Chef’s Kiss - BMW 1M and M3

I shot a pair of BMWs up at Cypress Mountain one afternoon where apparently there was still snow. I’ve been meaning to photograph Chris’ BMW M3 for a few years now and since Brad recently picked up a BMW 1M, I figured why not try to get both cars together. I shot most of the photos with the Fujifilm X-T5 and Fujifilm 50-140mm f/2.8. Some shots were taken with the Fujifilm 27mm f/2.8 WR pancake lens. Both owners gave me a bit of information about their respective BMWs in their own words.

Chris: “I bought the M3 back in 2013. I was looking for an e46 at first, but with my budget I thought, why buy a mediocre e46 when I could buy an excellent e36. I’m happy I made that choice. The e36 was pretty unloved in North American form until recently as the e30 and e46 both had ITBs and were higher strung motors, but the e36 really solidified the M3s position as a car you could have fun in, every day, in every condition.

I’ve put about 80k on the car in the years I’ve owned it. It’s been on the track, on snowboard trips, taken my family on road trips, did a 5k drive down the pacific coast and made all of it pretty special. Only 127 were made in this colour combo in 1998, all of the parts on the car other than the coilovers and exhaust are OEM BMW Motorsport parts from the M3 GT or LTW.

This car is probably less exciting to most compared to my e30, but I would keep this one if I could only keep one 10 times out of 10. It’s a very good blend between modern and classic that it’s easy to work on, easy to drive, but still exciting enough to just want to go for a drive. The sweet spot IMO.”

I do plan to shoot Chris’ e30 M3 too one day. Yes he has one of those too…

Brad recently picked up his Valencia Orange BMW 1M before this photoshoot. He gave some insight on the 1M:

“I’m a long time german car enthusiast, particularly of the Bavarian variety. I love the combination of performance and refinement. I’ve been drawn to the 1M since it’s tease, and eventual release in 2011. Something about the proportions of the E82 (which remind me so much of the E36) and the skunkworks like nature of this project (which remind me so much of the Z3 Coupe). Eventually a vehicle shakeup presented the opportunity to put this into the garage. Just 220 examples of this car came to Canada for 1 year only. The time was right to snag one.

Initial impressions are great. The car is everything that I hoped it would be. Wonderful hydraulic steering, a linear power curve delivered by the tried and tested N54, and the stopping power of a small freight train. No NAV to distract, no bulky power seats to add mass, no sunroof to put additional weight in exactly the wrong place. BMW built this car for driving enthusiasts.

The debate continues – is the 1M a true M car? A small group of BMW engineers believed in this project, and put it together - at least initially in secret and on their on time. The results speak for themselves, a universally beloved drivers car.”