spoiler, two-piece rear wing and lightweight boot lid. Next came the 1988 Evo II with a per cent power tweak to 220bhp thanks to special cams and pistons, raised compression and re-chipped management systems. Taller, wider BBS alloys and revised interiors marked out this second limited (500) series, but in early 1990 the last and ultimate development arrived. Mistakenly referred to as the Evolution III, it was officially promoted as the Sport Evolution. Available only in red or black, this series of 600 had a unique bored out, long-stroke 2.5 litre engine. The heavier power house necessitated weight trimming elsewhere with lightweight bumpers and thinner glass. Neat touches included rubber strips between bonnet and widened wings, red sparkplug caps and suede-covered steering wheel. Even the graphic on the gear knob illuminates the dog-leg first gate of the Getrag close-ratio give speed but less tasteful was the red webbing for the safety belts. Any of these special editions in top condition is highly sought-after with prices starting at £12,000 up to £20,000 for the best Evo Sports.
If you’ve never experience the original M3’s delicious scalpel-sharp turn-in, the sublime, seamless punch from its ever eager four-pot or revelled at its viceless chassis balance, it’s time to search out a cracking M3 before they are all worn out of snuck away as investments. You’ll kick yourself about the fun you missed.
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December 1, 2008
2000 - 2008, Articles