BMW E36 M3 vs. E46 M3 Nurburgring Chase Gets Scary, Tire Torture Involved

This is precisely what you'll find in the piece of footage at the bottom of the page. And while such a Ring chase involving stock M cars would be fun, the one we're here to show you features track-prepped incarnations of the Bavarian athletes.

Those of you who are tuned into our Nurburgring tales might be familiar with the M3 serving as the camera car. And that's because we're talking about the Bimmer that holds the (unofficial) title of the fastest E36 M3 around the Green Hell.

Alex, the guy behind the wheel, has proven that a Bridge to Gantry lap (the main straight is missing from this public day configuration of the track) can be completed even quicker. As such, while the sprint shown here sees the two going from one end of the circuit to the other in 7:33, we've previously brought you a 7:25 lap captured from inside this M3.

The flat-six hero has been taken pretty far from its factory configuration and it's enough to check out the carbon-involving lightweight cabin treatment to understand that.

The suspension setup of the BMW doesn't seem to make any coziness compromise, as demonstrated by the noise made by the tires rubbing against the wheel arches - for one thing, the Carousel part of the ride gives us a back pain just by looking at it.

And since we're talking about a pair of naturally aspirated straight-sixes, these machines have to work their way around traffic step by step.

P.S.: While checking out this Nordschleife play, keep in mind that, when you're out there flying from one rumble strip to another, leading will make you sweat more than chasing.