A luxury book on BMW’s half-century in South Africa sheds light on the cars we love
You know a car manufacturer has won South Africans’ hearts when ’kasi slang gets attached to its models, and for us, it’s the BMW 3-series.
The fourth-generation 3-series (E46) is generically known as the G-string because it’s a panty-dropper. (Which we admit is sexist but we didn’t coin the term), but you know the cars are loved when the slang distinguishes between models.
For instance, the previous second-generation E30 325i was known as the Botsotso after legendary Pirates left-footer Ernest Botsotso Makhanya, but the E30 325iS (for Sport) was called the Gusheshe. This was because this sexy coupe which first appeared in car dealerships in 1990 had such a quick take-off it left the robot-jumping taxis at a standstill. However, some pundits say Gusheshe was a bastardisation of its original nickname, Gush-Gush, for the skin-tingling sound the engine made when hitting the revs.
There was good reason for that. The 325iS was unofficially the South African version of the German M3. The only reason it was not, was because it was not possible to move the exhaust manifold on the S14 M3 engine to accommodate the steering column on a right-hand drive vehicle.
The reason BMW South Africa (the first factory to produce BMWs outside of Germany) wanted the M3 was so they could win on the Group N race track. Group N was where standard cars were raced – the kind you could buy at the dealer on Monday after watching the same model win the race on Saturday – and they wanted to beat the Kadett SuperBoss which was taking all the trophies.
But with their plans to put the S14 M3 engine in a 3-series coupé scuttled, the local engineers got to work on gearbox ratios, limited slip diffs, and enlarging the engine from 2.5 to 2.7 litres plus other fine tunings. It also got the M3’s suspension and brakes and went on sale as the 325iS for the first time in 1990. It was exclusively South African and a beauty. It is now a collector’s classic that commands prices north of a mill, but back then it was still being beaten on the track by the Kadett. So, further development, resulting in the 325iS Evolution (EVO 2) which had better aerodynamics, increased compression ratio and new pistons resulting in power increasing from 145kW to 155kW at just under 6,000 revs.
It beat the Boss. Robbi Smith won the Class A in the Group N champs in his 325iS in ’93. The rest is history and there’s good reason the 325i and 325iS– along with the 3 series generally – are beloved in the spinning scene.
But this is just one of the many fascinating tales in a high-end new coffee table book on BMW in South Africa. At 623 high gloss pages filled with incredible photographs, the book, BMW – The Unique South African Story, gives a spellbinding and painstakingly researched history of 50 years of BMW here in Mzanzi. From how the BMW plant in Rosslyn, Pretoria came into being in 1973, through the development of iconic models, the big press launches, interviews with the directors over the years, the racetrack highs and lows, the whole shaboodle. There’s even reproductions of those lavish print ads from the ’80s and ’90s that had us salivating when we saw them in the newspaper on a Sunday morning.
Produced by The Vantage Corporation and launched at the M Festival in Kyalami in 2024, there’s only 2,000 regular copies printed and not many left. They cost in the region of R3,500 but as is always the case with BMW, its more than worth it.
There’s also a limited edition in white Nappa leather with a unique BMW Group South Africa “50 Years an Icon” badge on the cover, surrounded by a copper foiled Ndebele motif and an inlaid silk ribbon border with the Ndebele pattern on it. There’s only 333 of them in honour of the classic triple-three, which is also a BMW model unique to South Africa and had so much engine under the hood you had to choose between air conditioning or power steering – there wasn’t space for both.
You can spoil yourself or get as a present for your much-loved BMW-lover at vantagefineautoart.co.za. Or maybe ask your local BMW dealership.