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Car Culture

BMW Celebrated 40 Years of M at Nürburgring Oldtimer Grand Prix

Last weekend, BMWBMWGermany, 1918 > present87 models
8471 photos
43 videos
staged a series of races during the Nürburgring Oldtimer Grand Prix celebrating 40 years of M cars. The cars were featured in two half-hour all BMW races on Saturday and Sunday. The event brought 60,000 spectators to the track.

In addition to the races, BMW set up a 1,000m² exhibition area for its cars. It also staged demonstration laps of its classic cars that were not in the races. The cars ran the gamut of M racing models since 1972 including the M1BMW M1Germany, 1978 > 19781 Version
23 photos
1 video
. Other cars in the races were a 320 Group 5BMW 320 turbo group 5Germany, 1977 > present1 photo
car, a 1987 M3 Group ABMW M3Germany, 1985 > 19922 photos
and a 1995 BMW 320i STWBMW 320is CoupéGermany, 1992 > 19991 photo
. Drivers will include Dieter Quester, Prince Leopold of Bavaria, Marc Surer and Marc Hessel and BMW Group Head of Design Adrian van Hooydonk.

“I’m sure we’ll be able to wave off a packed field of wonderful cars from the past 40 years,” said Norbert Knerr, Head of Classic Motorsport at BMW Classic before the event.

The BMW M3 in Motorsport

The original BMW M3 entered production in 1986, but it did not make its competition debut until 1987 in a World Touring Car Championship Race. Since then over four generations the M3 has chalked up race wins around the world. In 2012, the M3 entered a new chapter by beginning competition in the DTM for the first time in 20 years.

1987: BMW E30 M3

The street version of the E30 M3 came with a 200hp, 2.3l engine that actually had the same cylinder block as the BMW Formula 1 car from earlier in the decade. It bored the engine up to 2.3 liters and used the valve train from the BMW M6. For the racing version, power was boosted to 300hp at 8200rpm. BMW did not enter the car itself but let teams from Schnitzer, Linder, Zackspeed and Bigazzi campaign the car.

1992: BMW E36 M3

For 1992, BMW introduced the new E36 chassis M3 with a new 3.0l inline six-cylinder engine with 325hp. The car was not as competitive as the previous version and stopped competing in the DTM; instead it moved to the ADAC GT Cup. It won the championship, but rules changes meant that it did not compete thereafter.

2001: BMW M3 GTR

BMW did not have a works M3 again until 2001, when it began campaigning the M3 GTR with a 4.0l, 450hp V8. It raced in the American Le Mans series and won seven of the ten races that season winning the championship. It also won at the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring and took a class win at the 24 Hours of Spa. It raced in the ALMS series and at Le Mans in 2002, but rules changes in the ALMS again meant the M3 GTR was of competition in 2003.

2009: BMW M3 GT2

The E92 M3 GT2 began racing in 2009 in the ALMS. It struggled in 2009, but won the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring in 2010. The car really became competitive in 2011 when it took first and second in the 12 Hours of Sebring and won its class in the ALMS GT2 Championship. After an amazing final lap, the M3 GT2 also won the 12 Hours of Sebring in 2012.