{"id":46776,"date":"2026-07-01T15:35:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T15:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/46776\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T15:35:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T15:35:00","slug":"kinardi-line-6-the-bmw-m3-belongs-to-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/46776\/","title":{"rendered":"Kinardi Line #6 – The BMW M3 Belongs to America"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\tStay up to speed with stories written by drivers, for drivers.<\/p>\n

Get automotive news, DIY tips, market trends, in-depth car profiles, and more right in your email inbox.<\/p>\n

I finally wrote a book. Well, actually, I wrote a third of a book. My co-authors, Roundel editor-in-chief Travis Okulski and Hagerty alumnus Sam Smith<\/a>, deserve their flowers. And a barrel of medals for dragging my sorry carcass across the finish line to meet our deadline for the BMW Car Club of America.<\/p>\n

Completing the book felt more like relief than triumph. I guess I expected something else; years ago, as a much younger writer, producing a book felt vital to my career. But then I got older, and more comfortable, and in turn demanded less of myself. I gave up on penning a book until one fell in my lap. Aging is a fine cure for ambition.<\/p>\n

Unless you\u2019re the BMW M3.<\/p>\n

With successive generations, Germany\u2019s greatest automotive namesake got hungrier and hungrier. Each iteration of the M3 has gone faster, accelerated quicker, and found its way past the finish line in meaningfully shorter intervals than its predecessors. (Note: If you\u2019re caught up on that \u201cGermany\u2019s greatest\u201d bit, please register your complaints at the next PCA Cars \u2018n\u2019 Coffee; I won\u2019t be there.)<\/p>\n

\"Kinardi The author\u2019s second M3, an \u201988 with wrinkled fenders and 220,000 on the odometer.Kyle Kinard<\/p>\n

Of course, such progress is the natural order of automotive things. Every car must stop quicker, corner faster, and cost more than the last, whether that\u2019s an M3 or a Toyota RAV4<\/a>. And yet, the M3 has proved unnaturally consistent in its execution. As the M3\u2019s various competitors\u2014the Mercedes C63<\/a>, the Audi RS4, the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio<\/a>\u2014have risen and fallen in our esteem like sine waves, they\u2019ve always been alternatives to the benchmark. Never was the M3\u2019s crown in danger.<\/p>\n

\"2027BMW<\/p>\n

\"BMWBMW<\/p>\n

They\u2019re not perfect cars\u2014far from it\u2014but M3s are so generally good that owners and critics must split hairs to identify real weaknesses. And those weaknesses are usually exposed only when you compare one M3 to another.<\/p>\n

That conversation is akin to draping roadkill on your shoulders and diving headlong into a pack of feral rats. I\u2019m not here to litigate such contentious questions (neither the Greatest M3 nor this country\u2019s next great reckoning: The Feral Rat Epidemic). We may quibble about which M3 is best (it\u2019s the E30), but unlike so many other legacy automotive nameplates, there\u2019s a legitimate case to be made for every M3 generation.<\/p>\n

\"Kinardi A fine day at work: Every M3 generation, assembled and driven back-to-back at Mid-Ohio.Kyle Kinard<\/p>\n

Before I wrote one-third of a book, I wouldn\u2019t have come to that conclusion.<\/p>\n

The work was commissioned by the BMW Car Club of America (BMW CCA) Foundation as part of its celebration called \u201cBMW M3: 40 Years of Evolution.<\/a>\u201d To pair with an in-person museum exhibit at its South Carolina headquarters, the Foundation wanted a tome. The vision was for a mix of essays, driving impressions of legendary BMW race cars, and well-penned profiles to tell the story of those members who\u2019d graciously loaned their M3s to the exhibit. We divvied up the owners between us, turning their stories (and a few of our own) into the story of the BMW M3 in America, 1986\u20132026.<\/p>\n

\"KinardiKyle Kinard<\/p>\n

It was a profound, fulfilling experience. As a car enthusiast, yes, but especially as a person. I\u2019m so used to interviewing people who either have an agenda or can\u2019t stand journalists by reflex. Usually both. I\u2019m thinking specifically about the many racing drivers who act as if they\u2019d rather be licking Vegemite from their sister\u2019s ear than talking to a writer. The owners who spoke to me for the book were simply great people, without exception. Brimming with enthusiasm. Not a hint of cynicism or irony in their bones.<\/p>\n

During the interviews, I sensed a common thread but couldn\u2019t put my finger on it in the moment. There isn\u2019t an authentic mechanical throughline that ties these machines together. The moth-wing buzz of that first inline-four car gave way to sonorous free-breathing sixes, then a stormcloud V-8, and now twin-turbo mills with enough torque to bowline the Bay Bridge. The first and last M3s are chalk and cheese.<\/p>\n

\"Kinardi A bone-stock E30, a heavily modded 2.5, and the E92 Lime Rock. The best trio since Pippen, Jordan, and Rodman.Kyle Kinard<\/p>\n

So it\u2019s something fuzzier than nuts and bolts that binds them. Something entirely more romantic than a shared engineering philosophy, MacPherson struts up front, or the Bavarian-flag roundel on the nose.<\/p>\n

\"BMWBMW<\/p>\n

After maybe two months of turning the question over in my craw, what finally struck me was how American the M3\u2019s story seemed; we really love this car. Over 40 years, we\u2019ve built a legacy that\u2019s separate and distinct from Europe\u2019s.<\/p>\n

With each story I prized from the experiences of M3 owners, they painted a scene of pure Americana: courting their spouses in the car, hauling their friends cross-country, raising a family, riding shotgun with dad. Norman Rockwell brushstrokes.<\/p>\n

\"1995BMW<\/p>\n

\"BMW-m3-e30BMW<\/p>\n

The numbers tell a similar tale. To date, BMW has sold more M3s to the North American market than any other region. We\u2019re awash in the things here, and if you ask me, prolific volume and the ensuing whale fall of heavily depreciated M3s have nourished the cult status of M3s and M4s in the country.<\/p>\n

The M3 belongs to everyone: American drifters, scenesters, influencers, stance bros, turbo freaks, track addicts, and pure racers have all laid claim to the car. Most generations have served as a kind of \u201832 Ford for their era, among the right crowds, propping up a vast aftermarket to fuel enthusiasts\u2019 flames.<\/p>\n

\"Kinardi This E36 M3 GT was intended for Europe only, but time and America\u2019s gravity pulled her stateside. What a marvelous machine.Kyle Kinard<\/p>\n

We get away with a lot here on America\u2019s roads: side pipes, hellraisin\u2019 in the canyons, stop-light showdowns. That\u2019s how this versatile, robust car made its bones on our soil: as a willing accomplice with plenty of room to haul people and things.<\/p>\n

\"BMWSportsfile via Getty Images<\/p>\n

The M3 has always balanced purpose, practicality, and brawn in a way that struck a chord on this side of the Atlantic. Like the hot dog, the M3 may have been born far away, but there\u2019s no doubt where it belongs. Just recently, BMW announced the special-edition 2027 M3 CS Handschalter<\/a>, an exclusive North America-only sendoff for the current G80-generation M3. It has four doors, three pedals, six speeds, 473 horses, and a big old trunk.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an appropriate send-off for today\u2019s car, a love letter to the culture that\u2019s embraced the M3 unlike any other. \u201cWe love you too, M3,\u201d America replies. \u201cHere\u2019s to another 40 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maybe, if I\u2019m still around then, I\u2019ll write a whole book to mark the occasion. But probably not.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

The only car writer\u00a0dumb\u00a0brave enough to\u00a0flip a grain truck on its roof, Kyle Kinard once plied his trade at America\u2019s greatest car magazines. He now lives near Seattle and enjoys the rain. His column,\u00a0Kinardi Line<\/a>, runs monthly, as does the\u00a0Camaro vs. World project-car series<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Stay up to speed with stories written by drivers, for drivers. Get automotive news, DIY tips, market trends,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":46777,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20955],"tags":[6213,39474,30506,23850],"class_list":["post-46776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bmw","tag-bmw","tag-car-bmw-m3","tag-column","tag-m3"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46776","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46776"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46776\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}