Cars

40 Years. One M3. Endless Stories.

Forty years of the BMW M3. These are stories of racetracks and country roads, of four, six and eight-cylinder engines, of winged models and family estate cars, of major victories and small details, of Laguna Seca Blue, high revs and rather wide tyres. We could try to tell them all now. But we won’t. Instead: a rather subjective journey through four decades of the M3.

Text
Verena Stuhlinger
Photos
BMW Group

Forty years ago, the first BMW M3 rolled off the production line at the main Munich plant as a two-door coupé. That’s cause for a celebration. And what better place to celebrate a legend than the Goodwood Festival of Speed? Exactly. Make way for an icon.

To kick things off, a parade featuring one M3 from each generation drove up the famous Hillclimb, bumper to bumper. Those who preferred to watch up close could find the original E30 and the limited-edition 2011 M3 GTS E92 at the BMW M Trackside Paddock. BMW Group Classic sent the M3 GTR E46 with Dirk Adorf, the M3 DTM E92 with Jens Klingmann and an M3 Alpina E30 with Peter Oberndorfer out onto the track. And then there was the M3 Touring 24H: what began in 2025 as an April Fool’s joke on social media was on the starting grid at the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring in May 2026. This was followed by its UK premiere at Goodwood in July.

“At BMW M, form consistently follows function. Every detail is designed to enhance performance.”

Oliver Heilmer, Design for BMW’s compact range, New Class and BMW M

1/6

The future of the M3 is electric, and the BMW M Concept Neue Klasse offered a first glimpse of this at Goodwood. Whether it has four, six, eight or no cylinders at all: the essence remains the same. An everyday car that really wants to be on the racetrack. For 40 years. And hopefully for many more to come.

→ bmw-m.com

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40 Years. One M3. Endless Stories.

E30 (1986 to 1991): The class pioneer

E36 (1992 to 1999): The M3 comes of age

E46 (2000 to 2006): The favourite

E90, E92, E93 (2007 to 2013): The only V8

F80 (2014 to 2018): Name change

G80 and G81 (since 2020): The Present

E30 (1986 to 1991): The class pioneer

E36 (1992 to 1999): The M3 comes of age

E46 (2000 to 2006): The favourite

E90, E92, E93 (2007 to 2013): The only V8

F80 (2014 to 2018): Name change

G80 and G81 (since 2020): The Present

→ bmw-m.com

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40 Years. One M3. Endless Stories.

E30 (1986 to 1991): The class pioneer

E36 (1992 to 1999): The M3 comes of age

E46 (2000 to 2006): The favourite

E90, E92, E93 (2007 to 2013): The only V8

F80 (2014 to 2018): Name change

G80 and G81 (since 2020): The Present

E30 (1986 to 1991): The class pioneer

E36 (1992 to 1999): The M3 comes of age

E46 (2000 to 2006): The favourite

E90, E92, E93 (2007 to 2013): The only V8

F80 (2014 to 2018): Name change

G80 and G81 (since 2020): The Present

→ bmw-m.com

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