With the 3 Series, BMW creates a number one in the 80s. At that time, the 3 Series (E30) was the best-selling mid-range dynamic car. The agile Bayer becomes a cult as a furious M3, a lifestyle trendsetter as a versatile touring car and a sun king as a non-iron convertible.
“Again no styling revolution”, the specialist media complained in 1982 about the Munich company’s lack of courage for an optically radically new BMW 3 Series (E30). The 5 Series (E28) launched last year was confusingly similar to its predecessor, and now the 3 Series too, the dynamic heart of the blue and white brand. Star designer Claus Luthe had dressed the second 3-generation only in somewhat softer, more compact contours, with a flat front, which, in contrast to the E21 series that had been replaced, always had distinctive twin headlights.
More important was the astounding diversity that the 3 Series showed over the course of its twelve-year construction period: six body variants and ten engine versions were unrivaled in the premium segment at that time. “If you really want to get the future under control, you have to use progressive means,” postulated BMW marketing as early as 1982 in the direction of Stuttgart, Ingolstadt and Milan – and the customers were initially surprised. It still took several years until the courageous 3 Series in the form of M3, convertible, touring and agile diesel. But then the 3 Series finally became the favorite of left-hand drivers and lifestyle-conscious people – a total of 2.34 million units rolled off the assembly lines in Munich and Regensburg, supplemented by fast right-hand drive vehicles for South Africa. Most E30s have long since been rocked or tuned to death, but that only increased the hype on the classic scene for the surviving 3 Series and original M3s.
Maybe it’s the twin headlights that have been so iconic since the BMW 2002, or the wedge shape of the E30, only very subtly hinted at, in a decade of constant new aerodynamic wonders from the Audi 100 to the Ford Sierra to the Opel Omega. Or maybe BMW just did a better job of capturing the pulse of the 1980s, with 3 Series models that anticipated every trend while sticking to the tried and true, like the coupe-style two-door body, as opposed to new rivals like the Mercedes 190, Alfa 75 and Audi 80/90 .
In any case, the BMW 3 Series (E30) ended its career in 1994 as the most-built model in its class. No wonder that not only the Bimmer community celebrates him today as the “King of Cool” of the wild eighties. The decade that on the one hand addressed disarmament, environmental protection and nouveau riche yuppies, but on the other hand celebrated the carefree lifestyle of a new leisure society in pop anthems such as “I want fun” or “Rock me Amadeus”. Chic convertibles were part of it, just as they increased the ratings in TV blockbusters from “Miami Vice” to “Magnum” to “Schwarzwaldklinik”.
In fact, the second generation of the 3 Series was also available as an open-air version almost from the start, as a top convertible from the Stuttgart bodywork company Baur. The door frames and windows of this Luftikus, which is integrated into the regular BMW range, remained in place even when the roof was open, but the fresh-air five-seater, which can be combined with almost all engines, retained the iconic contours of the two-door 3-series body when closed. This cold cut cost around 7,000 marks extra and was enjoyed by almost 11,000 sun worshipers.
For most, however, the fresh air experience in the E30 only became perfect with the non-iron 325i full convertible introduced in 1985. This expensive Sun King and rival to the even more expensive Saab 900 Cabriolet set the initial spark for an unprecedented open-air boom that hit yuppies and celebrities as well as families. The BMW 3 Series Cabriolets (including the models 320i and 318i that followed) were just as fashionable on the Corniche, Kurfürstendamm and Fifth Avenue as they were in front of the small-town ice cream parlor.
Over 85,000 units of the top-of-the-line 325i were already sold, and the delivery times were initially so long that speculators offered purchase contracts ready for allocation in classified ads in the specialist media at high surcharges. But the real sensation was yet to come: In autumn 1985, BMW Motorsport GmbH presented the legendary first M3 as the toughest opponent of the Mercedes 190 E 2.3-16. Originally only intended for 5000 units for homologation, this first BMW M3 enjoyed unexpected popularity.
Perhaps because it caused a stir even when it was stationary with its huge spoilers and fender flares, and the 2.3-liter four-cylinder with four-valve technology reached exactly the 200 hp mark – without being charged by a turbocharger or compressor. Thanks to the slim 1200 kilogram curb weight, the M3 reached 100 km/h in just 6.7 seconds, which the V12 Ferrari 400i couldn’t do any better. However, the true home of the BMW M3 was motorsport, where it clinched one victory after the other in 24-hour races, in the DTM and in European championships. Continued performance upgrades also kept the road versions of the M3 attractive, eventually selling almost 18,000 cars. Among them, as a special highlight, was the world’s fastest four-seater cabriolet at the time.
BMW already surprised people with the study of this M3 Cabriolet at the IAA 1987. The response from the public was so great that series production of the open-air version of the racing car started the following spring to ensure balaclavas and toupees were seated at 240 km/h check. And another unique fresh-air star was based on the technology of the 3 Series: from 1987, the BMW Z1 Roadster wowed with agile rear-wheel drive and sophisticated retractable doors for the ultimate feeling of freedom.
In fact, it was only in the mid-1980s that the E30 was able to position itself at the forefront by serving the themes of sport and efficiency even better than others. While the Mercedes 190 D had made the four-cylinder diesel more dynamic, the Bavarian Motor Works showed how fast six-cylinder savers could be. First with a 2.7-liter six-cylinder petrol engine for relatively high torque at low revs. The 325e only needed 5.9 liters, but was not able to consistently win in the sales ranking.
Even a battery-electric 3 Series was reserved for the Bundespost and authorities alone, for which the time was not yet ripe. Things went better with the 324d, whose six-cylinder diesel engine scored with temperament and only 5.0 liters consumption. But it was the 115 hp turbo version 324td, which caused a sensation from 1987, that was as fast as a petrol engine. And then there was another traction specialist: in 1985, the 325ix, the first production BMW with all-wheel drive, rolled off the assembly line.
Even until 1994 and thus three years after the end of the sedans, the last E30 body shape remained up to date, with which BMW surprised in 1987 at the same time as the only real facelift for the series: the proper 3 Series Touring was based on the private design of a BMW engineer who so that the movement of sporty lifestyle vices started. “BMW is making a new class mobile”, this advertising slogan from 1982 suddenly became true five years later with the Touring.
