{"id":294563,"date":"2016-10-30T08:00:45","date_gmt":"2016-10-30T08:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/?p=294563"},"modified":"2024-02-26T23:24:04","modified_gmt":"2024-02-26T23:24:04","slug":"bmw-333i-m3-wannabe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/bmw-333i-m3-wannabe\/","title":{"rendered":"BMW 333i"},"content":{"rendered":"

If ever there was a missing BMW in the ranks of the greats it would be this \u2013 the BMW 333i. I wouldn\u2019t be surprised if you\u2019ve never heard of it. It was only created for one market: South Africa. The reasons behind its creation are a mix between South Africa\u2019s hunger for fast cars and also not wanting to be left out of getting something special.<\/p>\n

As the E30 M3 was a homologation of the 3-Series for racing, it began its life in left-hand drive only and in very small number. Unfortunately, South Africa was not on the list for markets, being a right-hand drive country and \u2013 being very far away \u2013 it wasn\u2019t a priority. But BMW SA wouldn\u2019t have any of that and wanted to keep its market happy. So they teamed up with Alpina Germany and set to work to create their own version of the M3, the 333i.<\/p>\n

They looked at the available engines and settled on a much larger one than was previously considered for the 3-Series \u2013 the 3.2 litre inline 6 from the 733i at the time. Think about it, the engine from a 7-Series going into a 3-Series. That\u2019s like putting 6 litre V12 from our modern 760i into our current 3-Series. It was a bold move, but was certainly rewarded and gave the car that magical big-engine-small-car formula.<\/p>\n

\"333i-driving-shot-image\"BMW Blog<\/a><\/p>\n

The 333i started life as a standard E30 325i transplanted with a 3.2 liter inline 6 producing 145kW (194hp) at 5500rpm and maximum torque of 285Nm (210lb ft) at 4300rpm. Other modifications included Alpina ventilated disc brakes, a limited slip differential and a close-ratio 5-speed Getrag Sports dogleg gearbox. And while air conditioning was available, you had to choose between being cool or struggling with heavy steering, because the air-con unit and power steering couldn\u2019t both fit under the bonnet.<\/p>\n

Externally it ran on 16\u201d Alpina wheels shod with 195\/50\/R16 Pirellis and onto the body were added the sporting touches that were so suited to the 80\u2019s \u2013 front and rear spoilers, side skirts and a lip to finish off the rear. Don\u2019t you miss the days where adding on the side skirts were so easy? Down the side of the car the M stripes were also laid out for everyone to see and jealously admire.<\/p>\n

The interior didn\u2019t leave owners wanting either. Alpina provided the instrument cluster with red needles usually reserved for BMW M cars. Leather covered everything, including the Sport seats, steering wheels and gear lever \u2013 which was also allocated the M stripes for good measure.<\/p>\n

Compared to the first iteration of the E30 M3<\/a>, the 333i was a bit of a bomber. Sure, it was heavier at 1256kg compared to the M3\u2019s 1200kg, but it made up for it in power. The M3 had 143kW (190bhp) to start its life with, and while it doesn\u2019t seem a big difference, the torque that the 3.2 liter had allowed the 333i to feel more muscular. It wasn\u2019t until the further models of M3 \u2013 namely the Evolution<\/a> iterations \u2013 that the 333i started to not look quite as rapid. But by this time its name was set and reputation solidified.<\/p>\n

With a production number of a mere 201 cars, the 333i had the makings of a classic from the outset and didn\u2019t disappoint.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If ever there was a missing BMW in the ranks of the greats it would be this \u2013 the BMW 333i. I wouldn\u2019t be surprised if you\u2019ve never heard of it. It was only created for one market: South Africa. The reasons behind its creation are a mix between South Africa\u2019s hunger for fast cars and also not wanting to be left out of getting something special. As the E30 M3 was a homologation of the 3-Series for racing, it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":294618,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2188,226,9348,17105],"tags":[2272,6834,228,1325,1534,6444,6879,19701,13061,17106],"class_list":["post-294563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-1980s","category-bmw","category-guides","category-model-guides-production-cars","tag-1980s","tag-1980s-cars","tag-bmw","tag-bmw-3-series","tag-bmw-m3","tag-bmw-model-in-depth","tag-bmw-non-m-car-in-depth","tag-bmw-model-guides-production-cars","tag-car-profiles","tag-model-guides-production-cars"],"yoast_head":"\nBMW 333i<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/bmw-333i-m3-wannabe\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BMW 333i\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If ever there was a missing BMW in the ranks of the greats it would be this \u2013 the BMW 333i. I wouldn\u2019t be surprised if you\u2019ve never heard of it. It was only created for one market: South Africa. The reasons behind its creation are a mix between South Africa\u2019s hunger for fast cars and also not wanting to be left out of getting something special. As the E30 M3 was a homologation of the 3-Series for racing, it […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/bmw-333i-m3-wannabe\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Supercars.net\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Supercars.net\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Supercars.net\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-10-30T08:00:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-02-26T23:24:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/1986-BMW-333i.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Editorial Team\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/supercars_net\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@supercars_net\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Editorial Team\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/bmw-333i-m3-wannabe\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/bmw-333i-m3-wannabe\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Editorial Team\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/08906293a84eafb03312b711c1507c7e\"},\"headline\":\"BMW 333i\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-10-30T08:00:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-02-26T23:24:04+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/bmw-333i-m3-wannabe\/\"},\"wordCount\":556,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/bmw-333i-m3-wannabe\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/1986-BMW-333i.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"1980s All\",\"1980s Cars\",\"BMW\",\"BMW 3-Series\",\"BMW M3\",\"BMW Model Guides (All)\",\"BMW Model Guides (Non M Cars)\",\"BMW Model Guides (Production Cars)\",\"Model Guides (All)\",\"Model Guides (Production Cars)\"],\"articleSection\":[\"1980s Cars\",\"BMW\",\"Model Guides (All)\",\"Model Guides (Production Cars)\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/bmw-333i-m3-wannabe\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/bmw-333i-m3-wannabe\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/bmw-333i-m3-wannabe\/\",\"name\":\"BMW 333i\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/bmw-333i-m3-wannabe\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/bmw-333i-m3-wannabe\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/1986-BMW-333i.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-10-30T08:00:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-02-26T23:24:04+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/08906293a84eafb03312b711c1507c7e\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/bmw-333i-m3-wannabe\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/bmw-333i-m3-wannabe\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/bmw-333i-m3-wannabe\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/1986-BMW-333i.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/1986-BMW-333i.jpg\",\"width\":750,\"height\":500},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/bmw-333i-m3-wannabe\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"BMW 333i\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Supercars.net\",\"description\":\"Exotic and Supercar news, information, pictures and videos\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/08906293a84eafb03312b711c1507c7e\",\"name\":\"Editorial Team\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/196-293x293.jpg\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/196-293x293.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/196-293x293.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Editorial Team\"},\"description\":\"Regular people by day, car obsessed nutcases by night. We are like kids in a candy store, except the candy is made of metal, goes vroom-vroom, and occasionally bankrupts us faster than a sugar rush at a candy store sale! We spend hours debating the merits of turbochargers versus superchargers, and our weekends are a never-ending quest for the perfect polish and wax combo. We can identify every make and model by the sound of a revving engine, and our idea of a romantic evening is a candlelit dinner with our cars in the garage.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.supercars.net\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Supercars.net\/\",\"https:\/\/instagram.com\/super.cars.fans\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/supercars_net\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/author\/supercars\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"BMW 333i","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/bmw-333i-m3-wannabe\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"BMW 333i","og_description":"If ever there was a missing BMW in the ranks of the greats it would be this \u2013 the BMW 333i. I wouldn\u2019t be surprised if you\u2019ve never heard of it. It was only created for one market: South Africa. The reasons behind its creation are a mix between South Africa\u2019s hunger for fast cars and also not wanting to be left out of getting something special. As the E30 M3 was a homologation of the 3-Series for racing, it […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/bmw-333i-m3-wannabe\/","og_site_name":"Supercars.net","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Supercars.net\/","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Supercars.net\/","article_published_time":"2016-10-30T08:00:45+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-02-26T23:24:04+00:00","og_image":[{"width":750,"height":500,"url":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/1986-BMW-333i.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Editorial Team","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/supercars_net","twitter_site":"@supercars_net","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Editorial Team","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/bmw-333i-m3-wannabe\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/bmw-333i-m3-wannabe\/"},"author":{"name":"Editorial Team","@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/08906293a84eafb03312b711c1507c7e"},"headline":"BMW 333i","datePublished":"2016-10-30T08:00:45+00:00","dateModified":"2024-02-26T23:24:04+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/bmw-333i-m3-wannabe\/"},"wordCount":556,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/bmw-333i-m3-wannabe\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/1986-BMW-333i.jpg","keywords":["1980s All","1980s Cars","BMW","BMW 3-Series","BMW M3","BMW Model Guides (All)","BMW Model Guides (Non M Cars)","BMW Model Guides (Production Cars)","Model Guides (All)","Model Guides (Production Cars)"],"articleSection":["1980s Cars","BMW","Model Guides (All)","Model Guides (Production Cars)"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/bmw-333i-m3-wannabe\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/bmw-333i-m3-wannabe\/","url":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/bmw-333i-m3-wannabe\/","name":"BMW 333i","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/bmw-333i-m3-wannabe\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/bmw-333i-m3-wannabe\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/1986-BMW-333i.jpg","datePublished":"2016-10-30T08:00:45+00:00","dateModified":"2024-02-26T23:24:04+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/08906293a84eafb03312b711c1507c7e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/bmw-333i-m3-wannabe\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/bmw-333i-m3-wannabe\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/bmw-333i-m3-wannabe\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/1986-BMW-333i.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/1986-BMW-333i.jpg","width":750,"height":500},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/bmw-333i-m3-wannabe\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"BMW 333i"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/","name":"Supercars.net","description":"Exotic and Supercar news, information, pictures and videos","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/08906293a84eafb03312b711c1507c7e","name":"Editorial Team","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/196-293x293.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/196-293x293.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/196-293x293.jpg","caption":"Editorial Team"},"description":"Regular people by day, car obsessed nutcases by night. We are like kids in a candy store, except the candy is made of metal, goes vroom-vroom, and occasionally bankrupts us faster than a sugar rush at a candy store sale! We spend hours debating the merits of turbochargers versus superchargers, and our weekends are a never-ending quest for the perfect polish and wax combo. We can identify every make and model by the sound of a revving engine, and our idea of a romantic evening is a candlelit dinner with our cars in the garage.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.supercars.net","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Supercars.net\/","https:\/\/instagram.com\/super.cars.fans","https:\/\/x.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/supercars_net"],"url":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/author\/supercars\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=294563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294563\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/294618"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=294563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=294563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=294563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}