Actually the numbers of the various versions see panel,
overleaf are debatable according to who tells the tale, but broadly there have
been three Evolutions: the Ravaglia/Cecotto editions and a Europameister, as
well as two power-levels of standard cars. That's the saloons; there were also
convertibles, 787 of them (one a Sport Evolution) out of the M3's total
production of 16,202 cars.
The hottest road engine was the Sport Evolution's 2.5 liter
unit with 238bhp at 7000rpm, achieved by both boring and stroking. Otherwise it
was 2.3 liter with 200bhp at the start (or 195bhp with a catalyst and the
reduced compression ratio that went with it), rising to 220bhp for the Evo II
or 215bhp if catalyzed all 6750rpm. This last engine became the standard unit
for later 'mainstream' M3s.
KICHERER Mercedes
SL Evo II
So, what distinguishes an M3 from, say, a 325i beyond the
obvious lack of two cylinders? We'll begin with the way it looks. Of the outer
skin panels, only the doors, bonnet and roof are carried over from the regular
E30, and the last of these looks different thanks to its extra, separate
cowling over the rear window aperture. This gives the window a racier rake and
flows into a higher boot lid made from composite plastic, helping towards a
better aerodynamic drag coefficient (0.33) than the boxy shape suggests. Both
front and rear screens are bonded in for greater rigidity.
Front and rear wings are bulged out to cover the
(relatively) wide wheels, and rather wider ones used for racing, and they lack
the usual edge lips. Front and rear valances, sill covers and a large rear wing
spoiler give the basis for the race cars' aerodynamic packages, yet the effect
is far from lurid or aggressive not least because the E30's small, square-cut,
demure demeanor remains largely intact. Most people would think an M3 to be
simply a regular 3-series with a boot spoiler.
Inside it's similarly normal bar some racier fabrics, the
Recaro front seats and an illuminated gearlever knob showing first gear's gate
position as a left-and-back dogleg. Underneath, though, things are very
different, particularly at the front. Here, there's three times as much castor
as in a standard E30, achieved with different hubs and strut bodies that also
incorporate 5-series wheel bearings. The anti-roll bar's drop links are
attached directly to the struts instead of to the wishbone below, greatly
improving the immediacy of steering response (the same idea was used on
Peugeot's 205GTI, and is nowadays usual) and effectively doubling the roll
stiffness relative to a standard E30.
Stiffer springs with gas-filled dampers are used all-round,
while the BBS cross-spoke wheels (very 1980s) wore 205/55 VR15 tires
originally, 225/45 ZR16 on later M3s such as our Ravaglia whose rims are an
impressive 7.5in wide. And then there's the engine, the other big part of the
M3's drive-me nature, whose four-cylinder architecture gives a young-at-heart,
tell it like it is eagerness somehow more instant and uncomplicated than the
character of a sophisticated six-pot. The E30 was the only M3 so endowed; later
ones became sixes, then a madly-revving V8, with a twin-turbo six now poised to
take the line into the latest 3-series generation.
The engine's core is the final development of the M10
cast-iron block, first used in 1962's BMW 1500 and strong enough to cope with a
qualifying-spec 1400bhp in a turbocharged Formula 1 Brabham-BMW. Closing off
the four cylinders is a head that, in prototype form, really was an M1/M5
casting with the rear third sawn off. The production cylinder head was a unique
casting, of course, but the combustion-chamber design with its four valves was
the same, as was the disposition of the twin overhead camshafts above it. Bosch
ML Motronic management supplies fuel and sparks.
BMW 1500
That, broadly, is the m3. It cost $34,352 new in 1987, and
that's top money for a really good early example now. The problem comes with
finding one, especially unmodified. 'The market has flattened/ says Dan Norris,
MD of long-time fast BMW specialist Munich Legends, 'after collectors pushed up
prices to a peak about a year ago. M3s are quite numerous but it's difficult to
find good ones. They had sunk to $6,040-$7,550 in recent years and many got
into poor shape, and by modern standards they're not that quick.
BMW
325 1987 E30
'Among the standard cars I've seen only one good one in
three years. Typically they've done maybe 170,000 km and have been through hell
and back changing hands, often having unknown foreign histories and becoming
track day weapons. Now people are trying to tart them up. If I had a pound for
every time someone comes to me with a car and says it's in pretty good condition...
usually it will need $4,530 worth of work straight away.
'The Sport Evo is a different matter. Just 600 were made and
it sits at the top now, with people paying $90,600 to $120,800 for a low-mileage
one because this is the car that brings the most memories. Maybe 400 are still
left in a pure state.'
That's the 2.5-litre car with 238bhp and bigger arches.
"But,” says Munich Legends “technical expert Stuart Draper, 'I have driven
Sport Evos that feel no better than a standard 200bhp non-cat car. A 195 bhp
catalyzed car to a Sport Evo is a big difference, though. Those early non-cat
cars can feel far better than expected.” On such M3s was my early M3 lust
based. How will it hold up today, when I drive our featured Ravaglia?
First, though, some words of advice if you're tempted to go
M3-hunting. 'They're all old now/ says Stuart, 'and most have lived outside.
You can get access to see if the sills have rusted, despite the covers, but the
scuttle panel is the biggest problem. The repair costs around £600 including
removing and refitting the bonded windscreen, although the panel itself, which
has to be ordered with the chassis number stamped into it, is only about $60.
Check for a damp and rusty floor, too; water can come in through bulkhead
grommets, or it can run down the outside of blocked sunroof drain tubes or
along the loom into the car.'
The mechanical parts are robust, although oil leaks and
perishing bushes inevitably accompany high miles. The Getrag gearbox is very
strong. So is the engine, but the timing chain really has to be replaced at
100,000 miles and people don't like paying the £3600 bill. It's not just chain
wear: the sprockets, the valve guides, the tensioner all wear and, as it's a
head-off job, you might as well do the lot.
'Clattering at start-up is the key indicator,' says Stuart.
'The hydraulic tensioner gives no tension until the oil pressure builds, so a
worn chain can make itself heard. We can fit a later tensioner for £100, which
doesn't bleed off the pressure, but while it hides the start-up noise it
doesn't mean there's no wear. If a car has been left in gear on a trailer and
allowed to rock back and forth, that can break the chain. We never start a car
which has been transported like that until we've checked it through.
'As M3 values go up, most owners now go for preventative
maintenance and would consider a timing-chain rebuild. But we used to get a lot
of negative comments from people thinking we were trying to rip them off.'
