The Best of the M Series Cars

Every time you hear or see a BMW M Series car, you know you’re looking at and hearing something special that could be the perfect car.

This car was developed by the BMW Motorsport Division (that’s where the M comes from) to be one of the many amazing sports cars that are also right for an amazing drive on the road. The original idea of building the M Division was to support the racing ventures of the brand, but the band branched out and has created some of the best high-performance road cars of all time. The Ultimate Driving Machine is always a BMW M Series car.

A Little History

The BMW Motorsport Division was begun in May 1972 to be the brand that would develop the cars that would hit the race track. The name was shortened to M in 1993 and has been the name used ever since. Today, you find nearly every model in the BMW lineup offering you at least one way the M name is used to give you a more athletic version of the vehicle you love to drive.

Let’s Look at Some of the Most Iconic M Series Cars

E9 3.0 CSL “Batmobile”

The first touring coup car was the 3.0 CSL which was offered from 1972-1975. This car was the fastest production car to make its way around the NürburgringNordschleife at the time. While this car was in existence, it took six European Touring Car Championships and was nicknamed the Batmobile for the aggressive look of the car that made it look like something out of the imagination rather than reality. This car quickly became the face of the division and ended up having an inline-six cylinder engine that could produce nearly 800 horsepower, giving the world a look at what BMW could do on a race track.

BMW M1

When you look at the M1, you’ll notice that it doesn’t look like a typical M Series car. The M1 was designed in conjunction with Lamborghini. Now that you know this, you’re nodding your head at the shape and style of this specialized car. The M1 was offered from 1978-1981 to be the car that allowed BMW to entire Group 4. This car could produce 278 horsepower and made it one of the fastest road cars offered in the late 1970s and early 1980s. This was the first car to ever wear the M badge when it arrived on the scene.

E24 M635CSi

From 1984-1989 an M car that looked more like what we see on the road today emerged. The M635CSi was nicknamed the Shark, but it looked more subdued and standard than the previous two models. This car disguised the fact that it was a sports car, something BMW would begin to do with more cars. The top speed of the Shark was 158 mph, and it could reach sixty mph in less than 6.4 seconds, which was pretty quick for the time. The M635CSi oozed classy driving style while offering an aggressive nature once you were behind the wheel.

BMW E28 M5

While the version of the M5 offered from 1986-1988 wasn’t the first M-badged 5-series car, it was one of the best to come out of this division. The sedan of the 1980s was an impressive machine with a legendary engine that was already being used in the M635CSi. That 3.5-liter inline-six gave the car 286 horsepower, a top speed of 147 mph, and the time to reach sixty mph of 6.3 seconds, which was extremely close to the coupe that was also using this engine.

E30 M3 Sport Evolution

When you’re looking for the car that first wore the badge as the Ultimate Driving Machine, the E30 M3 Sport Evolution is that car. This M Series car was the result of the M Division moving away from F1 racing to focus on touring-car racing. The first version of this car arrived in 1990 after a decade of a world that was starved for something fun to drive. The original model had two doors, gave us a 2.3-liter four-cylinder engine that made 192 horsepower and the performance items to make the most of that power. The Sport Evolution version was equipped with more power coming from a 2.5-liter engine that made 235 horsepower.

BMW E21 850CSi

Don’t think the BMW team let the large cars out of the mix; the 850CSi was a flagship coupe that gave us the M goodies we love and desire. This car was offered from 1993-1997, and it was the original 8-series in the lineup, offering us a car that was powered by a massive 5.6-liter V12 engine. This wasn’t the only 8-series car to have an engine with 12 cylinders; it was the most powerful with 376 horsepower and an incredible sport suspension, variable throttle timing, and the performance items we admire.

E36/8 M Coupe

You might look at the E36/8 M Coupe and think the M Division missed with this M Series car, but you would be wrong. Although this car wore a hatchback build with an elongated sporty front end, it turned out to be one of the most interesting and impressive cars on this list. This was the car that eventually gave the brand the cache needed to create the Z3, and subsequently the Z4. Power came from a 3.2-liter inline-six, and it reached 24 horsepower and 236 lb.-ft. of torque for the amazing drive, you could engine in a car offered from 1993-2003.

BMW E39 M5

This version of the M5 was offered from 2000-2003, giving you a fitting successor to the earlier versions of this car. The E39 model was powered by a wonderful 5.0-liter V8 engine that produced 394 horsepower and 368 lb.-ft. of torque. This engine was mated to a six-speed manual transmission to give you an excellent sedan that would allow you t engage with the road. This car could take on anything else in its class and would rocket you to sixty mph in only 4.8 seconds.