The E36 M3 is the first M car that I can remember obsessing over. Ever since I got a die cast model of an E36 coupe race car in 6th grade, I’ve dreamt of flying around a track in one of these legendary machines, S52 wailing away at the top of the rev range. While it may be a bit longer before I can fully realize that dream, it seems fate decided to throw me a bone because I finally got some seat time in an E36 and it just so happens to be this very car. That’s right, the M3 which you see before you hath been driven by yours truly. The current custodian of this vehicle lives about 5 minutes away from me so naturally I had to lay eyes and hands on this vehicle if I was to write about it.
Honestly I was a little worried that the car wouldn’t live up to my lofty expectations. I have done my best to quiet the inner child in me that sees these vehicles as something extraordinary and instead look at them as the elevated daily driver that they are. After all if you think about the lineage of the M3, it’s kinda crazy that BMW decided to build a 4-door version. Then again, this was the 1990s, a glorious time for sport sedans, when crossovers were but a tickle in a designers finger and car design was, restrained.
