Quote:
Originally Posted by GeorgeSmooth
BMW South Africa has always been releasing special cars, read the following:
"The first M3 to come here was the six-cylinder E36 M3 Coupe of the early 1990’s but, to meet demand for a sport BMW 3 Series in the late 1980’s, BMW SA’s plant at Rosslyn, near Pretoria, produced two very special BMW 3 Series just for South Africa.
The first was an Alpina-based BMW 333i that squeezed a 145kW, 3.2-litre straight six into the two-door BMW 3 Series sedan in 1985. Then, in the late 1980’s, the same plant created the BMW 325iS - though it was only a two-door 325i sedan with a body kit and a close-ratio gearbox that improved acceleration at the expense of top speed and fuel economy.
Further changes made the car competitive in South African saloon-car racing; the tweaking terminated with the 325iS Evo II of late 1991 which had a number of aluminium body panels and a 2.7-litre engine that made 155kW and could haul the car to 100km/h kin 7.5sec."
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I think the 333i that was produced exclusively in SA from 1986 came out marginally before the first M3 and was more powerful. See below from Wikipedia - I stand to be corrected on the power.
BMW South Africa's Motorsport division created the 333i in 1986 by fitting the 3210 ccm M30 "big six" ("M30B32" of the 733i E23/ 533i E12/ 533i E28/ 633CSi E24) engine to a 2-door E30. The resulting 333i was a major success in saloon car racing in that country and is now a collectors item. These cars, built with help from Alpina in Buchloe, Bavaria, Germany, featured some interesting compromises like forcing the buyer to choose between air conditioning (vital in South Africa) or power steering (because of lack of space due to the large M30 engine). They were only built in small numbers in 1986. BMW South Africa provided the following specifications for the 333i: Powerplant - M30B32 6 Cylinder 3210 cc 145 kW (197 PS; 194 hp) at 5500 rpm. 285 N·m (210 lb·ft) torque at 4300 rpm. The cars were fitted with a 5 speed manual gearbox and limited slip differential. Braking was enhanced by 296 mm (11.7 in) Alpina dual ventilated grooved front disc brakes. ABS was optional. The cars were fitted with J7x16 Alpina wheels and Pirelli P7 (195x50VR16)tyres. BMW provided performance figures were impressive, with a top speed of 228 km/h (142 mph). 0–100 km/h in 7.4 seconds, and a standing kilometer in 27.7 seconds at sea level. Approximately 210 of these cars were produced. The 333i was an all round "Pocket Rocket."