It was the sucessor of the BMW E21 in 1982 and was replaced by the BMW E36 in 1992.
The BMW M3 utilised a widened and heavily redesigned and restyled variation of the 2 door body style.
The cars were powered by a range of inline 4 cylinder (BMW M10, BMW M40, and BMW M42) and inline 6 cylinder (BMW M20 and BMWM21) engines, with both petrol and diesel power.
It is successor to the 2002, originally retaining much of the 2002's chassis styling while adding a more powerful 2.0 L 110 hp (82 kW) engine and other performance enhancements.
The 3 Series was for some time the smallest of cars manufactured by BMW, although that place has recently been taken by the BMW 1 Series.
By the early 21st century, the E46 3 Series, designed by American Chris Bangle, was the best-selling car of its size in the world, as commonplace in Asia and America as in Europe, while maintaining its prestige image.