Atzporsche:
I've owed both the E30 and E34 M cars and they are true masterpieces.. hand built and very very quick in their own ways.
After the E36, the M series really went a terrible poseur route
Actually I have owned E36 M3, E46 M3 (2 of them) and E92M3. E36 was the worst them of all in terms of handling and speciality. I had the EVO version which had 321 hp 3.2 liter inline six. It was a very fast car for its time (second half of 1990s) and at that time the competition from others weren't this much. BUT E36 out of the box, understeers too much, had weak chassie and weak rear subframe. Basic interior features and too much look like the common 3series coupes.
On the other hand E46 was a good improvement in terms of handling and interior quality departments. Moreover, addition of SMGII gearbox was a big success over SMGI of E36. However, this time the improved inline six was not powerfull enough. It had barely 22 more hp than E36 and all this power went to additional weight of E46. Nevertheless, E46 was a better car than E36. Its flared arches, 4 exhaust pipes and powerdome on the bonnet looked very nice compared common E46 coupes. And E46 M3 based CSL was a masterpiece. IMO, it is the BEST M car ever produced. The emotion, feel, sound, design of the car was just right.
However, E92 is in another league in terms of performance and comfort. The biggest problem with the lates M cars are the size and the weight. They are getting fatter and larger as World demands. However, E92 was the only car with neutral handling characteristics out of the box compared to both E36 and E46. DKG transmission with S65 V8 engine is the best engine/transmission combination M ever but in a car.
So ///M is not going backwards. It only loses the path, sometimes ;)
--
ONUR
11 M3 Coupe AW
09 Audi TTS Coupe - 07 997 Carrera S - 05 M3 Coupe - 03 M3 Coupe - 96 M3 Coupe EVO (PASS TIME HISTORY)