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1995 BMW M3

For the past few years, all we’ve heard about is how the E30 M3 market is going through the roof. When the E36 M3 debuted, the E30 was relegated to the history books fairly quickly; many became track cars and as values dropped on the street examples, they fell into disrepair or racked up lots of miles. Consequently, values on the clean examples are now pushing over $40,000. So, if you want an E30 M3, you now have to pay through the nose to get one. The bad news continues when you look at the E36 M3, which suffered the same fate as the E30 when the E46 debuted. There was a point when E36 M3 values were incredibly low considering what you were getting, but I think that day has passed, and once again we’re watching M3 values climb. As with the E30, it was a case of many being snapped up and turned into race cars or tuner cars and driven into the ground. You can still get a lot of E36 for your money even with prices climbing; but don’t delay too long as there are fewer and fewer nice original E36 M3s hitting the market. Today’s car is a rare unmolested example of an early hand-built Hellred M3:

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Year: 1995
Model: M3
Engine: 3.0 liter inline-6
Transmission: 5-speed manual
Mileage: 94,667 mi
Price: $17,991 Buy It Now

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1995 BMW M3 on eBay

1995 BMW 3 Series M3. The BMW E36 M3 arguably one of the best handling cars of all time! Shift Bespoke Automotive is proud to offer this 1995 BMW M3! Hellrot Red over Light Grey Nappa leather hides. BMW brought in 2953 hand-built BMW Motorsport M3 examples. These M3’s combined blistering performance with impeccable manners and oozed sex appeal while serving as an everyday driver. This Coupe is an absolutely amazing to drive. For your convenience we took over a 150 photos in natural sunlight. Please feel free to contact us at 949-891-Cars (2277) FOR QUESTIONS, SCHEDULE TEST DRIVES OR INSPECTIONS. Inspections are welcome and encouraged if you have any reservations. Keep in mind we ship cars worldwide – sight unseen! For your convenience we took over a 150 photos, these photo are taken in natural sunlight. We don’t have a mock studio or photoshop/edit any of our photos.

THE EXTERIOR, BODY AND TRIM
Stunning Hellrot Red paint looks in excellent shape. all of the trim appears in good shape. Rubber and molding are in good shape. As you can see in the pictures the body is clean and straight with minor rock chips. The Motorsport wheels looks excellent on this car, they do have some curb rash as you can see in the pictures, however this is easily repairable. As I state in all my listings, we don’t over recondition cars. I prefer to represent cars for the true condition of the car.

THE INTERIOR
The Light Grey Nappa leather hides are in excellent shape. The rears seats do have some fading and cracking as is evident in the photos. Again I prefer to represent cars for what they are – rather than over reconditioning. All of the knobs, switches work as they should. The radio functions as it should. Air blows cold.

THE ENGINE/SUSPENSION
This M3 is an absolute blast to drive! The M3 uses 3.0-liter 24-valve DOHC inline-six-cylinder engine. The sport suspension handles and tracks awesome. The engine pulls strong and the tranny shift perfectly! The suspension is true and exact and the car has excellent stopping power.

THE DRIVING EXPERIENCE
The driving experience is unbelievable! Everything about this car is setup right and begs to be driven.This quite possible is the last real Drivers BMW! The cars starts and performs flawlessly! The heel toe and clutch action is almost perfect and the car shifts effortlessly.Thru the turns and straights she perform exact and precise. I love driving this car!
We offer airport (SNA) pick-up if you’re flying in to pick-up this beautiful vehicle or we can help facilitate shipping directly to your front door.

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I was at Watkins Glen in late 1994 when BMW showed up with three Dakar Yellow E36 M3 coupes. With zero modifications, they were out on track passing tricked out E30 M3s. I was captivated and have been ever since. While red isn’t the rarest color on the E36 M3, it sure looks great on this example. The early Motorsports wheels are what I’d want on there, and it’s harder and harder to find them in nice shape. The leather looks pretty clean and the bolsters seem to be in good condition considering the mileage, and I love that it’s not black. This is listed as a three owner car, which would only concern me in regards to maintenance carried out; there is no mention of the service history on the car. I’d prefer a pre-purchase inspection on a car like this if possible. $18,000 is top dollar and probably high on a car like this, but it’s getting harder to find nice examples below $15,000.

There aren’t too many high performance German cars you can own without breaking the bank, but I’d argue that the E36 M3 might be one of the best. Stellar stock performance, understated good looks, plenty of parts availability, a solid core of enthusiast and manufacturer support and a dynamic driving experience make these cars a smart choice for anyone looking for a more mainstream collectable. Sure, most people won’t turn their heads to stare as you cruise by, but if you’re buying a car to impress other people, the E36 was never that car. What it is about, though, is a sublime driving experience. So forget the production numbers, forget that you could have had this same car for $5K less a year ago, and find the best one you can before they’re all snapped up.

-Carter

6 Comments

  1. Dan
    Dan August 10, 2013

    Nice spot, makes me miss mine!

    dc

  2. KevinR
    KevinR August 10, 2013

    As a friend continually tells me, you have to judge each car on its own merits. The only way I know of doing that is by putting your own hands on it, checking it out and deciding for yourself. My concerns below might be easily addressed by an in-person inspection.

    Red flag #1. While it is nice that the seller included so many pictures of the car, most of them can be dismissed because they are near duplicates of each other and/or they were taken from a distance of 25 feet or more from the car. The term “20 footer” comes to mind…

    Red flag #2. There is no mention of mechanical condition by the seller. While an E36 M3 is not as maintenance intensive as an E30 M3 or an E34 M5, they do still have needs. Plus the car is near the 100k mile mark and wear of original components could come into play.

    Pet peeves. When a seller is asking all of the money for the vehicle, as this one is, a prospective buyer should not be confronted with mis-matched tires and a heavily worn steering wheel.

    If I were anywhere near the seller I’d probably go take a look and decide for myself. As I am not, I can only thank Carter for showing us this car and reminding me of what great cars the E36 M3s are.

  3. Lewis
    Lewis August 10, 2013

    I can attest to the trend of increasing values of the E36 M3. I recently purchased a 99 M3 Cabrio with 18.7k miles on it. It had some foibles like disintegrating original Pilot Sports on it and some squeaky rear bushings. I took it to the BMW dealer in San Rafael, CA. to inspect the rear subframe and suspension points. A host of BMW master techs surrounded the car and smiled. One said, “THAT is our favorite car,” and two others wanted to know what I paid for it. It was under 20k, and a few said that it was a total deal, especially since all its original parts, radio, etc., were still on the car with no go-fast parts to mess up the original characteristics of the car. Now I keep my eye out for E36 models with low mileage. It is hard to find one that hasn’t been messed with.

  4. MDriver
    MDriver August 10, 2013

    1st year run E36 M3’s are my favorite….hence why I will not part with mine…yeah less torque…but I prefer the OBDI……
    @Kevin..I agree with you 100%…I have no issues at all with higher prices from dealers….as long as the dealer provides me with the important info…like service history…that they go through the car and fix the “silly” things like mis-matched tires, steering wheel etc. when I see a dealer do that, than I get the sky high price….
    Love the color combo on this….

  5. AlwaysFixing
    AlwaysFixing August 10, 2013

    This is one of my favorite cars, and I’ve seen prices going up the last few years. It my mind, it’s almost to the point one might as well get a CPO one-series.

    I see a couple of these in the parking lot at work, and they are pretty worn out. It’s a reminder that these are now old cars, and gems are going to be harder to find. The styling is finally feeling dated too.

  6. […] shown a few M3s over the past couple of months, including this Red 1995 that failed to sell at it’s original asking price. With two and a half times as many miles […]

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