"If anyone needs reminding why we have an enduring love affair with the BMW brand, here's your answer."

Automobile Magazine, April '03, concluding a 12-month/31,653-mile test of M3 Coupe



A brief history of the M3

The 1st-generation M3 was essentially a racing car tamed for road use. Offered in the U.S. from 1988 through 1991, it was based on the then-3 Series generation and was a winged, spoilered 2-door sedan powered by a rip-snortin' BMW M 4-cylinder engine of 2.3 liters and 192 hp. This was a full-on BMW M engine, with 4 valves per cylinder at a time when no regular-production BMW had more than 2; an individual throttle for each honed cylinder; and other engineering finery of the racing sort. That M3 certainly wasn't for everyone, but it was a hearty and competent sporting machine. Even today it has a devoted following.


The 2nd-generation M3 is better known. Based on the later E36 3 Series and making its debut for 1995, this M3 had a mission beyond BMW M's usual dedication to great performance and handling: to bring BMW M and its great driving machines to a wider spectrum of U.S. buyers.


This was accomplished by powering the M3 not with a traditional, highly elaborate BMW M engine, but rather with a specially developed version of the 325i engine of the day: an inline 6-cylinder with dual overhead camshafts, 4 valves per cylinder and a single throttle. Taking this approach, BMW M created an engine of 3.0 liters and a solid 240 horsepower; in '96 the engine grew to 3.2 liters and delivered more torque. Within the range of U.S. driving speeds, this engine provided thrilling performance, yet cost thousands less to produce. The rest was much the same M3 that Europeans could buy.


Today's M3:

3 Series perfection, M muscle

As universally acclaimed as the 1995-99 M3 was, progress never stops at BMW – nor at BMW M.

So it is with 3 Series Coupes and Convertibles; in their present incarnation, the E46 platform, they are even closer to perfection. Yet the current M3 is more than just a "3 Series plus": Like all M Cars, it is very much its own machine, a true and gifted sports car.

A bold approach to power creates amazing capabilities

As multi-talented as any M Car is, its heart is always the engine. Under BMW M3's domed hood, then, is an engine like none other. In its broad concept, the M3 engine, designated the S54 , shares its format with other BMW inline 6-cylinder engines. Virtually all of its engineering details, however, are unique and oriented to the very highest level of performance.

Unlike other 3 Series engines, which employ lighter materials for their block and cylinder head, the M3 engine combines a cast-iron block with its aluminum head; this was done to achieve the engine's 3.2-liter displacement without lengthening the block.

The block accommodates this engine's bore and stroke of 87.0 x 91.0 mm, up from the regular-production 330 Ci models' 84.0 x 89.6 mm. However, playing much larger roles than increased displacement in the nearly 100-hp increase over the most powerful 3 Series engine is the M3's induction, combustion and exhaust engineering, together with its execution as a high-rpm engine. The starring role here is played by a cylinder head that could be termed "exotic." Its key features include:

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