1995 BMW M3 from UK and Ireland - Comments

Nothing.....

An absolute animal. The most remarkable car I've ever driven. Far better than the Impreza Turbo.

Impreza eater? Yes, it'll eat one coming the other way when you spin off trying to go quick in the wet down a twisty road!! OK, it's quicker in a straight line but then it should be at twice the price with an extra 80bhp!

Ye I agree with that comment a bmw m3 is a great car I actually really like them for what they are, but I've raced 1 round the twisty stuff in my honda integra type r dc2 and altho the bmw has more hp and a lot more torque than me.. it was just too heavy to keep up on the limit. i know mine is considered the best handling front wheel drive road car ever made and it really shows against a heavy brute like the bmw.

In a straight line I'm sure it would pull away, but wheres the fun in a straight line?

Give me a corner anyday and in the dry I can out handle even the subaru... evo would be a challenge tho!!

Honda Integra Type-R keeping up on the twistys??You've got to be kidding me, a good M3 would leave you standing on any road, even your excellent handling cannot make up for the m3's power, and awesome acceleration!No dis-respect intended, but, Integra Type R's, Civic Type R's,182's, FTO's etc.. good as they are, are not in the same league as an M3,you don't even need to floor an M3 to dispose of any of these cars, it's Vanos system gives you instant power, there's no waiting until you reach 5,500 rpm before anything happens it just pulls and pulls!Floor an M3 on full throttle and it's as if these cars stand still while you accelerate (no I'm not kidding!!),I'm afraid you'll need a good Mitsy Evo, or a top Scooby just to keep up in a straight line, never mind the twistys!!

I'm with the guy above me. There is no way a Type R took an M3. Maybe in the wet, but that's your only hope is the M3 sliding on the water. Other than that the power of the M3 is enormously more, and the handling, even if it's not as good like you say, is still damn good, and is definitely good enough to get it through the twisties with times far shorter than Hondas.

That being said, this car is amazing. I've owned mine for a couple months and have no complaints. The parts tag is a little high, but well worth it. The VANOS system in these cars is amazing. Power non stop. Just keep your pedal to the floor and she'll keep running. I personally feel that the BMW M3 is the best performing car in the world all around.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but all these people saying the M3 eats type R's easily have no idea what they are on about. and as for saying you don't have to wait for 5,500 rpm, well lets face it that only happens on the first gear change after that your always above those rpm's.

I'm not saying the honda is quicker just saying it can easily keep with it on the twistys. look on youtube and you will find exactly that happening for several miles not just a couple corners. yes get to the straight and the m3 does pull away, but on the corners the type R visibly catches up. not bad for a car with 124bhp less than the M3 (p.s. it was dry) have since turbo'd the integra now the only time I see M3's is in my rear view mirror.

I can remember reading in a certain car mag that round the wet handling circuit there was a tire test.

Cars used were a M3, and a mondeo 2.0.

Round the wet circuit, with the BMW on its normal tires, and the Mondeo on Sports tires (Think they were conti cups) the Mondeo was 1.7 sec faster.

No matter what the tires were, in the dry the M3 was quicker. In the Wet, when the M3 was on the best tires, again, it was quicker, but...

Point is if a standard Mondeo 2.0 can match an M3 given a slight (it wasn't that big, M3 have pretty good tires as standard) tire advantage, then I defo believe a Type R could.

Also, in the wet around the Ring, I can remember in my Audi S6 (safe handling, but dull, no feedback) watching an M3 get rather unstable behind me. (He fishtailed out the corner) And I don't think I was really pushing that hard. I think the M3 big wide pro tires and RWD, whilst making it a great drivers car, possibly dont inspire massive confidence in the wet?

I can't believe there are people on here making these absurd claims that any sort of factory Honda of the era (or even within 10 years of it, barring the S2000 or NSX) could out perform an OEM E36 M3 in a race setting where the cars are within factory specifications in terms of power, suspension travel and alignment deviation tolerances. I've owned a myriad sports cars; 2 Porsche 944 Turbos and an S2, 1989 BMW 325iS, 3 Saab 9000 Turbos (1988, 1994, 1997), Audi C4 S4 (1993), and I've driven many more; I'm only 21. I do PCA DE events on road courses along with full-track timed AutoX events, and I've got lots of race buddies with every vehicle under the sun.

I don't want to discredit the FWD Japanese rice rockets, they're certainly less of a maintenance hassle than their euro counterparts, however I've had plenty of opportunity to drive in a large number of models with various levels of tuning from OEM to seam welded, caged, slicks, you get it. My friend, who owns a 1999 Acura Integra with some various exhaust, intake, damper and spring enhancements is regularly left far, far behind on friendly spirited driving through winding rural roads--by my 1997 Saab 9000 Aero with the suspension and output that the car was assembled with. The Integra is mostly likely, say 2800lbs, whereas the tank-like, wallowing chassised front wheel drive 9000 is closer to 3500. Why is this so? In this case it's the engine. The turbocharged 9000 provides so much torque all over the place that it's easy to just power out as you leave any apex. I would say I'm the more experienced driver, however he's plenty competent.

Now the E36 M3 combines not only the fat, more flexible torque of the 9000 with an incredibly stiff chassis for a sedan manufactured in 1995. Remember that Car and Driver called it the best handling car of the 1990s. It has almost perfect weight distribution. It's also rear wheel drive, so it has mere physics on its side when it comes to drivetrain-to-road energy transfer when driven ideally (which is a debate you will lose if you believe otherwise). I used to be all cocky with my 944 Turbos, believing they had everything that an M3 had, but with less weight, the ability to add 100 hp here and there with simple modification, fantastic 4-piston fixed brake calipers, and the same ideal weight balance. Then I actually drove a stock E36 M3 and was blown away. Where I'd be fighting to accommodate for all the variables the 951 throws at you, from chassis wind-up to feathering the gas whilst predicting the exact time when boost would come on in a corner to the curious moment of inertia, the E36 M3 made it seem as if I was on a sunday drive... at 120mph. I was stunned at how well the car communicated with the driver and represented inputs given to it.

Furthermore, each of my 944 Turbos completely embarrassed every Civic, Integra, what have you. I even bested an NSX at a track in northern Illinois. The only cars that can present a challenge are highly modified or of the new generation, such as Evolutions, STis, or my friends 1991 MR2 Turbo which runs on race gas, if that says anything. All that and I'd consider the E36 M3 several fold easier to drive fast.

I don't know why I feel as though this rant is necessary, however I just have a hard time watching people say things like "this compact front-wheel-drive coupe is faster than that purpose-built sports car" when I dust them off on freeway onramps with cars like a stock Saab. I know of very fast Japanese sport compacts, in some cases owned and driven by young, bright engineers who manage to wring 300+ daily drivable horsepower from a naturally-aspirated 1.8L engine, but these cars are modified extensively from the way in which they left the factory, and at that point it's useless to sit and compare which model is better, because the modifications at some point will always trump factory advantages.

I understand and agree with a lot of your comments, but being a honda integra type R owner I have to say a few things to add to this debate. the integra I drive now is almost standard just exhaust and induction kit really, but it produces 197bhp from the factory (i have the JDM 96 spec) and only weighs 1060kg which is about half a ton lighter than an M3,not only that it has the reputation of being the best FWD production car ever made. it was designed purely for the race track and achievs some amazing cornering speeds. in my personal experience I have beaten a huge amount of cars with a lot more power and torque than mine, on a straight road foot to the floor yes an M3 will pull away steadily from me, on the twisty stuff... no chance! I'm not doubting the M3 is a very good handling car, but the laws of physics comes into play with something that heavy when you chuck it into a corner.I've raced several evo's from evo III's right up to an evo IX, and a few scooby's including an STi prodrive spec one and in the dry I was either slowly pulling away from them or inches off thier backsides whenever the road got twisty. again with more power yes they will pull away on the straights. my last integra I turbo'd and ran it at 8psi and 320bhp which made it about 300 bhp/ton and that one did pull away from evo's, scooby's, cosworths and skylines on the straights as well as the corners (as long as it wasnt wet!!!)

so just to clarify I think the M3 is a cracking car and I've considered buying one in the past, but don't discount the possibility of an integra type R driven by someone who knows its limits and how to exploit them won't be very far behind when the road gets curly.

I have dc5 integra type r, 220bhp 2.0 engine, and on country roads I was glued to my mates e36 m3 evo, he couldnt pull away from me.

Who cares? I know which I'd rather own.

The integra.

Own a 05 m3 and I live in hawaii and if you have been here and seen the street scene its Honda heaven (any jdm) you can think of and SORRY, but my damn near stock m3 (intake exhaust chip clutch) turbo civic's, acuras, sti's, mustangs (except cobra) g35's, 300zx, 240's should I go on... why not cobalt ss my point is my car is 13yrs old almost 14 with 138000 miles on it and guess what?...wait for it... wait for it I STILL WIN (freeway 2nd gear from 40 roll on) looks like they take after michael jackson (moon-walking) can't race curved roads here so messed up and usally residential. but have to agree i'll never go back to a japanese unless it's an R34...your rebuttals will be fruitless.