This comparison of the 1986 BMW E30 M3 and 2010 BMW E92 M3 brought some surprises. Conventional wisdom says the E30 M3 is an icon for the truly committed. The reality, though, is somewhat different. If you can live without air-conditioning and cupholders, the first M3 would be remarkably easy to live with, even today. Meanwhile the fourth-generation M3 of today wears the same name tag as the first-gen car but shares little else. Whereas the original M3 was born of a desire to go racing, the current car is an attempt to dress a supercar in high street-legal fashion. The evolutionary process that defines a Porsche 911 is missing here, and we shouldn't try and contrive a link. The photography of the M3's past is the only real connection between the cars. Rather than chart an organic transition from one to the other, we should simply salute these M3s for what they are: two great cars, 25 years apart, from the gentlemen of Bavaria.
Historia completa: M3 Post
