Driving the world’s greatest BMW M cars: TRACK TEST

Steve Sutcliffe takes to the track in eleven of the best BMW M cars in history. Read more at Auto Express: New 2022 BMW G80 M3 Competition review: BMW F10 M5 review: BMW E92 M3 GTS review: BMW E46 M3 CSL review: Top 10 best M cars ever: SUBSCRIBE for more new car reviews and Steve Sutcliffe track tests: BMW’s M division might well be 50 years old this month, but to begin with it made only racing cars – hence the M (for motorsport) in the name – its first-ever creation being the outrageous CSL ‘Batmobile’ from 1972. At the start, the M Division employed a mere 35 people. In 1978, however, everything changed. In the same year that Britain birthed its first test-tube baby, BMW Motorsport GmbH – as it was known back then – also produced its first- ever road car, the M1. Since then, it has never looked back. Five decades on, the M Division has built more than half-a-million cars, at the same time underwriting BMW’s reputation as a creator of some of the world’s finest driver’s machines. It’s a reputation that many manufacturers have tried, and largely failed, to emulate. So for a magical couple of days in May, nearly 50 years to the hour after M was born, we brought together a rare and varied collection of the best cars made by the now-mighty division during the past half century. Steve Sutcliffe took to the track in each, to review some of Bavaria’s finest creations to date. Chapters 00:00 The M division 1:02 M1 2:40 M635CSi 4:39 E30 M3 6:35 Z3 M Coupe 8:27 Progress? 9:01 E39 M5 10:56 E46 M3 CSL 13:04 E60 M5 15:18 1M Coupe 17:18 The ones that got away... 17:53 E92 M3 GTS 21:21 F10 M5 “30 Jahre“ 24:15 G80 M3 28:20 The future of BMW M More Auto Express videos: Car reviews playlist: Track battle playlist: Car news playlist: Follow us Twitter: Facebook: Instagram: