2009 BMW 3 Series 335i Sedan Shown
1977-1983

From a 21st-century perspective, BMW's 3 Series is about as slam-dunk-wonderful a car as there is available. The 3 Series enjoys a well-deserved reputation for packing outstanding driving dynamics, excellent quality and undeniable prestige into handsome sheet metal. It's the standard against which all other small sport sedans are, and must be, measured. Even back in the 20th century, when the 3 Series first appeared, it was widely thought of as the cream of the small sport sedan crop.

In the mid 1970s, BMW faced the task of replacing its aging 2002 coupe. But the company also knew that the 2002 embodied the company's spirit. As such, the 2002's replacement would need to keep that spirit intact while modernizing in other respects.

BMW picked a ripe moment in history to introduce the first 3 Series generation, internally designated E21. The world was just coming off the shock of the oil embargo as the first one rolled off the Milbertshofen assembly line on May 2, 1975, and people who never would have considered a smaller car now found the idea of a fun and frugal machine irresistible. In 1974, BMW sold 184,330 cars, but bolstered by the European introduction of the 3 Series in 1975, worldwide sales reached 221,298. The 3 Series hit North America as a 1977 model, and that pushed BMW production over 290,000 that year and beyond 320,000 in 1978.

The only E21 model available Stateside was the 320i. It was marginally larger than the outgoing 2002 (at 100.9 inches, the 3's wheelbase was 2.5 inches longer and the car's 177.5-inch overall length was 1.5 inches longer), and that extra size imbued it with a more stable, yet still easygoing character. As a direct successor to the 2002, the 320i was still available only as a two-door and carried over most of the styling themes established by that car, such as the forward-leaning grille, clipped rear side windows and low beltline.

Under the skin, the car was an evolutionary step up from the 2002. Basic elements like the MacPherson strut front and trailing arm rear suspension and front disc/rear drum power braking system differed in detail and specification, but were similar in overall design. For power, the car had a 2.0-liter Bosch K-Jetronic fuel-injected inline-4 rated at 110 horsepower; it met emissions regulations without a catalytic converter. The standard transmission remained a Getrag four-speed manual, while a ZF three-speed automatic was optional.

The evolution of the American-market E21 320i was incremental. In 1980, the engine shrank to 1.8 liters (though the name remained 320i) and BMW added a three-way catalytic converter to the emissions control system. Though it now produced just 100 hp, the 1.8's performance deficit was ameliorated somewhat by the adoption of a five-speed manual transmission. In any event, this change did not dampen America's enthusiasm for the car, as sales continued to climb, spurred by BMW's growing reputation and a second oil embargo in 1979. As the last few E21s dribbled out of dealer showrooms in 1983, BMW had firmly established its 3, 5 and 7 Series sedan product mix and was ready to move all of its products progressively upmarket throughout the rest of the decade.

1984-1991

In Road & Track's first test of the new 1984 318i, in its July 1983 issue, the first of the second-generation "E30" 3 Series, the most startling thing about it was the price tag. At an as-tested $18,210, this 318i was more than double the price of a 1977 320i, yet in general specification the new car wasn't much different from the old one, at least in two-door form. A closer look, however, revealed that substantial improvements had been made. Designated E30, the second-generation 3 Series was initially available only in two-door form.

While again an evolutionary change, the E30's styling offered significant aerodynamic benefits over the E21. The headlights were almost flush with the grille, which was less radically angled than before. In contrast to the flat hood of the E21, the E30's sloped gently, and the car was generally sportier than before. There wasn't much difference in size, with the E30's wheelbase growing a mere 0.3 inch to 101.2 and overall length actually dropping slightly. But what many reviewers and buyers noticed first about the E30 was how substantial and tight the car felt. Knowing that the "Baby Mercedes" was on the way, the E30 engineering team had redoubled its efforts to exceed expectations for build quality and durability, which were traditional Benz strengths.

With 101 hp from its 1.8-liter injected four, the 1984 318i two-door was an inauspicious start for the E30 platform. But almost immediately following that car was the 325e, which featured a 2.7-liter version of the inline six-cylinder engine first introduced on the larger 528e sedan. With a high compression ratio along with a low redline and economy-minded gearing, the "eta" 2.7-liter mill, like all BMW sixes, was smooth and torquey. While hardly sporting in character, its 121 hp was the most BMW had offered to U.S. buyers since the long-ago 2002tii, and the car was decently quick, making it to 60 mph in 8.9 seconds and completing the quarter-mile in 16.6 seconds at 81.5 mph for Road & Track. By comparison, the 318i did the same deeds in 11.6 and 18.3 seconds, respectively, with a 74.0-mph trap speed in the quarter.

The four-door arrived for 1985, and along with it came a new four-speed automatic transmission available with either the four or the six. By 1986, the demand for the four-cylinder 318i had dried up, and it was dropped from the lineup, but antilock four-wheel disc brakes were now standard and a better-handling, sportier-looking 325es two-door joined the line.

The E30 really came of age in the 1987 model year with the appearance of the 325i and 325is models, which abandoned the "eta" reduced-rev/high-fuel-mileage engine concept, as well as the introduction of the 325iC convertible, the first pure convertible offered in the 3 Series. "The new 325is is the first genuinely sporting BMW to reach our shores since the 2002tii went out of production in 1975," wrote Car and Driver upon testing the '87 325is. The 325is engine, though part of the same M20 family as the eta engine and having the same 84mm bore, had a 75mm stroke (down 6mm from the eta) to drop displacement from 2,693 to 2,494 cubic centimeters. That short stroke was one element that opened the rev range a full 500 rpm higher and pushed the output to 168 hp and 164 pound-feet of peak torque — easily the most powerful 3 Series to that moment. Car and Driver's 325is blasted to 60 mph in just 7.4 seconds and completed the quarter-mile in 15.6 seconds at 88 mph. So gratifying and ingratiating was the new 325i engine that most reviewers felt the car was worth its soaring price tag. In the case of Car and Driver's 325is, that tag read $27,475 — which, the magazine pointed out, was double the price of the old 2002tii, taking inflation into account.

Hard-core BMW enthusiasts will fondly recall the year 1988, as this was the first year the original E30 M3 was sold in the United States. Originally built to take on Mercedes' Cosworth-tweaked 190E 2.3-16 in FIA Group A racing, the M3 employed a 2.3-liter four-cylinder capped with a twin-cam four-valve head that was essentially one of the big six four-valve heads with two fewer cylinders. Dropped into a modified 3 Series two-door body shell (the flared fenders, more steeply raked rear window and higher trunk lid meant only the hood was left untouched compared with more plebian 3 Series coupes), the Bosch fuel-injected "M Power" four was rated at 192 hp at a wailing 6,750 rpm when it finally got to North America.

"This is not a car for yuppies," wrote Car and Driver on its first exposure to the U.S.-spec M3. "This is a car for us. In case you haven't noticed, BMW's U.S. lineup has blossomed to include a dazzling array of leather-lined hot rods that beg to be flogged through the twisties and hammered on the superslabs." Stirring the five-speed manual transmission, Car and Driver blasted that 2,857-pound M3 to 60 mph in just 6.9 seconds, blitzed the quarter-mile in just 15.2 seconds with a 92-mph trap speed and screamed to a 141-mph top speed. With an as-tested price of $34,810, the M3 was at that time (and remains for many purists) the ultimate BMW 3 Series.

BMW would build an all-wheel-drive 325ix model in 1988 as well, and the Motorsport fanatics conjured up race-ready "Evolution" models of the M3 for those who found the already high-strung original too tame. With expansion possibilities thoroughly and gloriously exhausted, the E30 3 Series faded out of production in 1991.