This is the story of the middle two generations of the 3-series: the E36 and E46 generations. By the start of the 1990s, the sports sedan was an established car type, just like the muscle car, minivan or SUV. This is thanks to BMW which created the class with its first two generations of the 3-series. Every other car company had to have one, especially makers of upscale automobiles. Therefore, BMW had its hands full when it came time to create the third rendition of this class-creating car. So the company went out and boldly designed and built a completely new car, the E36, as the third generation of 3-series is called. The car reached a note of perfection in looks, handling and choices. This was despite the huge corporate problems BMW was having at the time. The fourth generation of the 3-series, the E46 was much more of a subtle change from the E36. This bit with BMW's philosophy of only making radical changes to its cars every other generation. Although not much different looking on the outside, the newer generation 3-series now had even more features and options for the sports sedan buyer.