The best BMW M3s you've never heard of

From E36 Compact to E46 Touring, here are the M3s that never made production (but we rather wish had)

It surely won't have escaped your attention that 2016 marks 30 years of the BMW M3. Now, on top of the 30th anniversary special, the Competition Pack and the GTS (yes, we know, but it's kind of an M3), BMW has brought together all its M3 greatest hits in one glorious photoshoot. Like all the best family reunions, this get together has unearthed a few gems you wish you'd known before plus one or two proper oddities that were best forgotten.

Now this looks a giggle...

But we'll get back to the duds; let's begin with the greatest M3s you've never heard of, and the E36 Compact. Yes, an E36 Compact M3. Much like the current M2 in fact, it was designed as a concept to bring younger people into M cars. Sadly it never made it past the prototype stage, but imagine how much fun this must have been with 321hp and 1,300kg. Look too at those fantastic Recaro seats and how tightly the straight-six is packed into the engine bay. Cool car. What might have been...

The E36 generation wasn't short of notable specials though, despite always existing in the shadow of the E30. The GT stands out, not simply because it was British Racing Green. 356 were made in total, 50 in right-hand drive, and it was identifiable over the standard car by its double rear wing, adjustable front splitter and forged wheels. It was a true homologation special as well, with hidden upgrades including raised compression, different cams and a baffled sump.

Oh BMW, you do tease us so!

Now it's well known BMW isn't fond of a fast estate, which seems a real shame when a) Audi seems to sell loads of them and b) BMW makes such a good go at the concepts. Alongside the E39 M5 Touring, that the grey E46 M3 estate you see here was never made must rank as one of the more disappointing decisions made my BMW. It's even described as a "feasibility study" by BMW, its investigation showing that an M3 could be incorporated into 3 Series Touring production quite easily. And how good does it look? Alright, so the rear bumper arrangement may not be the best, but the arches, wheels and overall stance work so well. With that engine and the famed M3 dynamics, it would surely have been spectacular.

While the E90 CRT is an M3 we're all more familiar with than the above, it most certainly deserves some recognition here. Because while the GTS from which it was derived came in for some flak, the CRT was almost universally praised. It took what was so good about the coupe - namely the powertrain and dynamics - and installed them in a fairly ordinary saloon body. Where the orange GTS shouted its intentions loud and clear, it takes a true enthusiast to spot a CRT. That, plus its incredible rarity, makes it very cool.

This can stay in the museum thanks

Not every one-off or limited edition M3 will be so fondly remembered though. For a car so famed for its handling, for BMW to hack the roof off the E30 seems no less strange 25 years on. Owners or fans, now's the time to make your case! Moreover, while the E30 M3 pick up apparently pottered around the BMW factory for 26 years, we're struggling to see the point. Same with its E90 successor, even if BMW did manage to trick a few journalists into believing it was a real production model.

That's the PH pick of the first three decades of the M3 then, so what about you? And what could the next 30 years hold? Bring on the next M3 CRT we say!

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Loplop

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