Tested: 1988 BMW M3 Races Its Way Into Our Hearts
The M3 deserves better. This is not a car for yuppies. This is a car for us. In case you haven’t noticed, BMW’s U.S. lineup has blossomed to include a dazzling array of leather-lined hot rods that beg to be flogged through the twisties and hammered on the superslabs. Gone are the anemic four-cylinder models that nearly ruined BMW’s image. Nearly extinct are the Bimmers reserved for social climbers. The Bavarian Motor Works is back on track with a fleet of drivers’ cars, and the M3 is potent proof of its new direction. The M3 is the most recent of the broad-shouldered BMW Motorsport models to reach our shores. For those not yet fluent in M-speak, the M-machines are limited edition, high-performance versions of the 3-, 5-, and 6-series sedans. For several years the M-cars were a treat reserved for European buyers, but since early this year they have been trickling into the hands of hungry American enthusiasts. The M5 and the M6 debuted stateside in February, and the M3 joined the brawny pair in June.
Dick Kelley
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Car and Driver
The M3 is available to enthusiasts because of the rules that govern FIA Group A racing. To qualify a car for Group A competition, its manufacturer must build a minimum of 5000 examples of it within twelve months. The rules also strictly limit the modifications that can be made for racing, so most of the performance hardware must be baked into the road-going cars. BMW Motorsport clearly knows the recipe for success in Group A road racing: after the fourth of seven European Touring Car Championship events this year, the M3 had already clinched the title.
The M3’s racing heritage is immediately apparent in its steroid-injected bodywork. With its aggressive assortment of air dams, body flares, and spoilers, the M3 will quicken the pulse of any boy (or girl) racer lucky enough to catch a glimpse of one. Most of the new pieces are made of steel, though the rocker panels, the trunk lid, the front air dam, and the rear wing are molded in plastic. The rake of the rear window has been altered for improved aerodynamics, and both it and the windshield are bonded flush with the surrounding bodywork. The net result of all these aero tweaks is a drag coefficient of 0.33, down substantially from the 325i’s 0.37 Cd. Perhaps more important, no one will ever mistake the burly M3 for an ordinary 3-series sedan.
Dick Kelley
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Car and Driver
The subskin make-over is equally impressive. Like its 3-series siblings, the M3’s fully independent suspension has struts in front and semi-trailing arms at the rear, but the coil springs and the gas shocks have been revised and strengthened for race duty. The shorter springs drop the M3 about an inch lower than the 325i. In addition, the front anti-roll bar is attached to the struts rather than to the control arms, and a beefier anti-roll bar is fitted to the rear.
Formula 1 fans will think they’ve died and gone to Monaco the first time they lift the M3’s hood. Inside sits a naturally aspirated, 2.3-liter version of BMW’s brutal, turbocharged four-cylinder Grand Prix engine. This is the only remaining four banger in BMW’s U.S. lineup, but it’s anything but a prestige-sapping weakling. Hardware enthusiasts have plenty to drool over here: four valves per cylinder, double overhead camshafts, an individual throttle for each cylinder, tuned intake and exhaust plumbing, and a new ML3 Bosch Motronic engine-management system. As further proof that this is no ordinary powerplant, its cam cover and air cleaner are emblazoned with the words “BMW M Power.”
CHARLIE MAGEE
Though the “M” stands for “Motorsport,” we think “Mucho Power” is more like it. The sixteen-valve four-cylinder turns out 192 hp at a lofty 6750 rpm and 170 pound-feet of torque at 4750. If you think those are remarkable figures for a 2.3-liter, you’re right: the M3’s ferocious four boasts a higher output per liter than any other naturally aspirated piston engine available in America.
What looks impressive on paper feels equally stirring on the road. When its tail is twisted, the 2857-pound M3 dashes to 60 mph in 6.9 seconds and trips the quarter-mile lights in 15.2 seconds at 92 mph. Top speed is an autobahn-tuned 141 mph. That’s enough punch to blow off the Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.3-16 and stay neck and neck with the Porsche 944S. Best of all, the M3’s power delivery is wonderfully linear; it pulls willingly from its midrange all the way to its sizzling 7250-rpm redline.
Dick Kelley
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Car and Driver
Those accustomed to the silky smoothness of BMW’s refined in-line sixes, however, may wince a bit when this engine starts to sing. It is, after all, a highly tuned, relatively large four-cylinder, so a little harshness is part ofthe bargain. BMW has softened the resonance considerably since we sampled an M3 on the autobahn a year ago, but this engine remains a howler. The noise is a fine, mechanical sound, especially when you’re near the very top of the tach, but it’s there whether you want it or not.
Most of the time, you won’t mind a little kibitzing from the engine compartment, because the M3 is designed for driving with brio. Pushed hard, the M3 comes into its own. The five-speed transmission is tightly geared for maximum go. The chassis is more than a match for the engine, responding swiftly and surely to orders from the helm. Powering through hard corners, the tail stays firmly planted, though there is enough predictable lift-throttle oversteer available to point you back toward your line when understeer begins to be a problem. The standard 205/55VR-15 Pirelli P600 tires don’t turn in as crisply as we’d like, but they do stick: the M3 squeals around the skidpad at an impressive 0.81 g.
Dick Kelley
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Car and Driver
We had a chance to put in a handful of brisk laps around Connecticut’s challenging Lime Rock racetrack, and the M3 proved equal to its breeding. Few road cars can take to the track with such poise. The M3 leaps through the corners like a cat, its feisty engine spinning and spitting until you snatch another gear or the rev limiter grabs it by the tail. Excellent controls help you keep the frenzy in check: the steering is supple and superbly accurate, the shifter has just the right amount of notchiness, and the massive disc brakes vented in front and equipped with a standard anti-lock system-are always on duty, lap after lap. Our seat-of-the-pants admiration for the binders was confirmed by our fifth-wheel testing: the M3 clawed to a stop from 70 mph in a mere 179 feet.
The M3 may be a thinly disguised race car, but its creature-comforts list would do most luxury sedans proud. Included are power windows, mirrors, and locks; a power sunroof; air conditioning; a premium AM/FM-stereo/cassette system; a three-spoke, leather-wrapped Motorsport steering wheel; and a nine-function trip computer. Everything is laid out in typically sensible BMW fashion, and the white-on-black analog gauges are among the most legible in the industry. In view of the M3’s sporting nature, an oil-temperature gauge has been substituted for the normal 3-series layout’s fuel-economy display.
Dick Kelley
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Car and Driver
We have mixed feelings about the standard leather seats, however. They offer an adequate range of manual adjustment, and they’re dandy for spirited maneuvers. The problem is that they aren’t well designed for extended travel. Several staffers complained of a lack of lumbar support, and others suffered from pinched behinds after long drives. We’ll give these thrones an overall B. Passengers banished to the rear seats should be either short or masochistic.
All in all, we’re smitten by the M3. Our test car was weighed down by a $34,810 price tag-about what you’d pay for a 944S-but the Bavarian beast offers a lot in return. For that princely sum you get a stunningly distinctive design, a generous helping of luxury and quality, and the kind of cool, collected performance available only in German sports sedans.
Dick Kelley
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Car and Driver
Enthusiasts who find those attributes tantalizing should get in line immediately: BMW plans to export only 2400 M3s to the United States this year. The supply probably won’t be enough to meet the demand, but it will serve to remind enthusiasts that BMW is back in the performance car business.
Gee, what was that “y”-word again?
Dick Kelley
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Car and Driver
Counterpoint
The “batmobiles” are back! With its deep chin spoiler, fabled “bat wing,” and forever-revving engine, the M3 reincarnates the spirit of the 3.OCSL racing coupes of the early seventies. This machine is meant for fast, winding secondary roads where its tight chassis can be exercised through generous use of its broad rev band and powerful brakes. Initially, it seems to understeer, but you soon learn that the trick is to brake firmly, then get on the power hard and early. Drive the M3 like that and it behaves in a wonderfully neutral manner, allowing fast, controllable four-wheel drifts that seem as if they could go on forever. As expected, the pedals are arranged perfectly for heel-and-toeing, while the sound of the sixteen-valve four in full cry pumps plenty of adrenaline into your bloodstream.
In small towns, the aerodynamic addenda turn heads while you’re just cruising by at 25 mph. And on the open road, necks start snapping as you wail past at over 7000 rpm. The high, stubby, winged tail and the fender blisters give the M3 more than just a passing resemblance to the Audi Quattro Sport. And that isn’t bad at all. —Nicolas Bissoon-Dath
I’ve about had it with you readers. Every time we fawn all over some megadollar exotic, your collective reaction is as predictable as a California sunrise. We’re blinded by the smoke, you say. We’re in the manufacturer’s pocket. We’re crazy.
Actually, I’d probably think the same if I were in your moccasins. But here I go again. Stand back, because I’m gonna fawn. Unless you drive the BMW M3, there’s no way you’re going to understand the synergy at work therein.
Taken separately, the M3’s engine, handling, and wild sheetmetal are stellar. Together, their effect is intoxicating. The demonic growl of the engine as it soars to the redline, the racer’s-edge moves, and the rally-racer looks push this homologation special into another class entirely.
On paper, the M3 is just an overpriced small sedan with a cramped rear seat. In real life, it’s the perfect toy for an upscale closet wild man. The M3 throbs with the soul of BMW’s Motorsport division, and I, for one, love it. If you were standing in my moccasins, I’m sure you would, too. —Rich Ceppos
Yuppies, keep back! The BMW M3 is keen through and through, and it cries out for only the truly keen to wield its treasury of talents. We car junkies have had it: even if you have sidestepped all the other potential addictions paraded by modem life, do not, under any circumstances, drive this car. It is so good that it’s hopelessly addictive, and even you, NOx-breath, can’t be immune. Nobody who gives a hoot about hardware can resist a tool that does everything well, and a single delirious dose of the M3’s dynamics plants an emotional hook that cannot be shaken. It is finesse and muscle and fun packed into one.
The M3 looks right, too, brutish but sophisticated, and the more you drive it, the more you’ll love it. In performance, it’s right up there with the Porsche 944S (and has a trunk, to boot)! And in feel, stability, handling, punch, and price, it kills the Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.3-16. Although I dote on the kick-ass, cocoa-butter smoothness of BMW’s 325is, its 27 -grand tariff seems a little pricey. And yet another seven Gs seems a mere pittance to pay to OD on the M3. —Larry Griffin
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Specifications
SPECIFICATIONS
1988 BMW M3
VEHICLE TYPE
front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 4-passenger, 2-door coupe
PRICE AS TESTED
$34,810 (base price: $34,475)
ENGINE TYPE
DOHC 16-valve inline-4, aluminum block and head, port fuel injection
Displacement: 140 in3, 2302 cm3
Power: 192 hp @ 6750 rpm
Torque: 170 lb-ft @ 4750 rpm
TRANSMISSION
5-speed manual
CHASSIS
Suspension (F/R): struts/semi-trailing arm
Brakes (F/R): 11.0-in vented disc/11.1-in disc
Tires: Pirelli P600, 205/55VR-15
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 100.9 in
Length: 171.1 in
Width: 66.1 in
Height: 53.9 in
Passenger volume: 82 ft3
Trunk volume: 13 ft3
Curb weight: 2857 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS
60 mph: 6.9 sec
100 mph: 19.6 sec
Top gear, 30–50 mph: 9.4 sec
Top gear, 50–70 mph: 9.5 sec
1/4 mile: 15.2 sec @ 92 mph
Top speed: 141 mph
Braking, 70–0 mph: 179 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.81 g
C/D FUEL ECONOMY
Observed: 20 mpg
EPA FUEL ECONOMY
Combined/city/highway: 18/15/26 mpg
