BMW E36 M3s

[F1_Master]

240HP is what they told us today.

She's getting one, that's as much as I know 100%.
But my goal today was to talk her into just the E39 M5.

You see, I figured if we just get the M5, it'll definately save us money, and if she still wants a 3rd car, she can get some....other coupe.

She didn't buy the idea 100%, but I could tell she thought about it....
Anyways, if we do happen to get a E39 M5, we'd definately have to keep it garaged out of the 3...

[SPN:DOC]

Only now I noticed you're from USA, where the M3 has much less power than the european 286 bhp and 321 bhp for 3.0 and 3.2 versions...
What's the maximum output of an M3 there? 240 bhp?

yes that is correct, this was because BMW has too many competitors in the market that cost less, so the US and Canada got engine versions called the S54 3.2 and S50 3.0, and the rest of the world got S50 B32 and S52 B32..

go for the m3, much sportier than the sedan, much better handling than the vert and much more fun to drive than the 5.

[DrGonzo]

^ I always thought it was because of the crappy fuel they use over there. Wouldn't it cost more to change engine specs just for 1 country?

[SPN:DOC]

The differences are huge…

The "authentic" M3 (often referred to as the "Euro Spec." M3) has the real M-engine:

The US M3 engine is - from a constructors viewpoint - a tuned standard 3-series 6-cylinder motor: The S50us engine is a bored and stroked M50/M52 engine which was/is used in the 325i(s)/328i(s).

The Euro Spec. M3 engine is a hand-built engine which has Double-VANOS, 6 single throttles (one individual throttle body per cylinder) and has the characteristics of a racing engine: High engine speed red line almost at 8000 rpm, High specific power output of over 100hp/liter. The single throttles are a typical feature of all M-engines from the late Seventies M1 to the allnew E39 M5 8-cylinder. They all had/have single throttles. If you compare a picture of the US M3 engine with the Euro M3 engine with the hood open, you can see the difference by looking at the engine bay, even from distance.

Beside this essential difference, the US M3 also has a softer suspension, other headlights, wheels of different materials and other more or less minor differences. Also the US M3 is available with an automatic transmission beside the 5-speed manual gear box. The Euro Spec. M3 is only available with a 6-speed manual or a sequential gearbox (called "SMG"), which either works like a manual gear box (but without a clutch) or automatically.

In 1995 the 3.2 Liter Euro M3 also got the 1994 M5 3.8 high performance brakes with compound discs, which made it one of the best braking cars on the German market (even competitive to the Porsche 993 TT for example).

[Cadillac Imaj]

the coupe.
coolest of the bunch to me.