1) It’s not an M3
M3s are great, right? But this isn’t one, really, and that makes it cooler still. Looks like AC Schnitzer only built a handful of these – 75, if the plaque on the centre console is to be believed – making the M3-based ACS3 CLS rarer than all but the most limited-edition normal M3s. You’ll certainly never see another one on the road, that’s for sure. It’s also a tuned BMW from the Nineties that isn’t an Alpina. Not that we have anything against Alpina, of course.
This one lives in Hong Kong, where it was imported from England by its last owner. Now it’s for sale for the equivalent of around £120,000 (RM650,000). Click these words to see the ad from Contempo Concept, and while you’re there look at the dealer’s other stock. You won’t regret it.
2) It looks tremendous
Subtle, isn’t it? We might be tempted to change the wheels for something a bit less…Nineties, but that aside it’s pretty timeless in a way Audis and Mercedes of the era just aren’t. Somehow less flash than an M3. Don’t know how they managed that, but they did.
It has three seats. Like a McLaren F1
The ACS3 CLS (CLS stands for ‘Coupe Lightweight Silhouette’) was all about saving weight, which is why the standard spec saw the M3’s rear bench removed and replaced with…nothing at all. But this one’s obviously a bit special, because instead of nothingness, it has a third centrally mounted race seat, complete with harness. Weird, but cool.
It’s light
Cars were lighter in the Nineties. The regular E36 M3, for example, weighed just 1,460kg. The ACS3 was lighter still thanks to body panels made from “Carbon-Kevlar” (sounds very high-tech, and no doubt was for the mid-Nineties) and a largely stripped-out interior. The result was a saving of around 160kg, making the ACS3 roughly the weight as a modern-day BMW 118i.
It's fast
The standard 3.0-litre E36 M3 had a little over 280bhp from its N/A six, but AC Schnitzer’s changes – which included sports-camshafts, a high performance-exhaust and different mapping – upped that to 320bhp at a committed 7,000rpm. Torque was pegged at 340Nm at 3,600rpm and 0-100kph took a claimed 5.5 seconds, while the top speed was said to be over 274kph. Naturally, because this is fundamentally an M3 power was sent rearwards through a manual transmission. Adjustable suspension and high-performance brakes complete the package.
The instrument cluster is from an actual Group A touring car
Racing displays tend to prioritise information you might not necessarily want or need to see in a road car, but that doesn’t change the fact it’s deeply cool. Along with those seats and that steering wheel (what does the mystery red button do?), it makes the car seem like a very serious thing indeed. Because race car.
It has proper racing pedigree
Schnitzer Motorsport dates back to the late Sixties, some 20 years before the advent of AC Schnitzer. Unsurprisingly, racing BMWs is the team’s speciality, though it has dabbled with other brands. Mainly it does touring cars, having competed in the European, German and World Touring Car Championships over the years.
