BMW M3 GT (E36)

The BMW M3 GT (E36) was only built as a homologation model in a very limited number of 356 copies to participate in the International FIA GT Series, Division II, IMSA GT Series USA and International Endurance Races and thus for the race track.

What do you do as a car enthusiast with a rare special model? Drive or leave?

This question is certainly very difficult, if at all, to answer. If you own such a vehicle and, after a heated internal dispute, have decided to take the very rare piece out of its safe environment, you have the opportunity to answer even more questions yourself. Because, even before departure, you start thinking motorsport: Which wing position will be the best? Do I need more downforce or a high top speed? Because the GT driver has a choice: the lip of the front spoiler can be adjusted. In order to raise the rear spoiler (of course only on the racetrack…), spacers were supplied in 1995, which can be inserted relatively easily between the foot and the wing. To save weight, the GT received aluminum doors. Rocker strips, wheels and mirrors are unchanged from the M3, except that the Styling 24 wheels are forged on the GT to save weight and are aluminum on all other models. These were installed on the front axle in size 7 1/2 X 17 ET41 BMW part number: 36112227759 and on the rear axle in 8 1/2X17 ET41 BMW part number: 36112227760. The rims on the GT therefore also have a different part number than the normal M3 M. The “normal” BMW M double-spoke motorsport wheels, which are also available in 7 1/2 X17 E41, BMW part number: 36112227850 and 8 1/2 X 17 ET41, BMW part number: 36112227860, were not used ex works on the M3 GT. – the GT-specific peculiarities continue under the sheet metal.

Actually, the E36 M3 GT was considered the base model for use in racing, which was the basic idea behind the vehicle. Since BMW also takes part in other competition classes, these parts were also installed on the BMW 318is Class 2, but in some cases in a heavily modified form. While the length of the front splitter on the M3 GT is continuously adjustable, the front splitter on the 318is Class 2 could only be fitted in 3 positions. As a result, the front splitter and brackets on the M3 GT are completely different from those on the 318is Class 2.

RICARO’s Amaretta sports seats, for example, are lined with nappa leather in Mexico green. The carbon fiber decor in the interior in front of the passenger seat with the “BMW Motorsport” lettering indicates the exclusivity of the vehicle. This strip, which was specially produced for the E36 M3 GT, was never available for purchase in the ETK (spare parts catalogue). If you lost this bar or damaged it, you were out of luck. The GT was intended as a base model for racing, and it makes that clear. One would almost have wished for an even more uncompromising savings program in the interior in order to feel like a real racer. But that is also a matter of taste. The sporty, tight seats and the well-known trappings are too reminiscent of a normal 3-seater coupé. The view to the rear is divided in two: The rear spoiler slides across the image in the interior mirror, which, in contrast to the interior glove compartment strip, can be reordered as a spare part and also as a retrofit kit for coupes and limousines of the E36 series in the ETK. In this case, however, that doesn’t bother us, it inspires! And if we’re already talking about the special model of a BMW M3, we naturally also have to look under the bonnet. At the beginning of 1995, the 3.0-liter in-line six-cylinder model S50B30 introduced with the E36 generation was still there, but it was already equipped with the short intake pipes of the 3.2 (S50B32) that followed in the M3. Together with the changed software tuning and the modified camshafts, there were now 295 instead of 286 hp (series M3).

THE M3 JUMPS AT 100 SPEED IN 5.9 SECONDS

According to the factory, the acceleration is enough for the sprint from 0 to 100 km / h in 5.9 seconds – a tenth of a second faster than the production M3. The fact that the top speed is electronically limited to 250 km / h should be less of a problem in this case. From 3900 tours, the maximum torque of 323 Newton meters is available; the basic M3 has 3600 rpm (with a little less power). The maximum power is available at 7000 revolutions. The six-cylinder craves speed. At the time, BMW stated the consumption of the M3 GT at 7.9 liters per 100 kilometers. Then there were various options on how to give your own GT something individual so that it stood out a little further from the already very exclusive and limited edition. On the one hand there was the option with the red motorsport belts for the driver and front passenger, as well as for the two rear seats (the BMW E36 GT was only approved for 4 people) and the door handles with the engraved Motorsport lettering. The technology of the M3 GT is also a mixture. A mix of pre-facelift technology and facelift technology from the facelift of the 3.2 liter model was used here.

How many BMW M3 GT still exist is uncertain

Here is a rare picture at the BMW factory before the delivery of the M3 GT

Only the paint and the spoiler reveal the GT, the only available color for the special model was officially “British Racing Green” (color code 312). BMW has brought the GT to the public 350 times. There is talk of six other (pre-series) copies, including a silver M3 GT, that have not come on official sale. There are a total of 6 vehicles whose last 7 digits of the chassis number do not start with “EA” but with “JP”. Unfortunately, we have not yet been able to identify these vehicles. The M3 GT Register (m3gtregister.com) and we at ( ///Mflight Historic Register ) strive to understand the whereabouts and history of as many vehicles as possible. All vehicles with special equipment and full chassis numbers are recorded in our Historic Register, which records the history of more than 200 cars. The overview shows the different paths the rare special models have taken: Many cars have actually mutated into racing cars. Others were taken as the basis for a tuning project, which is a pity, or fell victim to the good driving skills of their owners. And then there are the few copies that were allowed to remain in their original condition. Today, they can hardly be paid for anymore and are hardly on the road anymore, and park as well-protected “garage gold” in their air-conditioned four walls.

Technical data of the BMW E36 M3 GT

Predecessor: BMW M3 Sport Evolution E30
Successor: BMW M3 CSL E46, BMW M3 GTS E92
Similar E36 models: BMW M3 Individual (Great Britain), BMW M3 Lightweight (USA), BMW M3R (Australia)

Basis: BMW M3 3.0 E36
Produced: 12/1994 – 06/1995
Plant: Regensburg
Number of items: 356 (including 6 pilot series)
Paint: british racing green (color code 312)

Displacement: 2,990 cm³
Output: 295 hp at 7,100 rpm
Torque: 323 Nm at 3,900 rpm
Compression: 10.8: 1
Bore / stroke: 86.0 mm / 85.8 mm
Rear axle ratio: 3.23: 1
Brake discs: 315 mm x 28 mm front / 312 mm x 20 mm rear
Acceleration from 0 to 100 km / h: 5.9 s
Acceleration from 0 to 1000 m: 25.4 s
Acceleration from 80 to 120 km / h in IV gear: 6.4 s
Top speed: 250 km / h
Consumption 90 km / h: 6.5 ltr / 100 km
Consumption 120 km / h: 7.9 ltr / 100 km
Consumption city: 13.0 ltr / 100 km
Length, retracted front spoiler: 4,433 mm
Length, extended front spoiler: 4,533 mm
Weight: 1,460 kg DIN
Base price 1995: 91,000 DM

For better comparability, the data from the original model BMW M3 3.0 E36:

Displacement: 2,990 cm³
Output: 286 hp at 7,000 rpm
Torque: 320 Nm at 3,600 rpm
Compression: 10.8: 1
Bore / stroke: 86.0 mm / 85.8 mm
Rear axle ratio: 3.15: 1
Brake discs: 315 mm x 28 mm front / 312 mm x 20 mm rear
Acceleration from 0 to 100 km / h: 6.0 s
Acceleration 0 to 1000 m: 25.6 s
Acceleration from 80 to 120 km / h in IV gear: 6.4 s
Top speed: 250 km / h
Consumption 90 km / h: 6.5 ltr / 100 km
Consumption 120 km / h: 7.9 ltr / 100 km
Consumption city: 13.0 ltr / 100 km
Length: 4,433 mm
Weight: 1,460 kg DIN
Base price 1992: 80,700 DM

Changes to the original basic E36 M3 model:

-Special paint
– Aerodynamics package supplemented by adjustable front spoiler and multi-part rear wing
– Front indicator glasses in white
– Front strut bar
– aluminum doors
– Suspension springs in a harder version
– Forged wheels surface-polished in 7.5Jx17 front / 8.5Jx17 rear with 235/40 R 17 all around
– Changes in the intake tract
– 264 degree camshafts
– oil supply
– control unit
– Rear axle drive with 3.23: 1
– Sports steering wheel II
– Sports seats with combination Amaretta in anthracite / nappa leather in mexico green
– Inserts in doors in front / sides in back nappa leather in mexico green
– Carbon fiber inserts on the dashboard, center console and entry
– Motorsport International marking on the dashboard and side bumper strips

 

Now the story of this vehicle;

 

This GT is number 319 of 356 vehicles built and was delivered by BMW in 1995 to its owner in Bergen on the island of Rügen. However, he died a short time afterwards and the widow initially stored the GT in the barn at the house and remained there until 2006. As you know, vehicles that stand for a long time quickly become tables. This GT suffered the same fate. Although it was covered, it was recognized that the interior can also be used as a storage area. The house was then sold and the barn had to be cleared. That also applied to the GT, which also had to get out of there. Contact was made with the owner through a holiday acquaintance and the vehicle was inspected (until then, nobody knew that it was even a GT). When the green spoiler under the ceiling appeared in 2007, it was clear that it would go with you! The vehicle was then transported with the trailer from Bergen on Rügen to Saarland. There a battery was connected for the first time and then there was 852 km on the speedometer. However, the engine stopped turning. The salty air on the Baltic Sea island damaged the engine very much and repairs would have been possible, but the decision was made to order a completely new engine directly from BMW, which also turned out to be a bit difficult, since apparently no one had an engine before for an M3 GT at all. After several phone calls between the BMW dealer and the factory, the part number first had to be created and released, and then it took 10 weeks for the engine to arrive in the box. The leather and the front seats had also suffered a lot from the salty air and from the objects stored in the interior and were partly already dissolved, as were all rubber parts. Therefore, the vehicle was completely restored and only with original parts (except for the front turn signal lights) and almost all parts of the vehicle were renewed. This restoration lasted 2 years until 2008. Since its completion, the vehicle has only been moved very rarely.