Equipped with an array of BMW Motorsport equipment (to include the 321bhp straight six engine from the concurrent M3), the Z3 M Roadster entered production in September ‘96 for the 1997 model year. Despite the fact the Z3 had originally been conceived purely as a two-seat drop top, engineers back in Germany had secretly begun work on a fixed
3 days ago · The E36 M3 was a bargain — unlike the E30 M3, which was a buzzy, four-cylinder homologation-special race car, the six-cylinder M3 did everything better than the 325i. And instead of an $8000 price premium over the base car, the M3 cost just $3000 more. The US car was a huge sales success, selling three times the number of cars BMW anticipated. The heart and highlight of the BMW M3 Compact is of course its engine. The inline 6-cylinder engine (S50B32), borrowed from the iconic M3 Coupé, provided a hefty 321 hp when required. If the car had ever gone into series production, however, engineers would probably have had to dial down its power in order to improve drivability.The E36 is the second generation of M3 and came to the United States from 1995 to 1999. Most are coupes, although sedan versions were made from 1997 (when the auto transmission option disappeared
The S52 engine is a high performance variant of the M52. The S52 is a 2.9 L DOHC inline-6 that was used in the E36 M3 from 1996–1999 and replaced the older S50B30US and M50TU engines. The S52 has an oversquare bore and stroke of 82 mm × 71 mm (3.23 in × 2.80 in). This results in an 11:1 compression ratio, which allows for substantialThe engine is not the original, with Edwin explaining it is a 2.5-liter six-cylinder engine from a BMW 323i. Engine swaps with the E36 like a V12 are not uncommon according to Edwin.
U.S. E36 M3 Specs received a slightly downgraded engine compared to Europe 1995 cars received a 3.0-liter engine, while 1996-1999 received a 3.2-liter engine with slightly more torque