The BMW M3 is a two-door coupe directly derived from the E30 Series. It debuted in the autumn of 1986 and its creation resulted from a homologation requirement. If BMW wanted to enter the E30 into touring car racing, it had to produce at least 5000 homologated units with precise specifications. BMW produced the required number of vehicles, but the enthusiasm they generated exceeded expectations. In the end, the output reached 17970 units in all variants. How many of them were lucky enough to survive to this day?

It is no secret that BMW wanted to rub it into the face of Mercedes with its 190E 2.3-16, which was winning everything it could in the DTM. It was a matter of honour, for we are talking about a time when BMW was more associated with racing. The Bavarian manufacturer gritted its teeth and did everything it could to ensure that the eyes of the motorsport world were once again on Munich rather than Stuttgart. The result? The M3 E30 is the most successful BMW racing car in history and is also the most ‘winning’ car in the history of the DTM. Do we need to add anything else?

The car in the photos arrived at the Bonaventura Classic Collection in 2015. Manufactured for Japanese market, it spent a large part of its life in Belgium. There, a racing driver was its user and he, as you can see, not only knew his car perfectly well, but also took great care it.

The condition of the silver BMW is simply excellent. This naturally adds to its attractiveness and makes it more interesting than the Evo Sport model, of which they manufactured only a limited number of pieces. For the uninitiated, it is worth mentioning that this is a car in which, for better aerodynamics, a special seal fills the gaps between the bonnet and the mudguard. Another visual difference was the air intakes fitted in place of the halogens, but otherwise the car looked almost identical to the M3. An interesting phenomenon was the M3 in a… convertible. Depriving a sports car of its roof is a peculiar idea, but in this case it was more about winning the favour of American customers than to enhance racing features. From the performance perspective, a heavier, less rigid convertible with inferior aerodynamics made no sense. However, the marketing point of view has its own rules.
Magnificent, high-performance, truly sporty – all this is true, but is there anything at all left of the E30 in the M3? As it turns out, apart from the overall shape, not much. Bonnet, doors, roof, part of the rear suspension – that is it. The BMW M3 is a car conceived from the outset – right from the start – with sport, performance, and performance in mind. Massive wheel arches, spoilers, a plastic boot lid and a different slope of the rear window are just a handful of M3 attributes that one would look in vain for in its regular counterpart. Of course, the thing that had the least in common with the polite ‘civilian’ version was what hid under the bonnet. Depending on the version, this could be a 2.3 or 2.5-litre engine with power ranging from 200 (194 with catalytic converter) to even 238 hp in the most powerful and exceedingly rare Sport Evolution/EVO3 variant. One should note that we are talking about a unit developed at the BMW Motorsport specifically for the M3. So, based on all this, we can clearly see that that we are dealing with a racing car adapted to street traffic.

One can, of course, turn up one’s nose and say ‘what kind of a racer is this’, when every successive generation of the M-Type has been incomparably faster, more powerful, and better. Why insist on something which, in retrospect, is not the only one, but simply the  first one of excellent cars in this class from BMW? The point is not to be stubborn, but to appreciate what this generation of M3 is all about. Here is a car that required a great deal of effort from both engineers and stylists, right through to marketing. The technology of the mid-1980s allowed for great achievements, but not as much as even a decade later. Viewed from this perspective, the M3 E30 is like a glass of juice squeezed to the last drop.

The M3 E30 is the ultimate proof that cars can inspire the truest desire. This inconspicuous vehicle provides such a merry-go-round of sensations – it is a good thing that, for many of us, it will remain a sigh from the realm of dreams. It frequently happens to people who have their dreams come true to go mad. But what if the madness originates from happiness?