The third generation of the best selling car BMW ever made came out in 1990 and was in production for nearly ten years, the last one being manufactured in 2000. Of course, being in production for so long automatically means that over the years it started lagging behind its competitors, but the truth of the matter is that when it was first introduced, it was revolutionary.
It wasn’t an easy task to create a car that was supposed to replace the iconic E30 and for a long time, the E36 stood in the shadow of that model as a lot of people were still comparing the two. In the dynamics department, the win seemingly always went to its forefather but other things kept the newer car attractive.
For example, it was the first model to feature sculpted door panels and its aerodynamics were drastically improved to offer better fuel consumption. Of course, the engines had to be upgraded as well to make things better.
According to one of its creators, the details of the E36 were mostly focused on aerodynamics. Furthermore, this was the first time the headlamps were behind a glass cover.
Inside the car, we had the forefather of the modern board computer welcoming you and showing important parameters of the car at the touch of a few buttons. The body itself was also tougher and stiffer for more precision down the road.
All in all, the E36 was a big step forward in the 3 Series’ history, but due to the E30 coming before it, a lot of people have overlooked it over the years. Hopefully, even now, 15 years after it was pulled out of production, it could shine again.
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