BMW introduced the original M3 (based on the E30 3-series) in 1986. BMW wanted a car to compete in Group A touring car racing and to do so, 5000 road going versions of the proposed race car had to be produced. The standard 2 door E30 bodyshell was modified with enlarged wheelarches (to accommodate bigger wheels), an altered boot lid with a large spoiler and other minor aerodynamic tweaks such as a chin spoiler and side skirts along the sills. The angle of the rear window was altered too compared to a normal 2 door 3-series bodyshell.
The first E30 M3s had a 2.3 litre 4 cylinder engine related to the engine found in the 2002 Turbo which itself was used as the basis for BMWs turbocharged 1.5 litre F1 engine from the early 1980s (which won races for both Brabham and Benetton). The principle new feature for the M3s engine was a new double overhead cam (DOHC) 16 valve (4 valves per cylinder) cylinder head. In it's original form it gave 192 bhp with and 197bhp without a catalytic converter.
The Group A touring car version of the M3 was a hugely successful car. Only the Ford Sierra Cosworth and Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R Group A race cars were able to beat it on a regular basis. It's main rival in the DTM (German Touring Car Championship) was the Mercedes-Benz 190E Cosworths, which were competitive but not as successful as the M3.
Group A rules allowed manufacturers to remain competitive by permitting the development of "Evolution" cars. To field a newer version of the M3, BMW only had to build 500 "Evolution" M3s, not 5000 as had to be built for an all new Group A car. The model reviewed here is one of the last "Evolution" versions of the M3, a "Sport Evolution" made between 1990 and 1991. The main difference compared to the earlier versions of the M3 in this car was the change from a 2.3 to a 2.5 litre engine, which increased power in the road car up to 238bhp. The Sport Evolution M3s were only available in black or red, and had cloth trim unique to the model. None came from the factory with air conditioning or electric windows, all in the name of weight saving. Two limited edition versions were named after Johnny Cecotto and Roberto Ravaglia, two very successful BMW M3 drivers in Group A racing. This model by AUTOart depicts the Cecotto edition of the M3 Sport Evolution.
AUTOart did a fine job in recreating this particular BMW. The bodywork and scale appear very accurate and it has good engine, interior and brake detail. The headlights look a little bit too large to my eyes (as do the lights on all AUTOart BMW models it seems to me!) especially compared to the Minichamps E30 M3s which I also have in my collection. To my eyes the Minichamps M3s look more accurate around the front end than the AUTOart versions. Additionally the fine wheels are slightly spoilt by not having any markings on the sidewalls of the tires which is unfortunately a common complaint with many recent 1:18th releases. The problem I understand has to do with licensing costs in that it is cheaper to have a blank sidewall rather than to pay a fee to allow the model maker add the logo of a tire company to the tire.
Those criticisms aside, this is a great model by AUTOart and another example of the sort of fine models they can produce when they don't waste their time making sealed engineless models!
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