Touring Cars In The
'80s
BMW changed the 5 Series and the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile changed the motorsport regulations from 1981 to 1982. The result available for popular motor racing was the Group A BMW 528i.
To qualify for Group A, a manufacturer must build 5,000 standard-production touring cars within one year. The engine and chassis may then be modified within certain limits. In the very first year with the new rules, this car won Helmut
Kelleners and Umberto Grano the driver's title in the European Touring Car Championship.
And for the fourth time in 14 years, Dieter Quester won the European Touring Car Championship in 1983 at the wheel of a BMW 635 CSi coupe.
This fast and dynamic coupe raced by the Schnitzer Team on behalf of the factory up to 1986, clinched many racing wins and titles. In 1986, for example, Roberto Ravaglia brought home both the
European Touring Car Championship and the 24 Hours of Spa at the wheel of this car.
In 1987, FISA, the international motorsport authority, introduced a World Touring Car Championship for the first - and only - time. BMW participated with the new M3, a four-seater sports sedan with
a 2.3-liter, four-cylinder, four-valve engine.
In Group A guise, this car developed some 300 bhp and won the European Touring Car Championship, as well as seven national championships in its very first try. Roberto Ravaglia won the driver's
title in the same World Championship and became European Touring Car Champion at the wheel of the BMW M3 in 1988.
Clearly the most successful racing car in its first season, the M3 set the pace on the racetrack. Through its versatile concept, it became the car to beat in international rallies, enabling BMW to
score the company's first World Rally Championship win in the 1987 Tour de Corse.
See Also:
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| 528i |
1982
The Group A 528i was introduced in 1982 to meet the 1982 motorsport regulations. The engine developed 240 bhp out of 2788 cc and was a genuine success from the outset. Driving this car, Kelleners and Grano won the European Touring Car
title in 1982.
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| 635 CSi |
1981
The 3.5-liter power unit of this Group 2 635 CSi develops no less than 360 bhp. At the wheel of this car, Helmut Kelleners and Umberto Grano won the driver's category in the 1981 European Touring Car Championship. In 1986 Roberto
Ravaglia won the European Touring Car Championship in a Schnitzer Team Group A 635 coupe.
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| M3 |
1987
Launched in 1987, the 300-bhp M3 won eight international titles in its very first season. Acceleration to 62 mph in just five seconds and the top speed, depending on the transmission ratio, is about 174 mph.
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