BMW M3 E36

The E36 turned the M3 from a homologation exercise into a series production car, launching as a coupe and later adding saloon and convertible bodies. The market split is the thing to know: European cars got the S50 straight-six while North American cars received the lower-output S50B30US and later the S52, and the arguments about which is a real M3 have never fully settled. It has long been the cheapest way into an M3, which made it a staple of club racing, track days and drift grids.