When BMW of North America took over sales and distribution from Max Hoffman on March 15, 1975, the 2002 had been part of BMW’s US lineup for more than seven years. With its agile handling and high-revving engine, the 2002 had given BMW an enthusiastic following and been crucial to establishing the US as BMW’s largest export market worldwide.
Road & Track, August 1979
Even the most highly-regarded cars become outdated, and the 2002 was no exception.
The car’s design had been finalized in 1965, and it looked decidedly old-fashioned a decade later. The 2002 had been slated for replacement in the 1974 model year, but its production cycle was extended when its planned successor—a two-door hatchback rather than a sedan—was rejected by BMW’s sales and marketing team led by Bob Lutz. While that car was restyled, the 2002 was updated with rectangular taillights and, in the US, larger bumpers as mandated by new Federal regulations. In this market, the 2002 was also equipped with revised emissions equipment that would ensure compliance through 1976.
In August of that year, the 2002’s replacement finally arrived. The first 3 Series, known internally as the E21, featured forward-looking styling from BMW design chief Paul Bracq over familiar mechanical elements. US customers were offered just one model: the 320i, equipped with the fuel-injected 2.0-liter M10 four-cylinder engine that had powered the 2002 tii, mated once again to a four-speed Getrag manual or three-speed ZF automatic.
In the meantime, however, US emissions standards had tightened still further, and the equipment installed to meet those standards reduced performance. Where the 2002 tii’s fuel-injected M10 had delivered 130 horsepower and 130 pound-feet, the same engine in the 320i put out a disappointing 110 horsepower and 112 pound-feet.
That alone would make the 320i a tough sell to performance-oriented customers looking to replace their 2002s, but BMW of North America’s public relations manager Tom McGurn had a plan to cultivate their goodwill. As the launch of the 320i drew near, McGurn gave members of the BMW Automobile Club of America (ACA) the opportunity to be the first in the country to drive the new 3 Series.
“We had to get the cars to Carefree, Arizona, for the press launch, and we had to get miles on the cars, so what better way to do that?” McGurn said. “It was as cost-effective as trucking the cars, and we’d get club members’ feedback. Hopefully, they’d start to fall in like if not in love with the new car.”
In November 1976, a dozen new 3 Series set out from Los Angeles with ACA members behind the wheel, many with a spouse or friend in the passenger seat. All were enthusiastic drivers, and their spirited pace attracted the attention of the California Highway Patrol. “A whole phalanx of these cars were pulled over to be given California Performance Awards,” aka speeding tickets, said club member Roger Scilley, who drove one 320i with his wife, Delight Lucas. “I think seven of us got stopped by the CHP all at once near Thermal!” laughed Wayne Wundram, another ACA member.
Road & Track, December 1977
Despite that inconvenience, the 320 was a hit. “Club members were ecstatic, and now I had contact with 30 or 40 people based around a really fun experience,” McGurn said. “There was some nitpicking about the car, but it was constructive criticism. The overall reaction was very good.”
In Arizona, the cars would be driven by some journalists who’d made the 2002 a success, including Car and Driver editor David E. Davis Jr., who recently returned to journalism after several years in the advertising business. Davis liked the car, though he and many enthusiasts noted handling quirks—a tendency to lift the inside-rear wheel under hard cornering—that were greatly reduced with introducing the better-equipped 320iS a few years into E21 production.
“There was a lot of skepticism, a lot of nostalgia for the 2002, even sometimes without real experience of the car, because it was an icon,” McGurn said. “We had a long drive, and they came back very impressed. I think it fulfilled the promise of the Ultimate Driving Machine. It was fun to drive, and it had all the qualities that BMW was legendary for. The initial reviews by the enthusiast magazines were very positive.”
Road & Track, March 1977
The buying public responded positively, too. Though some of BMW’s most hardcore customers opted to stick with their well-developed 2002s, lamenting the absence of the six-cylinder 323i offered in Europe, the 320i attracted a broad new audience that allowed BMW of North America to set new sales records every year from 1976 to 1983. Thanks in no small part to the energetic modern styling of the 320i, BMW became the must-have car among the Young Urban Professionals known as Yuppies. That would reveal itself as a curse a decade later, but in the meantime, BMW was happy to be the car of choice among this influential and free-spending demographic.
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