BMW M Coupe

The BMW M Coupe is a Shooting-brake styled high-performance automobile produced by BMW from 1998 to 2002.

The car is based on the BMW M Roadster. The semi-trailing arm rear suspension was not modified from the M Roadster. The coupe is 2.7 times stiffer than its convertible counterpart, resulting in superior handling.

The M coupe was developed under the leadership of engineer Burkhard Göschel with the intention of adding increased torsional and structural rigidity to the Z3 roadster’s chassis. The development team had a hard time convincing the Board of Directors to approve the model for production, but it was eventually given the green light as long as it remained cost-effective to produce. To achieve this goal, as many body panels as possible had to be shared with the roadster, thus the doors and everything from the A-pillar forward are interchangeable between the coupe and roadster, as are most interior parts. The Z3 coupe, which mates the M coupe's body with the standard Z3 drivetrain, chassis and cosmetics was approved for production at the same time.

1998 - 2000

M Coupes built between 1998 and 2000 are fitted with two different engines, depending on the destination market. These engines are the same ones used in the 1996 to 1999 BMW M3.

The US models were fitted with the S52, a 240 hp (176 kW) and 320 Nm (236 ft·lbf) 3.2 litre inline 6 cylinder engine.

European models were fitted with the S50B32, a 321 hp (236 kW) and 350 Nm (260 ft·lbf) 3.2 litre inline 6 cylinder engine.

2001 - 2002

From October 2001, the M Coupe reappeared worldwide with the new 3.2 litre S54 engine from the E46 M3. This was the highest specific output naturally aspirated engine ever made by BMW when it was fitted to the E46 M3: in M Coupe form it produced 325 hp (242 kW) in European form and 315 hp (235 kW) in North American form. (242 kW) and 354 Nm (261 lbf.ft) of torque.

Despite the well-documented tendency of the 2001-2002 S54 to suffer connecting rod bearing failure in the E46 M3, the M Coupe was not included in the recall to correct the issue in E46 M3s. BMW assert that the recall is not necessary due to the fact that the S54 M Coupe is limited to 7,600 rpm, 400 rpm lower than the M3's limit. BMW added a 100,000-mile (160,000 km), 6 year warranty in North America to all S54 Coupes affected by, but not included in the bearing recall on the M3. Although some S54 M Coupes have reached in excess of 170,000 miles (270,000 km) on their original engines, bearing shell failures are possible on all S54 M Coupes.

Production figures

Due to the unique styling of the M Coupe, dealer sales were slow, and dealerships sidestepped the M Coupe to sell the more practical and more profitable M3 models to performance enthusiasts. The end result is the M Coupes are extremely desirable on the secondary market retaining more of their value than any other BMW since the E30 M3. 2001-2002 M Coupes maintain a premium selling for or higher than the original sticker price 7-8 years later. In fact, a simple search of resale M Coupes will yield little to no results. Obviously, models with lower mileage of 30k or less are extremely rare. The M Coupe is easily destined to become a collectors car due to the uniqueness of its styling.

European left hand drive S50 engine: 2,178 built from 04/98 through 06/2000
European right hand drive S50 engine: 821 built from 08/98 through 06/2000
North America S52 engine: 2,180 built from 07/98 through 06/2000
European left hand drive S54 engine: 281 built from 02/2001 through 05/2002
European right hand drive S54 engine: 168 built from 02/2001 through 05/2002
North America S54 engine: 690 built from 02/2001 through 05/2002

2006-2008 BMW M Coupe

2006 Z4 M Coupe

BMW released a limited production, new redesigned, M Coupe based on the Z4. The first cars were delivered right after the North American introduction on May 27, 2006. It has a 3.2 litre inline 6 cylinder engine (same as the M3) and produces a SAE rated 330 hp (250 kW). It shares many components with the Z4 and with the E46 M3. Other components come directly from the M3 CSL like the cross drilled 13.7" floating front rotors, even though it continues to use the same brake pads as the original Z3 M Coupes.