South Africa was one of the many countries around the world that didn’t get BMW’s original E30 M3. Customers there weren’t entirely left behind: BMW’s South African arm decided to create its own performance-oriented E30, dubbed the 333i.

In many ways, the 333i embodied the proverbial wolf in sheep’s clothing. The biggest aesthetic difference between it and a more mundane 323i was a set of aerodynamic body parts borrowed from BMW’s M division. These included a front lip spoiler, a deep air dam, side skirts, and a discrete trunk-mounted spoiler. The 333i also had dual exhaust tips, and a specific emblem that featured the M division’s trademark colors.

Customers ordering a new 333i could pick between four exterior colors: aero silver, henna red, ice white, and diamond black. Metallic paint was offered as a no-cost option.

The driver and the front passenger sat on bucket seats, while those relegated to the rear of the car had to make do with a typical E30 bench. The instrument cluster was an Alpina unit that featured a speedometer good for an optimistic 270 kilometers per hour (167 miles per hour). The dash also featured a futuristic digital display that took the spot of one of the air vents. It let the driver know vital information such as the engine oil temperature, the temperature of the oil in the limited slip differential, engine oil pressure, and manifold vacuum pressure.

While the M3 was powered by a four-cylinder engine, BMW SA opted for the company’s famed M30 straight-six that was also found in the E23 7-Series, among other models. The conversion wasn’t entirely new as it had already been done by Alpina in the B6. The M30 was a very tight fit in the E30’s engine bay, but it fit thanks to model-specific parts such as a more compact Alpina-spec intake manifold.

The big six-cylinder was rated at 194 horsepower and 210 lb-ft of torque. It was bolted to a Getrag close-ratio five-speed manual transmission with a racing shift pattern, meaning that reverse was located at the top left of the grid, 1st gear at the bottom left, and so on. Power was transferred to the asphalt via low-profile Pirelli P7 tires mounted on 16″ Alpina alloy wheels.

The 333i accelerated from zero to 62 miles per hour in just 7.4 seconds, which was a little slower than the M3’s 6.9 seconds. It went on to a top speed of 141 miles per hour.

BMW only offered the 333i as a two-door, and all of them were right-hand drive. Period road tests indicate that in 1986, the car retailed for 41,300 South African Rand. For that price, buyers got standard tinted windows, electric mirrors, and the right to pick between either power steering or air conditioning; it was impossible to fit both under the hood. The car’s only options were leather seats, ABS brakes, and an electric sunroof.

BMW built just 204 examples of the 333i in its Rosslyn, South Africa, plant. All of them were built in 1985 and 1986, though some weren’t sold until 1987.

A note about the photos: at Ran When Parked we have a policy to not use pictures that come from Google Images or Flickr and what not. We only use our own pictures, or period press material. 333i pictures are few and far between, BMW doesn’t have any in their online archives, and the ones we did manage to find were mostly low-resolution.