BMW and pickup trucks are two concepts that you will rarely find in the same context, let alone the same sentence. The Bavarians never really looked into such an idea on a commercial level. After all, BMW is all about style and performance — two attributes that have only recently appeared in the pickup truck world.
Yet, BMW did make a pickup at one time. Only this cryptic BMW pickup never made it out to the public. Instead, the company has used it for its own internal purposes. This is the story of the BMW E30 M3 pickup and how one of the best performance-sedans of its time was adapted to fit a more utilitarian role.
The 1986 E30 M3 BMW Pickup
Prototyping is an important, albeit rarely appreciated part of the automotive industry. You have to throw new concepts at the wall at a steady pace, otherwise, the other guy will take your cut of the pie. It’s a simple idea and one that sometimes produces rather strange results. When BMW introduced the E30 M3 back in the day, it was a pretty revolutionary concept — a compact European sedan with a sporty note and a fun factor that was off the charts.
Sure, we didn’t appreciate it back then. When the E30 M3 appeared in the States, it was a novel concept that came with a massive price tag. The reluctance of an average US consumer was understandable, if not expected. BMW took that to heart, deciding to punish us with the S52 in the E36 M3. But that’s a story for another time.
For all of its shortcomings in the states, the E30 M3 was a proper success overseas. It achieved its mission of dominating a very niche market populated with the likes of Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.3- Cosworth. E30 M3 owners were happy, BMW shareholders even more so.
Engineers over at BMW Motorsports could pat each other on the back and take a breather. It was during this success-induced high that someone, somewhere inside the Motorsports division got the idea of building an M3-based parts hauler they would use to cart material from one part of the Motorsports division Garching complex to another.
From a BMW Convertible to a BMW Pickup
Anyone who has ever seen a BMW E30 knows that it’s a fairly small car, even by European standards. You can fit a duffle bag or two in the boot, but there is no way on earth you can load a transmission crate in the back, as small these were in those days.
Fortunately for the engineers at BMW Motorsports, the coupe and the sedan were not the only body styles they had at their disposal. The convertible has proven to be an ideal platform for such an unusual project.
For one, they didn’t have to hack the car to pieces. But more importantly, the lack of a solid roof with its B and C pillars meant that BMW had to reinforce the chassis with a number of braces. That way they could give the convertible nearly the same driving characteristics as seen on the sedan and coupe.
It just so happens that these reinforcements were a perfect match for what BMW engineers had in mind with the BMW E30 pickup project. All the team had to do was remove the rear seats, trim, and other interior pieces to make room for the truck bed.
Pure Utility
The idea of a BMW E30 pickup takes a bit to compute for most people. However, that’s not really the most shocking thing about this car. For some, the crude nature of this build was far more surprising.
One quick glance at this pickup reveals a district lack of that typical BMW refinement. However, that only makes sense considering that it was a one-off type of car that was never meant to see the light of day.
The “truck bed” is lined with that classic checkered aluminum sheeting, which is arguably molded quite nicely to cover all the vital areas. They’ve welded a crude but functional tube barrier between the bed and the passenger cabin, giving the M30 E30 pickup that classic utilitarian feel.
Overall, everything is wrapped up in a way that screams function over form. The fact that this pickup was in service up until 2012 is a testament to its actual utility, but also BMW Motorsports’ ability to make a one-off product that is every bit as reliable as the car that inspired it.
Legacy and Future
As much as BMW tried to keep the E30 M3 pickup on the down low, it was only a matter of time before the information about this unique car got out. Over the years, the white M3 pickup became sort of a legend among Bimmer enthusiasts all over the world. So much so that BMW revamped the concept as an Aprils fool joke back in 2011.
This time around, they’ve built a car based on the BMW E90 M3, or to be more specific, on the E92 convertible. Despite any and all similarities with the original, the new car was done with much more finesse. Unlike the E30 M3 pickup, the E92 was never meant to be used in any actual role. Because of that, it wasn’t the best BMW pickup out there. It was just a tribute.
Both of these cars represent an awesome piece of BMW history that will likely have the same shocking effect on people long after this article gets published. Interestingly enough, BMW still hasn’t got the cue that maybe, just maybe they should consider developing an actual BMW pickup.
