1992 BMW E30 M3

Sport Evolution DTM “Warsteiner”

CHASSIS#: M3-121407

ENGINE 2.5-liter S14B25 four-cylinder 

OUTPUT 355 hp @ 9200 rpm, 220 lb-ft @ 7000 rpm

TRANSMISSION 6-speed Hollinger manual

CURB WEIGHT 2160 lbs

BUILD DATE  1992

COLOR  White

OWNER  Bill Glavin

OWNED SINCE  N/A

LOCATION  Mooresville, North Carolina

The E30 M3 was built as a weapon, and the reality didn’t disappoint. The model was particularly beloved in Germany’s national touring-car series, the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft, or DTM. Over a five-year run there, from 1987 to 1992, M3s racked up 41 wins, two championships, and a thundering amount of popular support.

Chassis M3-121407 is a factory DTM team car built for the 1992 season, where it was driven by Italian superstar Emanuele Pirro. The car was campaigned by Scuderia Bigazzi, one of the handful of factory-supported independent teams executing BMW’s “works” DTM effort. Today, save a few small changes, Pirro’s old car has been restored to its 1992 specification, complete with iconic Warsteiner livery.

“And for me,” owner Billy Glavin says, “just looking at it, with those big wheels under the stock body… it’s magical.”

“The DTM in the 1980s and 1990s, if I could go back in time, that’s what I’d watch. Pure racing, pure race cars, no aero, and they were doing stuff so creatively. I can’t imagine a field of 50 [cars like this] at the Norisring or anywhere like that. It must’ve been insane. It must’ve been awesome.”

By 1992, the E30’s factory DTM efforts were in twilight. The E30 3-series was all but out of production, and its maker’s priorities were shifting. Moreover, in the DTM, rival Mercedes-Benz teams had grown dominant, developing advantages that BMW could no longer practically counter within the limits of the rules.

Not that steps weren’t taken. For that final DTM season, works cars like 121407 received a modest suite of technical updates. Components like the rear suspension were redesigned and evolved. The changes made a difference, if not in period.

“The car brings a smile to people’s faces whenever you bring it out. And then when you show them… my favorite thing is putting it up on the air jacks, letting people go underneath and look. Because if you know E30s...”

He shakes his head, a little awed. “When you look at what the factory did to that car, it’s just phenomenal.”