A belated Father’s Day activity, a July 4th family trip, or an excuse to get out and drive—call it whatever you like, but I successfully lobbied my family to take a short 180-mile road trip to Shenandoah National Park, amidst an oppressive heat wave, in our 252,000-mile 1998 M3 five-speed sedan. What could go wrong?
It’s the trip that almost wasn’t, as the day prior to our mountain-carving adventure the M3 left me and my kids stranded for the first time in our eighteen months of ownership. Thankfully a set of jumper cables attached to a Suburban in a shaded gravel parking lot allowed the M3’s S52 engine to roar back to life and make the short drive home for diagnostics.
How could it not start?!? It’s an S52 engine that has received lots of love under my care, including a head gasket replacement performed in my garage under the tutelage of mobile mechanic and friend Alex Garcia, plus plenty of other deferred and preventive maintenance to keep this M car ticking—or should I say purring?—for years to come. After a brief diagnostic session with a multimeter, I determined the battery would no longer hold a charge and needed to be replaced. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy. A trip to Costco and 180 “dollar-bucks” later, I installed a new H6 AGM battery (and the missing battery vent tube) in the E36’s trunk and this automotive adventure was still on.
While temperatures were in the upper 90s in the Washington DC area, it was a solid twenty degrees cooler 70 miles west in the Appalachian Mountains, partly due to a storm system rolling in. We’ve done this trip a few times in my 1991 318iS, so to change things up a bit we decided to do a one-eighty and run our 180-mile route in reverse, entering Skyline Drive at the Thornton Gap entrance and exiting in Front Royal. This gave the trip an entirely new perspective of scenery—especially for me, the transporter of precious cargo, my son Carter, daughter Avery, and wife Sara.
On our way to Thornton Gap, Route 211 provided a fun run up the mountain, with a plethora of properly banked sweepers, and concluded the spirited driving of the day. The TC Kline single-adjustable coilover suspension that Avery helped me install over the winter—go Avery!—supplied a perfect blend of comfort and performance, magically soaking up bumps yet still inspiring plenty of confidence in the corners. A set of Michelin Pilot 4S tires ensured ample grip and audibly communicated those grip levels through the opened windows of our RADwood-era sports sedan. The Euro-spec Boa Boa interior added to the 1990s nostalgia, keeping all occupants comfortably in place.
A fourth-grade “Every Kid Outdoors” pass allowed us free access to Shenandoah National Park, courtesy of my fourth-grade daughter Avery. Skyline Drive has wonderfully paved and twisty roads, but also has a speed limit of 35 mph (or less in some areas), so the rest of the morning consisted of comfortable cruising and frequent stops at overlooks. With cooler temperatures and overcast skies, we took a 90-minute hike on Traces Trail to delve into nature a bit further and take a break from the S52’s exhaust burbles, exiting through the Active Autowerke cat-back. As someone who is quite picky about exhaust drone and obtrusiveness, this is one of the better systems I’ve experienced.
Views of the Shenandoah and the opportunity for overlooks dissipated as we descended the mountain, dropping us into Front Royal. Snacks and water had held us over until now, but we were hungry for lunch, so we stopped by a Front Royal staple, The Apple House. With BBQ in our stomachs and a dozen home-made apple cider donuts in the trunk, we made our way back home just as it began to drizzle, further cooling things off.
A straight shot home and a car full of napping passengers gave me some time to reflect on our (my) vehicle choice for this family outing. For a long time, I didn’t give the E36 M3 a second look. It was more of a “Meh 3” than an M3. From a visual perspective, aside from bumpers and side skirts, the E36 Ms didn’t stand out from the non Ms, unlike the M3 generation before it and generations after it. From a performance perspective, many complain that the US-spec M3 engine is a poor substitute for the Euro-spec version.
And then one morning a few years ago I woke up and none of that mattered anymore. Like this trip, I did a complete 180 on my thoughts on the US-spec E36 M3 with its lackluster styling and less-than-Euro-spec performance stats. Similar to Mike Myers’ character drooling over a Fender Stratocaster in Wayne’s World, I said, “It will be mine. Oh yes. It will be mine.” After a somewhat lengthy casual search for a clean E36 M3 sedan with a five-speed manual, I found “the one” and have been enjoying it ever since.
While magazine racers will point out the US-spec E36 M3 is a watered down version of the Euro-spec version, it still has many M-specific improvements over the standard E36, such as additional chassis reinforcements, upgraded brakes, upgraded suspension, M bumpers and sideskirts, interior updates, and an S-code engine. The places where the US-spec E36 M3 fell short of the Euro-spec version were strategic, significantly reducing cost and keeping the M3’s price tag around $35,000. That, along with a successful letter-writing campaign introduced by the BMW Car Club Of America to even bring an E36 M3 to our shores, are credited for saving the M brand in North America.
The biggest difference between the US and Euro-spec E36 M3s is what’s under the hood. Both variants received a 3.0-liter unit in their initial stages with a 3.2-liter following. The 1995 US-spec M3’s 3.0-liter six (S50) produced 240-horsepower while the ’96-’99 M3’s 3.2-liter six (S52) yielded the same horsepower, but added eleven pound feet of torque. In contrast, the European E36 M3 engines featured individual throttle bodies and a continuously variable VANOS, with early 3.0-liter units producing 286 horsepower and later 3.2-liter units boasting a staggering 321—quite the power bump compared to what traveled on roads from sea to shining sea. The post-1995 US-spec S52 M3s are often jokingly called “332i”s—back when model names reflected engine sizes—due to the engine being more similar to a typical M-code engine than a typical S-code engine.
Differences weren’t limited to the engine. The later Euro-spec M3s received a six-speed-manual transmission while the US was still stuck with a five speed, and the Euro-spec Ms had stronger rear differentials to handle the higher power output. US-spec M3s didn’t come with the floating brake rotors, glass headlights, or an oil temperature gauge that was seen in the Euro versions, just to name a few more shortcomings.
Having said all of that, does it really matter? The US-spec M3 is an excellent performer in its own right and it’s more motorsport-focused than a standard 3 Series. And, quite frankly, we didn’t have a choice in the matter—it’s what we got. The E36 3 Series combines a nice balance of classic rawness and modern comfort, which has been diluted with each generation M3 after it. Driving one is both an engaging and exhilarating experience. I’d venture to say the US-spec M3 is not only more dependable, but is cheaper to maintain than the Euro-spec version, and we see plenty of high-mileage examples still on the road today, with some cars seeing over 500,000 miles on their odometers.
As we pulled into our garage late that afternoon, our M3 cooled down from a full day of activities while we geared up for a fun evening of celebrating our nation’s Independence Day with friends. Our reverse-route 180-mile road trip to Shenandoah National Park further justified my previous change of heart about the US-spec E36 M3. It performs admirably with true M-car spirit, it wears high mileage like a badge of honor, and it puts a smile on your face. What more could you ask for in a car? Well, aside from individual throttle bodies, continuously variable VANOS, floating brake rotors, glass headlights, and an oil temperature gauge…
—Mike Bevels