BMW 3 E36

The E30 established the 3 Series as a full range of compact coupes, sedans and convertibles. The two-door heritage of the 2002 had been overcome, and the 3 Series was now a full line of compact cars with sporting ability. It was also the envy of the industry, as pretenders as suspect as the Cadillac Cimarron and as legitimate as the Audi 4000 Quattro tried and failed to duplicate (or at least emulate) BMW's 3 Series magic. Replacing a product as successful as the E30 with anything but an evolutionary development was bound to be tricky and fraught with commercial danger.
Tricky and dangerous though it was, the E36 replacement for the E30 was the first clear and obvious break with the proportions and styling details established way back with the 2002 and was an all-new machine in almost every way.
In practically every dimension, the E36 four-door was slightly larger than the E30. At 106.3 inches the E36's wheelbase stretched 5.1 inches longer than the E30's and it was slightly more than 4 inches longer overall. But the extra size was put to good use with increased passenger room, a substantially stiffer structure and an ideal 50/50 front-to-rear weight distribution. But the wedge-shaped body of the E36 kept it from looking much larger than the bolt-upright E30, and its sleek detailing both improved aerodynamics and reduced wind noise.
While the E36's front suspension remained a MacPherson strut design, engineers made the rear suspension more sophisticated than ever before. Called the "Z-axle," the new rear end was a multilink system as opposed to semi-trailing arms used in previous 3s. It offered much better camber change characteristics throughout its travel. Mounted to its own subframe, the Z-axle wasn't cheap but it worked spectacularly well and would become the prototype for rear suspensions under subsequent BMWs, including the 5 and 7 Series. While mostly new in design, other elements of the E36's chassis were familiar, such as the rack-and-pinion steering, four-wheel disc brakes and ABS system.
A new DOHC 24-valve aluminum head bumped the 325i's to a robust 189 horsepower. So robust, in fact, that the first five-speed 325i tested by Car and Driver bolted to 60 mph in just 6.9 seconds and ran the quarter-mile in 15.3 seconds at 91 mph. That's just as quick as the original M3 to 60, and just a tenth of a second behind it in the quarter-mile - and this was the mainstream volume-production four-door. By the 1993 model year, the M50 engine would gain BMW's VANOS variable valve timing system, and, consequently, a sweeter, fatter torque curve.
The four-cylinder engine in the 318i also used a four-valve cylinder head to make 138 horsepower. But U.S. BMW buyers were increasingly opting for six-cylinder engines in their cars, and throughout the E36's life, fewer and fewer fours were sold.
While the four-door E36 debuted in the fall of 1991 as a 1992 model, the two-door coupe didn't appear until later in that model year. The convertible remained unchained, however. Unlike previous 3 Series two-doors, the E36 version wasn't an upright sedan with two less doors, but a more rakish car altogether. The front windshield was more steeply laid back than in the sedan, as was the rear window, and from the A-pillar back the 325is coupe was a completely different car from the sedan. But it looked a lot like the sedan anyhow, a family resemblance that was comforting to most buyers and disappointing to some critics who thought BMW could have been more radical with the coupe. In 1994, the E36 version of the convertible finally bowed.
BMW still wouldn't let the U.S. have the "Touring" wagon model of the E36 when it went on sale in Europe during 1995, but it did bring the "Compact" hatchback 318ti to North America during that model year. With a chopped tail and the semi-trailing arm rear suspension from the E30 aboard, the 318ti was intended to extend the 3 Series appeal downmarket and attract entry-level buyers. The only engine available was the 138-horsepower 1.8-liter four and the interior decor was rather austere in comparison to the increasingly plush innards of other 3 Series cars. Never fully accepted by many BMW enthusiasts, the 318ti would attract relatively few U.S. buyers before leaving production after the 1999 model year.
For the 1996 model year, the 2.5-liter engine in the 325i and 325iS was replaced by a new 2.8-liter inline six whose horsepower jumped a bit up to 190, but whose peak torque production swelled from 181 pound-feet at 4,200 rpm to 207 pound-feet at 3,950 rpm (the 1996 model E36 also had a few subtle visual changes). The 325i and 325is became the 328i and 328iS. In 1998, a 168-horsepower 2.5-liter version of the M52 was offered in the coupe and convertible to create, strangely, the 323i Convertible and 323is Coupe. No one has yet come up with a convincing explanation for BMW's decision not to call them 325s.
Of course, the star of the E36 line would be the M3. Hitting the market for 1995 with a thunderclap of exceeded expectations, the E36 M3 two-door coupe wasn't the narrowly focused track car the E30 version was, but an exceptional road machine with a flexible engine and an imperturbable chassis. The U.S. M3 was equipped with a bored-and-stroked version of the 325i's inline six. This 3.0-liter had 240 horsepower and 225 pound-feet of torque at its disposal, which it deployed in such a refined and generous fashion. European M3s got a 282-horsepower version of the same engine, but it was peakier with a less hearty torque curve.
To say that reviewers were enthused by the new M3 would be a drastic understatement. They raved about the suspension tuning, they blathered on about how perfectly dressed the car was with its tasteful ground effects and they nearly plotzed when describing the interior's design and execution. And it was fast. Car and Driver's first E36 M3 rocketed to 60 in just 5.6 seconds and covered the quarter-mile in 14.3 seconds at 98 mph. That's a full 1.3 seconds quicker to 60 than the E30 M3 tested by the same magazine and nearly a second quicker in the quarter-mile - with everyday livability the peaky-beast E30 M3 could never approach.
So successful was the E36 M3 that variations on it appeared quickly. For racers, BMW introduced the M3 Lightweight in 1995 with reduced weight (about 200 pounds less) for competition - sort of a throwback to the E30 M3. Though they lacked amenities like air conditioning, a radio and a backseat, and their narrow focus compromised everyday livability and performance, the 85 Lightweights brought to America by BMW sold out quickly.
The M3 Evolution appeared as a 1996 model and nominal engine displacement grew from 3.0 liters to 3.2 liters. In Europe, that meant output now stood at an astounding 321 horsepower at a screaming-banshee 7,400 rpm. In America, with slightly different bore and stroke dimensions, horsepower remained at 240, but peak torque output ballooned to 236 pound-feet at a mere 3,800 rpm. And for the first time, in 1997 the M3 was offered as a four-door and with a five-speed automatic transmission. Motor Trend tested a manual-equipped four-door M3 and made it to 60 mph in just 5.5 seconds.
With the M3 also being offered as a convertible in 1998, the E36 was coming to the end of its life. How could BMW improve upon this car?