What's the history behind the M cars???

The other day I saw an older BMW and it had M5 badges on it. I was wondering how old are the M cars?? How far back do they go? What's the racing history behind them? I'm sure BMW didn't build them just for rich people, there's got to be a story or two about them... I know Neg and s/c//M3 and the rest of you should know this, so go to it. Give me as much data as possible; HP/TQ, Times if possible. I bet an early 80's M5 is pretty rare eh?

Thanks!

[535guy]

Originally posted by 94Goezquik:
The other day I saw an older BMW and it had M5 badges on it. I was wondering how old are the M cars?? How far back do they go? What's the racing history behind them? I'm sure BMW didn't build them just for rich people, there's got to be a story or two about them... I know Neg and s/c//M3 and the rest of you should know this, so go to it. Give me as much data as possible; HP/TQ, Times if possible. I bet an early 80's M5 is pretty rare eh?

Thanks!

Well 94GQ as for the M5 I don't know much about them in the early-mid 80's however the early 90's M5 is a different story. This car is based off of my car the E34 535i. The engine produces 310hp compared to my 208 stock( not sure on torque) which is good enough to propell it to 60mph in under 6 seconds and a 1/4 mile around 14 flat. The engine is also based on the 3.5 liter in the 535i internally known as the M30 engine. I don't know all of the differences however I can tell you some. The engine is 4 valves per cylinder instead of 2, and it also has a different intake and rearend, it is geared a little lower. Now if you really want a car look at the 91-94 M5 euro model. The 3.5 is bored out to 3.8 liters and it produces 340hp.(sorry no times)

The M3 was first introduced in the U.S in 1988( I think). These cars were bred for the track, although only an inline 4, it produced something like 200hp, the car only weighed about 2400lbs making it very very quick. Horsepower increased through the years, but unfortunatly so did the weight. Perhaps this is why you may see an engine swap from a newer 95-98 M3 into the old body, lots of power and no weight is a great thing. The U.S has never gotten all that the M cars have had to offer until now with the new M3 and M5. We have always gotten a "special" version in this country and have been deprived of the true M Power. There is a lot more but I gotta go hope this helps a bit.

[ 08-19-2001: Message edited by: 535guy ]

Hmmm. You posed an interesting challenge, 94GQ: trying to give a fairly complete history of the M division without putting anyone to sleep.

I'll give it a shot.

Disclaimer: what you're about to read is really, really long. It may also be incorrect in detail -especially dates- I am writing all of this from memory, without any reference aids. Corrections and comments are welcome, but do me a favor and don't nitpick on horsepower numbers. If you want accurate and complete, go read "Unbeatable BMW" by Jeremey Walton (Bentley Press).

The story starts in the 1960s. At this time, BMW was a struggling company that was still trying to recover from such post-war mistakes such as the slow-selling and expensive 502 and 507 which almost bankrupted it. The car that saved BMW was the 1600 series, the forerunner of the 3 series. It was affordable, practical and sporty... a good starting point for racing cars.

Within a few years, privateers had enough success in various European touring car and endurance races to convience BMW to go racing officially. BMW formed BMW Motorsport Gmbh in 1972 to handle everything motorsports related. BMW Motorsport had basically 2 jobs: to win races and to make money, so it could keep racing.

To race, they choose European Touring Car Group 2 racing, which at the time was dominated by (ironically) Ford and their invincible Capris. The BMW 3.0 CS racer (think of it as a 70s 5-series with 2 doors) was in no shape to tussle with the mighty Group 2 Capri. It was too heavy and simply lacked the development time the Capris had.

So Motorsport evolved the car to make a homologation special. They revised the cylinder heads, bored and stroked the block and changed the crank and pistons. The new car made 200 horsepower in road going form and 380+ in racing trim. They completely revised suspension parts and geometry, and added wider wheels and tires. The doors, hood and trunk lid were replaced with aluminum parts and all the sound-deadening and luxury features were deleted. In order to meet homologation rules, the wild, outlandish rear wing was included with the road car; BMW put it dissasembled in the trunk.

This car becomes the legendary BMW 3.0 CSL (L for "lightweight" in German) and is what I consider the first M car.

So Group 2 was *very* exciting for the next 6 years, with BMW and Ford going back and forth on race tracks all over Europe. I believe BMW claims 4 championships and Ford 2 over that period where they both competed. The CSL, in various guises in Group 4 or 5 came to be known as "the Batmobile" because of it's huge wing and was one of the most successful race cars of the 70s.

In the meantime, BMW Motorsport was trying to make a buck --BMW AG decreed BMW Motorsport would have to be self-sustaining. So they sold everything they could, from every 3.0 CSL they could build, to special customer cars to even accessories with the Motorsport logo on it. They had a bunch of racing motors they would put into road cars for testing. Usually, the race drivers or engineers would run them as their daily drivers. These race motors would always have special cam covers that read "BMW Motorsport Power". Eventually, this got shortened to simply "BMW M Power". Sometimes, these cars got sold to special customers. This was the forebearer, and embodiment of the soul of the modern M car: a road car that existed so people can go racing.

M Power went official in 1977 when BMW announced the M1 supercar. It was a mid-engined 160 mph exotic that was supposed to be the basis of a new Group 5 racer. Unfortunately, Group 5 racing dissolved before the M1 could be put into production and BMW --like Porsche a few years later with the 959-- was stuck with a race car, but no race series. So BMW devised a supporting race series called Procar as a support race for Formula One. The races ran spec M1s with big name F1 drivers which turned out to be a success and salvaged the M1 fiscally. Only 457 M1s were ever built. The road cars made about 280 hp and did 0-60 in about 5.5 seconds, which was scorchingly fast for 1979. It could easily keep up with Ferrari's Daytona and Berlinetta Boxer.

The M1 motor, a 3.5 liter DOHC 24 valve fuel injected inline six went on to serve in the first M5 (E28 1986) and M635CSi (E24 1987, called simply the 'M6' in the USA). Just like a race car, each cylinder had its own individual throttle body for percise airflow management. The M5, especially, was a wolf in sleep's clothing.. a 150 mph sedan than did 0-60 in 6.5 seconds was a whole lotta bang in 1985.

In the early 80s, with the CS series replaced by the larger, less sporting 6-series, BMW looked to the new 3 series as a basis for competition. Homologation rules for Group C and Touring Car racing meant some 5000 road cars need to be sold, and the 3-series low price made idea of a new 'CSL' possible. The 2.3 liter engine limit meant the new car was to be a 4 cylinder car.

Everything about the standard E30 (1984-91) 3 series was changed: the new motor was basically the M1 motor with 2 cylinders chopped off. Entirely new suspension parts were spec'd. Control arms, hubs, spindle, etc. Every exterior body panel was different from the standard 3 series except for the front windshield. Road cars made about 190 hp in 1986, to an amazing 230 hp in 1990. Race versions made 340+.

The new car was called the M3, and it beat the snot out of everything in Touring Car racing from 1986 until it retired in 1991. It is considered the winningst car in the history of Touring Car racing and certainly one of the most successful race cars in history.

The road-going E30 M3 was available in the States from 1988 to 90. The US version did 0-60 in 6.8 seconds. Unfortunately, US emissions laws kept the European-only Evolution (210 hp) and Sport Evolution (230 hp) from making it here. However, many of the 2.5 Sport Evo motors did make it here to the states in crates, and I am sure have found their way into the engine bays of a few yankee E30 M3s.

The E34 M5 (1989-1993) was the next M car. The familar M1 derived 3.5 liter was slightly bored for 3.6 liters and a host of new revisions including direct injection gave the new M5 a healthy 310 hp. This was enough for the new car to hit 0-60 in 6 seconds and a 165 mph top speed. Once again, Europe saves the best versions for itself, because in 1993, capacity was increased to 3.8 liters and 340 hp.

Meanwhile, the successor to the E30 M3, the E36 M3 was introduced in 1992 as a 93 model in Europe only. The 1993 E36 M3 was faster and more capable in every respect than the E30 and was to be a true supercar. 286 hp and 238 lb-ft of torque was on tap from an all-new 3.0 liter 24 valve inline 6 with intake side variable valve timing. 0-60 was about 5.8 seconds.

At the same time, BMW was approached by Ron Dennis and Gordon Murray to submit a proposal for an engine to power their new super car, the F1. (Honda was initially approached, but turned down the offer.) The proposal was immediately handed to BMW Motorsport. The result was a compact and efficient 6.1 liter 48 valve quad cam V12. In road trim, the V12 made 627 horsepower and 589 lb-ft of torque. The cam cover reads both "McLaren Cars" and "Powered by: BMW M Power"

In 1995, "BMW Motorsport GmbH" becomes "BMW M GmbH". BMW Motorsport becomes a division within M, with the rest of M concentrating on creating M road cars and driver training programs.

In the meantime, the new M3 was a huge sales success. A US only version of the M3 finally makes it across the pond in 1994, withOUT the trick racing cylinder head and individual throttle bodies. The US spec car makes the familar 240 federalized horsepower we all whine about today, but was a run away hit in the states, selling more units than ANY OTHER PREVIOUS M CAR COMBINED.

But there was some muttering at the time about the purity of the E36 M3's bloodlines: BMW had no plans to race it. Fans of the original wondered about the lack of focus of the new car. Sure it was faster and more capable.. but it was also larger, heavier and more luxurious. No longer was the M3 a sharply focused brutal racer in street clothes.

BMW's answer to the concern was absolutely hilarious: add more horsepower. In 1996, the 3.0 liter was bumped to 3.2 liters and variable valve timing was added to the exhaust side cams. The result: 321 horsepower and 259 lb-ft of torque. In many ways, the Euro E36 M3 engine is half (one bank) of a McLaren F1 V12.

In 1995, Tom Milner of PTG began racing the new M3 in the IMSA GT series. By 1996, the M3 was once again a regular visitor to the victory circle. PTG M3s captured 96, 97 and 98 GT championships in IMSA/Professional SportsCar racing as well as numerous wins at Daytona and Sebring.

So there you have it. A brief history of M cars. Still awake? I have purposely left out cars like the 2002 Turbo, M535i, 333i Sport, 540i Sport and 850CSi because I don't consider them M cars and I didn't touch on any M cars still sale today.

-Neg

PS- I'm at home sick today and have plenty of free time on my hands.

[ 08-17-2001: Message edited by: NegCamber ]

[535guy]

Originally posted by NegCamber:
Hmmm. You posed an interesting challenge, 94GQ: trying to give a fairly complete history of the M division without putting anyone to sleep.

I'll give it a shot.

Disclaimer: what you're about to read is really, really long. It may also be incorrect in detail -especially dates- I am writing all of this from memory, without any reference aids. Corrections and comments are welcome, but do me a favor and don't nitpick on horsepower numbers. If you want accurate and complete, go read "Unbeatable BMW" by Jeremey Walton (Bentley Press).

The story starts in the 1960s. At this time, BMW was a struggling company that was still trying to recover from such post-war mistakes such as the slow-selling and expensive 502 and 507 which almost bankrupted it. The car that saved BMW was the 1600 series, the forerunner of the 3 series. It was affordable, practical and sporty... a good starting point for racing cars.

Within a few years, privateers had enough success in various European touring car and endurance races to convience BMW to go racing officially. BMW formed BMW Motorsport Gmbh in 1972 to handle everything motorsports related. BMW Motorsport had basically 2 jobs: to win races and to make money, so it could keep racing.

To race, they choose European Touring Car Group 2 racing, which at the time was dominated by (ironically) Ford and their invincible Capris. The BMW 3.0 CS racer (think of it as a 70s 5-series with 2 doors) was in no shape to tussle with the mighty Group 2 Capri. It was too heavy and simply lacked the development time the Capris had.

So Motorsport evolved the car to make a homologation special. They revised the cylinder heads, bored and stroked the block and changed the crank and pistons. The new car made 200 horsepower in road going form and 380+ in racing trim. They completely revised suspension parts and geometry, and added wider wheels and tires. The doors, hood and trunk lid were replaced with aluminum parts and all the sound-deadening and luxury features were deleted. In order to meet homologation rules, the wild, outlandish rear wing was included with the road car; BMW put it dissasembled in the trunk.

This car becomes the legendary BMW 3.0 CSL (L for "lightweight" in German) and is what I consider the first M car.

So Group 2 was *very* exciting for the next 6 years, with BMW and Ford going back and forth on race tracks all over Europe. I believe BMW claims 4 championships and Ford 2 over that period where they both competed. The CSL, in various guises in Group 4 or 5 came to be known as "the Batmobile" because of it's huge wing and was one of the most successful race cars of the 70s.

In the meantime, BMW Motorsport was trying to make a buck --BMW AG decreed BMW Motorsport would have to be self-sustaining. So they sold everything they could, from every 3.0 CSL they could build, to special customer cars to even accessories with the Motorsport logo on it. They had a bunch of racing motors they would put into road cars for testing. Usually, the race drivers or engineers would run them as their daily drivers. These race motors would always have special cam covers that read "BMW Motorsport Power". Eventually, this got shortened to simply "BMW M Power". Sometimes, these cars got sold to special customers. This was the forebearer, and embodiment of the soul of the modern M car: a road car that existed so people can go racing.

M Power went official in 1977 when BMW announced the M1 supercar. It was a mid-engined 160 mph exotic that was supposed to be the basis of a new Group 5 racer. Unfortunately, Group 5 racing dissolved before the M1 could be put into production and BMW --like Porsche a few years later with the 959-- was stuck with a race car, but no race series. So BMW devised a supporting race series called Procar as a support race for Formula One. The races ran spec M1s with big name F1 drivers which turned out to be a success and salvaged the M1 fiscally. Only 457 M1s were ever built. The road cars made about 280 hp and did 0-60 in about 5.5 seconds, which was scorchingly fast for 1979. It could easily keep up with Ferrari's Daytona and Berlinetta Boxer.

The M1 motor, a 3.5 liter DOHC 24 valve fuel injected inline six went on to serve in the first M5 (E28 1986) and M635CSi (E24 1987, called simply the 'M6' in the USA). Just like a race car, each cylinder had its own individual throttle body for percise airflow management. The M5, especially, was a wolf in sleep's clothing.. a 150 mph sedan than did 0-60 in 6.5 seconds was a whole lotta bang in 1985.

In the early 80s, with the CS series replaced by the larger, less sporting 6-series, BMW looked to the new 3 series as a basis for competition. Homologation rules for Group C and Touring Car racing meant some 5000 road cars need to be sold, and the 3-series low price made idea of a new 'CSL' possible. The 2.3 liter engine limit meant the new car was to be a 4 cylinder car.

Everything about the standard E30 (1984-91) 3 series was changed: the new motor was basically the M1 motor with 2 cylinders chopped off. Entirely new suspension parts were spec'd. Control arms, hubs, spindle, etc. Every exterior body panel was different from the standard 3 series except for the front windshield. Road cars made about 190 hp in 1986, to an amazing 230 hp in 1990. Race versions made 340+.

The new car was called the M3, and it beat the snot out of everything in Touring Car racing from 1986 until it retired in 1991. It is considered the winningst car in the history of Touring Car racing and certainly one of the most successful race cars in history.

The road-going E30 M3 was available in the States from 1988 to 90. The US version did 0-60 in 6.8 seconds. Unfortunately, US emissions laws kept the European-only Evolution (210 hp) and Sport Evolution (230 hp) from making it here. However, many of the 2.5 Sport Evo motors did make it here to the states in crates, and I am sure have found their way into the engine bays of a few yankee E30 M3s.

The E34 M5 (1989-1993) was the next M car. The familar M1 derived 3.5 liter was slightly bored for 3.6 liters and a host of new revisions including direct injection gave the new M5 a healthy 310 hp. This was enough for the new car to hit 0-60 in 6 seconds and a 165 mph top speed. Once again, Europe saves the best versions for itself, because in 1993, capacity was increased to 3.8 liters and 340 hp.

Meanwhile, the successor to the E30 M3, the E36 M3 was introduced in 1992 as a 93 model in Europe only. The 1993 E36 M3 was faster and more capable in every respect than the E30 and was to be a true supercar. 286 hp and 238 lb-ft of torque was on tap from an all-new 3.0 liter 24 valve inline 6 with intake side variable valve timing. 0-60 was about 5.8 seconds.

At the same time, BMW was approached by Ron Dennis and Gordon Murray to submit a proposal for an engine to power their new super car, the F1. (Honda was initially approached, but turned down the offer.) The proposal was immediately handed to BMW Motorsport. The result was a compact and efficient 6.1 liter 48 valve quad cam V12. In road trim, the V12 made 627 horsepower and 589 lb-ft of torque. The cam cover reads both "McLaren Cars" and "Powered by: BMW M Power"

In 1995, "BMW Motorsport GmbH" becomes "BMW M GmbH". BMW Motorsport becomes a division within M, with the rest of M concentrating on creating M road cars and driver training programs.

In the meantime, the new M3 was a huge sales success. A US only version of the M3 finally makes it across the pond in 1994, withOUT the trick racing cylinder head and individual throttle bodies. The US spec car makes the familar 240 federalized horsepower we all whine about today, but was a run away hit in the states, selling more units than ANY OTHER PREVIOUS M CAR COMBINED.

But there was some muttering at the time about the purity of the E36 M3's bloodlines: BMW had no plans to race it. Fans of the original wondered about the lack of focus of the new car. Sure it was faster and more capable.. but it was also larger, heavier and more luxurious. No longer was the M3 a sharply focused brutal racer in street clothes.

BMW's answer to the concern was absolutely hilarious: add more horsepower. In 1996, the 3.0 liter was bumped to 3.2 liters and variable valve timing was added to the exhaust side cams. The result: 321 horsepower and 259 lb-ft of torque. In many ways, the Euro E36 M3 engine is half (one bank) of a McLaren F1 V12.

In 1995, Tom Milner of PTG began racing the new M3 in the IMSA GT series. By 1996, the M3 was once again a regular visitor to the victory circle. PTG M3s captured 96, 97 and 98 GT championships in IMSA/Professional SportsCar racing as well as numerous wins at Daytona and Sebring.

So there you have it. A brief history of M cars. Still awake? I have purposely left out cars like the 2002 Turbo, M535i, 333i Sport, 540i Sport and 850CSi because I don't consider them M cars and I didn't touch on any M cars still sale today.

-Neg

PS- I'm at home sick today and have plenty of free time on my hands.

[ 08-17-2001: Message edited by: NegCamber ]

Ahhhh Neg what would we do without you, simply put you are the man.

[RedFive]

Thanks Neg, you saved me from having to type something.

94GQ, speedvision has a 1 hour long special on the M cars that they show occasionally. I caught most of it. Very informative.

~~still waiting to drive an M car

[UnixBMW]

To elaborate on Neg's Post..that is all correct but what happend was.... The Pres/Owner/head of the board / whatever at BMW drove one of the early M3's...the problem was that his security all drove 5 series cars and couldn't keep up w/ him on the autobahn so they asked Bmw's special ops guys to set them up w/ something. They transplanted the M1 I6 into 2 5 series cars...that was the first M5's. Then they saw how nice it worked and set it up to be a production car..same engine went in the 635Csi and was called the M6....

NP, guys. Keeps the hands busy while I get over this cold.

Wonder if I might have West Nile?


-Neg

Originally posted by NegCamber:
NP, guys. Keeps the hands busy while I get over this cold.

Wonder if I might have West Nile?


-Neg

Neg, Neg, Neg.... MAN You NEED a vacation!!! HE HE!! Thanks bro! That helped. Also thanks to all who post. I saw that older M5 and I thought it was a fake. We get lots of fakes around here.

Originally posted by 94Goezquik:

Neg, Neg, Neg.... MAN You NEED a vacation!!! HE HE!! Thanks bro! That helped. Also thanks to all who post. I saw that older M5 and I thought it was a fake. We get lots of fakes around here.

Oh man, do I need vacation... There are things going on a work that's makin me wanna go postal.

What I need is to be on a tropical island filled with nekid wimmen who really dig motorsports.

-Neg

[535guy]

Originally posted by NegCamber:


Oh man, do I need vacation... There are things going on a work that's makin me wanna go postal.

What I need is to be on a tropical island filled with nekid wimmen who really dig motorsports.

-Neg

Wow Neg, that might never happen.. All at once anyway. Hope you're feelin better.

Originally posted by NegCamber:


Oh man, do I need vacation... There are things going on a work that's makin me wanna go postal.

What I need is to be on a tropical island filled with nekid wimmen who really dig motorsports.

-Neg

Nekid Vimmen!!!! WWAA HHOOOO! I'd be satisfied with the Nudies who dig anything!

[xyzpl]

umm..umm... I'm awake, I'm awake, did someone say NAKID WOMAN?!?!?!?!?

WHERE? WHERE? WHERE?!?!?!?! Take me with you Neg, I can use a couple of nakid ladies right about now...

WHERE DA HOOKIZ??!!!

[GolGotha999]

As always Neg, excellent excellent post. I was very curious about some history myself (and probably would've posted a similar question given enough time), so this *really* helped! Thanks much!

So the '02 M3 is the first, real M3 update since '95, '96? Will it be as "legendary" as the '95 release?

Here's an off-the-wall objective question - considering the economy of 1995 versus today, is the new M3 comparitively priced? Or are the dealer gougings making it tougher to afford one?

[Reboot]

Originally posted by GolGotha999:
As always Neg, excellent excellent post. I was very curious about some history myself (and probably would've posted a similar question given enough time), so this *really* helped! Thanks much!

So the '02 M3 is the first, real M3 update since '95, '96? Will it be as "legendary" as the '95 release?

Here's an off-the-wall objective question - considering the economy of 1995 versus today, is the new M3 comparitively priced? Or are the dealer gougings making it tougher to afford one?

I think its very comparitively priced. I think its even MUCH more car for the money!