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Five ultimate BMW M3s part 2: E36 M3 GT

While the M3R was more powerful, the GT wins on liveability and the cool-factor

BMW E36 M3 GT 1
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This is not the most powerful E36 M3, but it’s the one we’d want to own.

With 400 built it’s also not the rarest E36, all the particularly hard-to-find ones are pretty much race cars.

The M3 GT of the mid-‘90s is still just as cool as its quicker company, as it was a homologation special for the FIA GT Series and the American IMSA GT Series.

BMW E36 M3 GT wing
The engine found in each GT is a retuned version of the s50 B30, putting out 220kW/323Nm. Inside the motor, new cams could be found.

A BMW Motorsport dual-pickup oil pan and duocentric oil pumps, as well as upgraded VANOS software brought the standard for the engine up a little over the regular M3 donk.

BMW E36 M3 GT engine bay
Other spesh features of the GT included Adjustable front and rear spoilers, aluminium doors, plus the stiffer springs and shocks which made the car ride just a little more like a track-focused version of the standard M3.

A “BMW Motorsport International" emblem also appears on the exterior door mouldings, sills, and the panel over the glovebox.

BMW E36 M3 GT interior
Of the 400 built, 350 are LHD and 50 are right-hook, and all of them are painted in British Racing Green. They also cop lashings of leather in the same colour as the exterior.

They also scored headlights which were adjustable from inside the car.

BMW E36 M3 GT
But perhaps the main reason the GT gets praise from us as the ultimate E36 M3 is that you could easily live with it. Anything faster than it had no air conditioning, no radio, and sometimes no rear seats.

This is the E36 M3 you could track on the weekend and drive to the office in on Monday.

Chris Thompson
Contributor

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