What was your first ever encounter with a ///M3. What made you get one?

[Mr. ///M3 RD]

Let me start ...

When I got my first ever Bimmer in 1987 there was an ///M5 in the showroom, at the time I could not afford it so I got a 535is instead. Then as the years passed I saw ///M3s' many a times and started dreaming about it.

In 2004 I was on a long term project in Vancouver, BC. Canada and had breakfast early every morning near one of Vancouver's BMW dealerships. I still smoked at the time and since I could not smoke in the restaurant nor in my rental car naturally I wandered over to the BMW dealership to admire the cars to have my morning smoke.

One day out of the blue not one but two 2002 e46 ///M3s' were on the lot both silver and black leather with SMG Transmission like two identical twins just smiling at me, (you know what I mean). Naturally sleepless nights followed dreaming about them. Every morning after breakfast I would get my trill admiring those two cars. After 2 weeks of this I broke and pulled the trigger and got a slightly used e46 with 32,000 KM on the odometer. No more sleepless nights in Vancouver. I returned the rental and the rest is history.

Now in my 4th ///M3 and I'm finally happy.

What's your ///M3 story or shall we call it our love affair

[S65V8]

Great question and surprised this one might not have been asked this way yet on the forum.

My first encounter with a BMW was when I was 7 years old, it was a standard 325i and it was driven ragged with me as a passenger many a times. That was the first recollection I have of understanding what a BMW could do. I then rode many a 7 series, 5 series bimmers that came across the family garage and thought these cars were so well built, comfortable, and sporty. The first time I was impressed by a M3 was in college, when a friend had bought a estoril blue E36 M3 with gray interior- I thought this car was a rocketship @ 240hp. While that was a great experience, what really sold me on getting a M3 one day was when I drove the first E46 M3, Carbon Black on Cinnamon w/ Sequential Shifter. This car with 333hp and 300tq was very impressive to drive, it was the most engaging car I've ever driven up to that point. From then on, I was working towards getting one...time passed, other priorities took it place, but finally when I felt the moment was right I scored a E92 M3 and couldn't be any happier! I'm certainly a M3 driver for life (I hope), and will always plan to have at least one in my garage.

[LarThaL]

Cant say I ever really had any type of "encounter". I have been a car enthusiast ever since I was a kid. Even at the age of 3, all I wanted was toy cars. I found out about the M3 through car magazines. I followed the car. For a long time, I simply couldn't afford it. When I could, I needed a car with better winter capability so I owned Audis for quite some time. I finally got to the point where I could buy the M3 as a complete self-indulgent toy and so I did. Over the years it has become legendary and the benchmark for the class. I just had to own one.

[quiksi]

first encounter I can think of was when I first started driving at 16, and saw a beautiful silver E36 M3 Coupe... love at first sight! still hope to own one someday

[bimdo]

i've also been into cars since i was a little kid,and always read in the car mags about how well bmw's handle.i went into a bmw showroom in '96 with a vague idea an m3 was a good thing,although it would have been a stretch financially.the salesman was so rude,i ended up getting an integra, he wouldn't let me drive an m3 unless i basically promised i would buy it.i said how do i know if i want it if you won't let me drive it?i finally sold the integra in april and got my m3,and am very glad i did.

[Tim B.]

Graduated college in December '94, at 23, started car shopping about 8 months later.....prelude, accord, maxima, rx-7, 240sx, last thing i looked at was a 325is, test drove it and was hooked....bought it. About 2 yrs later, a friend got a '95 M3 and took me for a ride......i lusted after one after that. So i got my 2002 imola E46 M3 in november 2001... Exactly 8 yrs later got my E92 M3......hope to get the new one in about 3-4 yrs if all goes well........would love to be able to keep this one too

[jerseygirl]

waiting for my 335 and i saw a black m3 sedan. that was it

[Denk]

Cruising the autobahn's in '89-'91 I'd occasionally come across an e30 M3. I loved the boxy aggressive look and snarly noise it made. Of course I was always getting passed (I had a 1.8 ltr, 102hp VW GTI back then). That's where it started for me...along with a fondness for the 911.

[Crypty]

I got a Nissan Altima as my first car and my brother opted for an e36 M3.My first ride in that car was the moment I decided I needed one. I did not expect that in a few years I would be able to afford an e92 though. Very happy indeed.

[///Machine]

Every time I see an M3 is like my first encounter. This car moves me. All versions and colors gain my respect.

Now for real, it was back in the 80's. I grew up in Brazil. There was this car magazine that published a photo of an M3 and an M5 side by side. I was sold!! That's the car for me. I immediately thought M3 for me and M5 for my dad....

Now I am a dad, but still am hooked on the M3 (no M5 for me).

I owned an E93 and am waiting for my E92 to be delivered 3/22 via PCD.

[CBS]

First encounter with BMW was when I was 16 and my older Sister came home from College with a 2002 round tail light that was set up for the track. Awesome! Convinced right then that I wanted a BMW.

First encounter with an M3 was when I was out of College and needed a car. I feel in love with the E30 M3 but bought an E30 325e because I couldn't afford an M3 but I swore I would have an E30 M3 some day (still waiting).

Many family sedans later in 2008 I finally bought my first M3 (E90 because I was still driving our 4 teenagers everywhere).
It was awesome! True dual purpose vehicle. Drove the Kids to school, was able to fold the seats down for trips to Home Depot and then run at the Track at the weekend.

Wife says I'm obsessed. Teenagers have graduated from BMW Teen School and all want M3's of their own someday (nope, their going to have to earn it themselves with a down-payment from me).

Anxiously waiting for the M4.

[DBH]

Had my Mustang 5.0L stolen. The rental place (Altima) was next to the local BMW store. Went for a test drive in a '93 325is. WOW this thing actually went around corners! Five speed manual and 189 hp. When the M3 arrived in 1995, I had to have one. Hey, it went around corners AND had 240hp!! Alpine white and black leather Darth Vader seats. This car actually got to 60 mph in ~6 seconds, better than my old Mustang. Next was the '05 E46 M3, and now the '11 E92 M3. I guess you could say I'm hooked on M3's.

[W///]

I had a chance to sit in one of the E46 M3 press cars BMW had when I interned with them (there was an Imola Red, Laguna Seca Blue, and Phoenix Yellow, all sitting right in front of me). That's when I was hooked. Even got to drive the CSL in the parking lot!

My real love was the E92 M3. I absolutely loved the idea of a V8 that revs so high in an M3 (because I still absolutely love the E39 M5, so the E92 was the best of both worlds). I'll never forget that day. It was a Friday morning (9AM to be exact) in 2007, when the M3 was going to be unvailed live. I skipped class to watch it. And I'm sure some of you'll remember, as the M3 was driving on stage, the driver gave it a rev.

That's when I knew I was going to own an E92 M3. 5 years later, I go to the garage and pinch myself just to make sure I'm not dreaming. That Sparkling Graphite M3 is mine. The goal of owning my dream car, has been achieved.

[CanAutM3]

My first encounter was in the early '90s when I was doing time attack. This doctor (physician) rolled in the pits one morning with his brand new red E30 M3 . It was gorgeous, stuff of legends. I was however a bit disappointed as I kept posting significantly faster track time than he did with my modded VW GTI (being fresh out of school, a used GTI was the best I could afford).

A couple of years later, in 1994, my uncle who worked at BMW Canada, came to my dad's place with a brand new yellow E36 M3 (european edition) with the 3.0L 286hp engine. That is when I fell in love . When he pulled up to get in the driveway, there was a little step up on the curb that he needed to cross. The rear wheel stopped against the step. He revved the engine , the rear wheels spun briefly before hopping onto the little curb . The sound of the high revving engine and the spinning tires got me hooked. As usual, my uncle tossed me the keys and told me to take it for a spin. After a half hour drive, this is when I swore to myself that I would someday own an M3. The combination of handling and sweet engine won me over (we were lucky enough to get a few European edition in Canada in '94).

I worked hard and 7 years later got my E46 ///M .

[glockperfect]

When Car & Driver did their first review of the e92 m3, I read it about 20 times, and began scheming about how I could get my hands on one.

[Wendall]

I fell in love with the original E30 M3 when I was 16 yrs old. Of Course I could never afford one back then. Then I watched as all the newer generation M3's rolled out. I still think the E30 M3 is one of the sexiest cars out there along with the original NSX. If I have one more garage space I would get one of those cars. Eventually I test drove the E92 M3 in 2008 and was amazed by the power and sound....shortly after I bought it.

However, After owning the Porsche Cayman S, I have to say I have become a Pcar fan. I still have love for the M's but im not happy with the future outlook of the cars. They are getting too big and heavy. My next car is a Porsche GT3.

[daviomaron]

Over the years it has become legendary and the benchmark for the class. I just had to own one.

[phrozen06]

When I was 16 I first saw the E30 M3 in German DTM Series on ESPN back in the late 80's. YES ESPN had the DTM, Forumula 1, and IMSA SportsCar Racing back in the day.

Roberto Rivalglia was a top DTM driver back then. I then rode my bike to the local BMW and saw a red E30 in person and I was HOOKED.

I had an 82 320i, 92 325i, 01 330ci, and this Year I finally got an e92 ///M3 and I'm not looking back. The V8 is senseless and a beast.

[Talk2meg00se]

When my dad let me first drive his E36 in 1997. After a couple of minutes, I knew that I was hooked.

It has been a family-wide addiction since - as a group, there are 3 M cars between us (currently).

[CBS]

Originally Posted by glockperfect

When Car & Driver did their first review of the e92 m3, I read it about 20 times, and began scheming about how I could get my hands on one.

+1 - Me too! I still have that issue!

[Longboarder]

I raced a couple supercharged e92 M3s in my barely-modded 335 and they couldn't beat me so for some reason I decided to get one.

[MKE_M3]

I first got into BMW's in the late 90's, after C&D gave the M3 the "best handling car in the world, at any price" award. My first M3 was a '98 sedan, which a friend of mine still owns and has modified very tastefully. I've owned maybe 12 cars in my 17 years of driving and only my M3's seemed "just right."