BMW M-Series gains its 300,000 go-faster stripes

BMW is celebrating the 300,000 M-series model rolling off its fabled M-Division’s automotive conveyer belt in the East Bavarian town of Regensburg where it all began 30 years ago.

A characteristically understated Alpine white M3 coupe acknowledged the plaudits this week, underlining the M-Series’ original mission statement that remains the same in 2008 as it did back in the late 70s.

Developing high-performance cars that are suitable in everyday traffic situations, yet would be differentiated by the application of subtle aesthetical embellishments, engineering nuances and motorsport-derived advanced suspension technology, both coupe, saloon, and latterly, convertible and tourer versions have encapsulated the M-Series sub-culture in the subsequent three decades.

The M-Series-founding relationship with BMWs motorsport scene, still holds strong today, and perhaps it’s fitting that this milestone achievement should be embodied by an M3 coupe. That’s because the original ancestor of this, the fourth generation M3, still holds the accolade of being the most successful touring car ever used in motorsport, and as such gaining that first foothold in the car buying publics perception back then, a concept that became a massive commercial success story in a very short time, with 17,000 of those cars being sold from launch.

BMW M-Series comes of age

Of course, 30 years ago the sporting vista of the automotive landscape was a very different place than it is in 2008.

About two years too early for the seminal Audi Quattro to beggar belief – and marriages – there really wasn’t a lot going on as the 1970’s drew to a disappointing motoring close. Taking time off from affording Escorts the road-holding wherewithal to see-off countless boy-racers, Ford was attempting to supercharge a Capri for the more serious enthusiast; whilst Alfa Romeo was doing its utmost to make the Alfasud Ti hit 62mph in less time than it took it to rust away.

And naturally, British Leyland engineers were keeping themselves –and themselves alone – amused by making the Austin Allegro, how can we put it, more sporting. The ‘Starksy and Hutch’ day-glo orange body-stripe doing all it could to make the Allegro Equipe everything the sports car fan wanted. In their estimation.

The only car manufacturer engaging in anything borderline radical was fellow Germans, Volkswagen. VW were fine-tuning a certain little Golf with some very big GT ideas, which it’s fair to say amounted to quite a bit.

BMW M-Series takes M3 shape

So BMW almost had carte blanche to reinvent the sporting four wheels. Doing its own tinkering behind the scenes - only with a bigger bag of goodies, turbos and lots of other gizmos is exactly what the Bavarians did.

BMW technicians got so carried away with their ‘side project’ they were warned to do it in their own time or else. 'Or else' turned out to be the setting up of an entire new, and separate motoring division dedicated to making the range-topping models in its line-up, go that much faster henceforth.

And with it, the M logo was born unto a new automotive world. Although M-Division representation actually organized focus groups, held 'blue sky' and 'outside the box' thinking sessions and 'touched a lot of bases' some six years earlier.

Like everything else, the passing of years has seen additional poundage added and telling girth creeping in, which is never better illustrated than by the current M3’s doubling of power, as much as increasing dimensions. The original M3 came with a 2.3-litre four-cylinder power plant, whereas the current guardian of the hallowed badge boasts a 4.0-litre V8 that unleashes 420bhp.

In 2007, M-Series’ cars accounted for approximately 1% of BMW M GmbH group’s overall global turnover, and with much talk about the daddy of them all – the iconic M1 – returning to the fold after the speculative Homage Concept wafted in and out of motoring fans conscience over the past couple of months, the M-Series’ future looks in as good shape as ever.