In the Ravaglia's diagonally striped driver's seat, I feel
familiarity flooding back. There's that angular binnacle with its simple,
red-needled instruments bathed at night in a red glow, and a center console
angled hard towards the driver as BMW consoles were back in those Ultimate
Driving Machine days. In the console's lower left corner is a bank of three
heater sliders and a rotary temperature knob, a brilliant system giving a
versatility of temperature and air distribution denied to drivers of modem
cars.
To its right is a blank space where a radio should be, which
makes the cassette storage box between the seats a strange orphan of purpose.
Ahead is a non-adjustable steering wheel surprisingly far from the vertical,
whose column appears to aim towards the M3's centre line. I never noticed this
back then, but today it feels odd - especially in a BMW, historical paragon of
ergonomics.
This is a catalyzed car, from a time when cats took the edge
off pace, and I have to say it doesn't feel as quick as I remembered. That it's
mechanically an Evo II-plus-cat, and so has a longer final drive ratio (3.15 to
one) than the earlier cars (3.25 to one), might partly explain this, but the
throttle feels initially soft instead of linearly crisp the whole way through.
At 4750rpm, though, the engine's character changes; the note
hardens into the fizz typical of tuned 16-valvers of the time, and we're still
pulling hard as the rev-limiter intervenes. That's better. It just needs
exercise.
The other attributes are as they were: the easy gear-change
once you've remembered the layout, the remarkable ride, the feeling of tactile
one-ness with the steering, the handling, the friendliness. That ability to
trust the M3 come what may, to feel it join in your pleasure even on an icy
road (as in the day of my re-acquaintance): it's all just as it was and
unmatched by anything BMW makes today.
You could de-cat this car quite legally; there's even an
adjuster on the Motronic system to recalibrate it once done. I would if it were
mine, just to let the engine do what it can do so well. Meanwhile, if you crave
an M3 -as I could easily do but a Sport Evolution seems like fiscal overkill,
you had better start hunting now. As Dan Norris said, good ones have become
very rare. And you don't know what you've got till it's gone.
M3: the evolution
It got more powerful, faster and more hardcore, yet
BMW wasn’t afraid to celebrate racing success with fancy paint and leather too
M3
First version had 200bhp, or 195bhp with cat Including 786
convertibles (revealed 1988), 14,443 examples were built, making this earliest,
purest M3 the most numerous. The USA took 4996 of them, with a conventional
gearlever gate, an overdrive fifth gear and a shorter (4.1 to one) rear axle
ratio.
M3 Evolution I
There were 505 of these, mechanically standard but featuring
slight spoiler changes (most obviously a black lower extension at the front)
for homologation purposes. These were all subtle modifications to an already
very subtle car - you need to be an M3 expert to spot the differences at a
glance.
M3 Evolution II
500 of these, launched in 1988. Now the front spoiler's
lower lip was extended, the trailing edge of the boot got a lip spoiler under
the wing, 16in wheels with wider tires replaced 15s, and there was a lighter
boot lid, thinner rear glass, and 220bhp via higher compression, better
breathing and revised camshafts.
M3 Sport Evolution
Up to 238bhp thanks to 2.5 litres and higher-lift camshafts.
Adjustable spoilers front and rear, enlarged arches to accommodate 18in racing
wheels, singlepiece bucket seats and red belts to clamp the front occupants.
Black or red only; 600 built, plus one convertible, in 1989-90.
M3 Europameister
There were 148 of these, signed by Roberto Ravaglia to mark
the M3’s 1988 European Touring Car Championship win. Output was 195 catalysed
bhp. Each one was painted Macao Blue metallic and most were equipped with a
silver extended Nappa leather interior, with hide covering the centre console.
M3 Cecotto/Ravaglia Editions
These totaled 505 and are effectively catalyzed, 215bhp Evo
Ms but signed by Johnny Cecotto (480 examples) and Ravaglia (the remaining 25,
all for the UK). So our featured car, rather than being number 65 of 25 (which
would be absurd), is number 65 of the whole 505-car run signed by the two
drivers.
M3: How It Conquered The Circuits
The '87 World Touring Car Championship, ’88 British
Touring Cars, three Italia Superturismo series...
IN EARLY 1987, just as the early road versions were finding
their first owners, the Group A M3s with, initially, 300bhp took to the
racetracks. In Europe they were run not by the factory but by teams including
Zakspeed, Linder and, most prolifically, Schnitzer, although plenty more were
sold to other teams all over the world.
Success came quickly. At both the Monza and the Donington
rounds of the World Touring Car Championship early in the year the M3s filled
the first six places, although the Monza results were quashed after accusations
of using un-homologated thin boot lids. BMW appealed, but the appeal was
disallowed on the grounds of having been filed too late.
Not a good start, then, but the form was clear. The key
drivers were Roberto Ravaglia in a Schnitzer car and Johnny Cecotto, recovered
from his 1984 Formula 1 crash and restarting his racing career, while Emanuele
Pirro and
Touring Car ace
Roberto Ravaglia gave his name to the special-edition M3 pictured in the
preceding pages. Here he is at the Nurburgring in 1987, earning that respect.
Dieter Quester were among those who co-drove with Ravaglia
in the longer events. It was at Bathurst, Australia, that Ravaglia clinched the
1987 WTCC Drivers' title after crashing in practice and breaking his ribs; that
year the European championship was incorporated in the WTCC and Wilfried Vogt
had already won that crown by then in another M3, with Altfried Heger second.
Cecotto won that Bathurst round, and also claimed Dijon. He
went on to win the 1989 Italia Superturismo series, a title taken by Ravaglia
for the following two years - and by Michele Di Gioia in the Superturismo's
first year, 1987. In the UK, FrankSytner won the BTCC in his M3 for 1988
despite running in Class B below the more powerful Class A Sierra Cosworths,
while Ravaglia claimed that year's ETCC (the WTCC was abandoned because the FI
fraternity considered it to be stealing too much thunder).
Ravaglia was also the German DTM champion for 1989,
following Eric Van de Poele's championship win in 1987. In the 24-hour
endurance races, M3 victories included Spa in 1988 (Ravaglia/Quester/Heger) and
a one-two at the Nürburgring in 1989 with Ravaglia winning again, this time
partnered by Pirro and Fabien Giroix.
An impressive record for the M3, then, and well worth BMW's
efforts to make a minimum of 5000 cars to qualify the M3 for Group A. Racing
was clearly the M3's forté, but there was also an occasional rally success.
Most notable was that of Bernard Béguin and Jean-Jacques Lenne on the Tour de
Corse in 1987, where the predominantly tarmac surfaces favored the Prodrive prepared
M3. Marc Duez scored a small victory on the 1989 Monte Carlo rally, too,
finishing eighth overall but first of the non-four-wheel-drives. What fun he
must have had.
