GTP Cool Wall: 1985-1992 BMW M3

1985-1992 BMW M3

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Despite the fanboidom surrounding it, it still has an incredibly successful and authentic Motorsport pedigree behind it (arguably the last road car to have a circuit one?) So that plants it firmly in cool.
 
TheCracker
Despite the fanboidom surrounding it, it still has an incredibly successful and authentic Motorsport pedigree behind it (arguably the last road car to have a circuit one?) So that plants it firmly in cool.
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Actually, you bring up an interesting point.

Since 1992, I can only think of a few cars that have worthwhile motorsports mentions:

  • Mazda MX-5 and the Spec Miata series
  • Porsche 911 GT3 and the various GT series that they compete successfully in
  • Chevrolet Corvette Z06 (C5 and C6) in many GT series internationally
  • Dodge Viper GTS both in the '90s and now
  • Nissan Skyline GT-R, in Japan anyway, with N1 and Group A racing
It depends on how far you want to separate the street car from the race car. Changes in safety, emissions, and so much more have pretty much forced them apart completely. Since the E30 M3, it's difficult. The GT3 is probably the closest to this day. Well, excluding the 991 going forward.
 
Sub fricken Zero!
At this point, the e30 M3 is a classic and has become iconic to me. I love the way it looks and the e30 was a great, balanced car when it first came out.
 
Hovering between cool and sub zero.

A very pretty car (great proportions and a lovely stance), understated, and a proper Motorsport pedigree.
 
Another point. These cars are being bought up by rich people as investments. The price for a good E30, especially an unmolested one, has skyrocketed in recent years. Investment cars are so very uncool.
 
Voted a solid cool, but it's so very close to Sub zero. If only it looked exactly like a Maserati Ghibli Cup.. would result in instant frostbite (imo).
 
Zenith
Another point. These cars are being bought up by rich people as investments. The price for a good E30, especially an unmolested one, has skyrocketed in recent years. Investment cars are so very uncool.
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I do agree with you on that. Not at all cool locking that awesome-to-drive sports coupe away in a garage somewhere and not driving it.

However, I'd not tar the model with that brush just because a few are squirreled away. You could say the same about the Ferrari 250 GTO or [insert other valuable classic sports car here], most of which are kept locked away - but every so often someone like Nick Mason gets a top motor racing driver to give his a razz around Goodwood, trading paint with other absolutely priceless cars, which is mind-bendingly cool. I don't doubt there are plenty of E30 M3 owners who give their cars a damn good thrashing now and then.
 
Keep in mind that the Chevrolet Beretta GTZ of similar vintage was equally fast when equipped with the Quad-4 H.O. engine. Handled nearly as well, too. It was a weird time, man.
 
YSSMAN
Keep in mind that the Chevrolet Beretta GTZ of similar vintage was equally fast when equipped with the Quad-4 H.O. engine. Handled nearly as well, too. It was a weird time, man.
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And when an old Buick Coupe known as GNX was faster than some ferraris and lamborghinis. Weird time indeed.

As for my vote, this gets a cool but very close to sub-zero. It loses the sub-zero status due to...you guessed it, its overrated reputation.
 
It's an M3 which is a cool car. It's an old M3 so it has no 'tosser' status.

As for it being a holy worshipped car, I'll pass, I can think of at least 20 cars I'd rather have than this. Solid cool anyway.
 
Cool, but nowhere near as cool as the limited edition 325iS or 333i of the same era.

Wikipedia
MW South Africa's Motorsport division created the 333i in 1986 by fitting the 3210 cc M30 "big six" ("M30B32" of the 733i E23/ 533i E12/ 533i E28/ 633CSi E24) engine to a 2-door E30.[13] The resulting 333i was a major success in saloon car racing in that country and is now a collectors' item. These cars, built with help from Alpina in Buchloe, Bavaria, Germany, featured some interesting compromises like forcing the buyer to choose between air conditioning (vital in South Africa) or power steering (because of lack of space due to the large M30 engine). They were only built in small numbers in 1986. BMW South Africa provided the following specifications for the 333i: Powerplant - M30B32 6 Cylinder 3210 cc [14] 145 kW (197 PS; 194 hp) at 5500 rpm. 285 N·m (210 lb·ft) torque at 4300 rpm. The cars were fitted with a 5-speed manual gearbox and limited slip differential. Braking was enhanced by 296 mm (11.7 in) Alpina dual ventilated grooved front disc brakes. ABS was optional. The cars were fitted with 16x7J Alpina wheels and Pirelli P7 (195/50/VR16) tyres.[15] BMW provided performance figures were impressive, with a top speed of 228 km/h (142 mph). 0–100 km/h in 7.4 seconds, and a standing kilometer in 27.7 seconds at sea level. Actual South African Car Magazine road test figures were a top speed of 231 km/h, 0–100 km/h in 7.23 seconds and a standing kilometre in 28.08 seconds. The test was carried out with a driver, passenger and a full tank of fuel. Only 204 of these cars were produced.[16]

Later when it became clear that South Africa would not be getting the M3, the 325iS was created. Initially this was merely a 325i 2-door fitted with a bodykit and a close-ratio gearbox (improving acceleration at the expense of top speed and economy), but more changes were made to keep the car competitive in South African saloon car racing. Nevertheless, these cars were always sold to the public. This resulted in the 325iS of late 1990. By now several body panels were made of aluminum and the M20 engine grew to 2.7 L and now produced 145 kW (194 hp) and a 0-62 mph in a mere 6.9 seconds as claimed by BMW South Africa. Due to increased competition in the production car race series it was competing in, another version was released in late 1991 called the 325iS Evo. The main revisions were a front aerofoil to smooth underbody airflow, shorter stiffer springs, thicker rear anti-roll bar and changes to the throttle body, exhaust manifold and inlet valves. It produced 155 kW (211 PS; 208 hp) and BMW South Africa claimed a top speed of 235 km/h (146 mph) with a 0–100 km/h in 6.9 seconds. It did win the 1993 Group N race series under Robbie Smith and set various track records in the process.

The cabriolet version continued to be built to the end of April 1993 and the touring version continued to be built to the end of February 1994.
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I love BMW's, so I vote cool.

I don't think any BMW can be Sub-Zero because, at least in America, BMW drivers tend to be very inconsiderate drivers. No offense intended for any BMW owner; it's just what I observe.
 
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Mike Rotch
Cool, but nowhere near as cool as the limited edition 325iS or 333i of the same era.
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If you prefer your E30 with 6 cylinder goodness, then I'd say the peak of E30 Coolness would have to be the E30 M3 based Alpina B6S.. it is both an M car, and a Alpina... Doesn't get much cooler in my opinion.

alpina_historie_E30_B6_35S.jpg
 
Not bad looking for a brick, decent power and weight. Vastly overrated by hordes of GT fans begging for it to be included in a GT game, over more interesting cars, however.

Without thinking about it too much I'd say it's cool, so I'll give it that.
 
SVT Cobra GT
It's an M3 which is a cool car. It's an old M3 so it has no 'tosser' status.
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Yeah... no.

When this was first released, everyone who bought one was a total three types of the finest coffee beans. It was 1985 and the car cost £26k. To put this into context, a brand new XR3i or Golf of the same era wouldn't have cost you £10k. For more context, a Ford RS500 Cosworth wouldn't have cost you £20k - and that had Group A motorsport credentials out the wazoo. In fact, I live in a four bedroom house that didn't cost £26k in 1985. You had to be a complete and total Polaroid head to buy an M3.

And then the E30 suffered the ignominy of being the late-80s Yuppie car and, subsequently, the mid-90s drug dealer car and then the late-90s chav car. Literally (by which I mean figuratively) everyone who drove an E30 from 1986 through to 2001 was someone you would have to think twice about urinating on if they were on fire - not necessarily the M3 itself, but it became something of a guilt-by-association thing as boggo E30s were debadged and tarted up to ape them in what may have been amongst the earliest examples of the aspirational Barry hiding the mundanity of his entry-level vehicle to pretend it's the range halo car.

It wasn't until someone, somewhere decided the E30 was a classic that they started appreciating in value and out of the range of undesireables - and the modern equivalent of the Yuppie won't touch a 30 year old BMW when he can have a box-ticked povvo Audi A3. An E30 on the road now is more likely to be well-kept and run by an enthusiast than it is to be hit with a Barry stick - and while there's many locked away in garages, failing to be cars any more, there's still a good number of examples that are driven. Admittedly this is less likely to be M3s, which start at £20k if you're lucky (£60k+ for Evo models), but it still happens.


But they've got 20 years of tosser status behind them that just isn't outrun that easily. Maybe give it another 20, so it's only enthusiast cars left - but the more of them make it to museums, the worse it's going to be.
 
One of those iconic cars with the motorsport pedigree and is one of the defining sports cars of the past 25 years. Fairly understated, which is always cool in my book. However, being so fawned over by car guys brings the coolness down a notch.

As my friend who owns one puts it, "I get so much attention from men in this car, which would be great if I was a girl or if I was gay."

This gets a mostly cool.

Famine
...and while there's many locked away in garages, failing to be cars any more, there's still a good number of examples that are driven. Admittedly this is less likely to be M3s, which start at £20k if you're lucky (£60k+ for Evo models), but it still happens.
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I know a few people around here who own E30 M3s; most of them are driven regularly, a couple of them as a daily, and a couple more that gets tracked regularly.
 
I was hoping you hadn't bought yours before 2001 when I was typing that post :D
 

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