MKL BMW M3 (E30) and M5 (E28) in the driving report
06.03.2010
D he first impression is wrong immense. The fiery red playmobile, which goes by the name of BMW M3, is neither particularly hard-sprung nor riotously loud. It doesn't behave bitchy in city traffic either. Even four red lights at 200 meters cannot shake the stoic uniformity of idling.
The first BMW M3 can do everything - country roads and racetracks
The sophisticated M-Power engine with almost 85 HP liter output even forgives the first gearshift errors, which cause the speed of the four-valve four-cylinder to plummet into low revs, because the driver has not yet adjusted to the unusual gearshift pattern of the five-speed sports transmission. The adventurous asphalt patchwork of the big city hardly upsets the compact body. Admittedly, the M3 rolls off dry, but it never hurts its driver.
In addition, the poison dwarf reconciles environmentalists because it was practically only available in the 195 hp G-Kat version, the 1989 even was increased to 215 hp. The noise of the engine with the rumbling exhaust is quite pithy, but it is seldom annoying because hard-working shifting thwarts booming monotony.
It is up to the driver whether the M3 is tame and thanks to its pronounced elasticity at low engine speeds cultivated like a 318i rolls in front of it, or whether it storms violently if it only shifts into higher gear after 7,000 tours.
The greatest driving pleasure with the M3 lies in between - somewhere between 4,500 and 5,500 rpm. Because the hard-working shifting of the well-graded and very precise sports transmission is fun and supports the dynamism of the extremely easy-revving engine. What remains is the eye-catching appearance. The lush spoiler reinforcement is drowned out by the stark henna red in its visual presence.
Only just under 18,000 BMW M3s were built
But the many old three-pointers in city traffic in the D&W look soften the knockout effect of the M3. The pain threshold of the other road users is clearly higher. The man behind the fine, leather-covered sports steering wheel is seldom viewed with contempt - at least in BMW's home city of Munich, interested, sometimes even admiring looks predominate. Driving the M3 is still around forty. Remember that the M3 basic body, the second three-series with the abbreviation E 30, made its debut 20 years ago.
Judging by the2,323,671 three-series models of the E 30 model were built in all variants up to 1994, the 17,970 M3 including convertible and the Sport Evolution models 2,3 and 2,5 look like a drop in the ocean. From the very beginning, the M3 played an extremely exclusive special role in the mass ensemble of the second generation of three. The price of 58,300 marks initially, for which there were just under two 320i with a six-cylinder engine in 1986, underlines this as well as the far-reaching modifications of the two-door sedan body off the shelf.
They transform the M3 from an elegant two-door into an eye-catching sports car. The ample spoiler set, including the rear window frame and the raised trunk lid made of plastic, is used to reduce lift on the front and rear axles and to optimize the drag coefficient from 0.38 to 0.33.
After all, the M3 was planned as a motorsport object from the start. For homologation in group A, 5,000 copies had to be built within the first full year of production, a number that the M3 easily managed. Nevertheless, the professional athlete initially struggled to hurry away from a 325i that was well positioned, especially when accelerating. A disgrace that was only erased in 1989 with the 215 hp second edition of the M3. After all, like all M models, it lives from its brilliant engine - and that is an obligation.
The internal name of the four-valve four-cylinder, the block of which is based on the good old M 10 engine of the new class and the 02 models. It is an M 88 shortened by two units, as we know it from the M1, M 635 CSi and M5.
M5 and M3 - One inconspicuous, the other obtrusive
Peter Tessmann, 36, BMW employee from Fürstenfeldbruck and M enthusiast, knows what he's talking about. Because he has both, M3 and M5. They are balm for the two souls in his breast. One shows herself to be extroverted and demands a robust sports car, the other finds her salvation in the unpretentious but superior touring sedan.
'I especially like the inconspicuous E 28', explains Tessmann enthusiastically. 'Even as the M5, it looks from a distance like a well-equipped and well-preserved 525 eta with the M logo stuck on it. And as soon as it has warmed up well, it amazes the other road users with extraordinary dynamics and a great six-cylinder sound. '
In fact, unlike its intrusive brother M 535i, the M5 carries the mink inside. No spoiler spoils the timeless, unobtrusive BMW line; It is painted in diamond black metallic, tone on tone with an unobtrusive shadow line, whereby an M5 E28 with chrome bumpers would appear even more harmless. Any homologation behavior was alien to the M5, it is purely an end in itself, the devil in disguise, embodies the delightful game of the camouflaged abysmalBiedermanns.
You have to understand this message to the gentleman driver when you paid over 80,000 marks in 1984 for the fastest German series sedan at the time. Only 775 customers in Europe were ready for this. And the noble buffalo leather, absolutely important for the aura of elegant understatement, was even worth an extra 6,500 marks.
The BMW in-line six cylinder M88 /3 - one of the most beautiful engines of all time
Everything holds your breath when you stop at the gas station staged oil check opens the bonnet. Raise the curtain on what is probably the most beautiful straight six-cylinder engine of all time. The wide DOHC cylinder head, milled from solid, with the centrally arranged spark plug connectors looks as if it was sculpted by a sculptor. The raised M Power lettering, along with the highlighted decorative stripes and plastic BMW emblem, polished aluminum in front of black shrink varnish, are evidence of loving mechanical engineering. The imposing set of six header pipes, each of which houses a separate throttle valve, testifies to the aesthetic perfection that can only arise from pure functionality.
Together with the unique sound spectrum that this work of art of combustion engine ignites in action, a total work of art of a special kind is created, whose undramatic robe disappoints friends of exciting designs, but fascinates connoisseurs. For the first group there is still the M 635 CSi. The driving impression confirms what the eyes and ears have already perceived. The always propagated class difference between a four-cylinder and a six-cylinder also applies in the M-League. The six can do everything. Sometimes it is smooth, quiet and unobtrusive, on the one hand skillfully playing the adapted 525i with moderate consumption and relaxed driving style, and then turning out the BMW M1 on winding country roads, which is undoubtedly in its temperament The decision M3 or M5 is not made
The M5 is a thoroughbred sports car disguised as a mid-size sedan and is therefore unique. The M3 openly shows what it is. A fun mobile - efficient, juvenile, but still of high quality. There are several of this variety.
