This is something nice to dream about. A 1995 BMW M3 E36. This was the first six cylinder M3 and it had a 3.0liter straight-six engine that made about 280bhp. This was something everyone who loved cars dreamt about owning in the 1990s. So this could be a dream come true for some of you out there. This blue car has the 3.0liter engine with the 5 speed manual gearbox. A purist's spec. But those days, most of these performance BMWs had a manual gearbox.



Of course, these days 280bhp is nothing to shout about. It is fast, but not ballistically fast like the M3 of today. 0-100kmh was in about 5.4seconds and it had a top speed of 250kmh or thereabouts. But this car is all about proper rear wheel drive entertainment. Its handling was properly sorted out by the BWM M Division and everyone I know at the time it first appeared on Malaysian shores was at awe with it. Including Yours Truly. And that 'M3' badging of course. It put the M3 miles above the usual 318i (four cylinders...pah!), 320i (kayuh lah...tak pi mana pun), 325i (getting better, in fact the engine durable that the 328i) and the 328i (200bhp made it the best non-M3 choice of the time but in the long run a bit more costly to maintain).

So this advertisment on mudah.my has made me go slightly nostalgic. For RM68,800 you can try get your hands on one. And since its the first of the six cylinder M3s it came with the smaller 3.0liter instead of the larger post 1995 3.2liter. This means an annual road tax of under RM2,200. Try bargaining a lot more than the asking price (RM10k off at least especially at an economic downturn like this). Say that whilst everything is original the alloy wheels aren't the original ones - it would be fantastic if it came with the original BMW five spoke or multi-spoke wheel that had the words MOTORSPORT stamped on them. It still is a cash purchase as you can never get a bank loan on such an old car.




View the original ad while it lasts here or read on down below:

Now the M4, or known internally as the F82, is really the same thing with less doors and looks good too. I mean most cars with less doors and a more swoopy roofline would look good. Doesn't it? Oh, I forgot to mention, both cars will come with come with an option of a 6 speed manual for those who want to shift themselves (a DSG box). Don't know whether we Malaysians will get this version as most of us like the car shifting by itself.

The new M3 and M4 have ditched the big 4,0liter V8s from the previous generation and have saved a whole lot of CO2 ratings from the M cars. 200g/km from 290g/km. But no more V8 woofle. But I suppose we get a tradition sticking Straight-Six from the good ol' pre-V8 days of the 1980s and early 1990s.

These photos have been leaked ahead of its offcial launch sometime soon. B But I guess its an intentional leak. Viral marketing at work here folks.