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If the R107 560SL was the expression of luxurious drop-top motoring in the late 1980s, the BMW 3-series convertible became a fixture of summer homes, sun-up top-down motoring along the coast, and adding a touch of sport to 4-seat open air drives thereafter. They’re intensely popular; I don’t live in the most convertible friendly area of the country by any means, but you can’t go much more than a few miles without seeing at least one convertible 3-series around me. They typically come in two flavors around here; look at me M3s and base model 325 or 328 models. But the E46 330 struck a balance between the two, offering a fair bit of sport without the bills associated with the M badge. Powered by the M54 to the tune of nearly 230 horsepower (even more in the ZHP package cars), the 330Ci was also a great looking car especially when equipped with the Sport Package. However, this particular example has some really specially selected options that make it one of the prettiest E46 convertibles I’ve seen in a while:
Rallycross has always struck me as an interesting balance between circuit racing and rally driving, and frankly it’s completely captivating. If Formula 1 is controlled aggression and World Rally is controlled chaos, rallycross is more aggressive chaos. In the 1980s it became very popular in Europe as the dumping ground for ex-Group B cars. If you want to be captivated and feel a bit sick at the same time, go watch some British rallycross from ~1987-1989. You’ll see Audi Sport Quattros, Lancia Deltas and Peugot 205 T16s, Ford RS200s and even an occasional turbocharged, all-wheel drive Porsche. In short, it’s sort of the ultimate in rally racing that never really was, with these cars going head to head at full chat. That’s what is captivating, but watch a few seconds more than the wild start and you’ll quickly feel sick because typically in the first corner one of these legends is completely balled up. By the end of the race, if you have one or two out of the original 6-7 cars fully functioning that is considered an accomplishment. But these aren’t 24 hour grueling tests of endurance – they’re three or four laps of a short grass, dirt and tarmac surface. That’s right – generally 50% plus attrition in 3 minutes.
It’s awesome. It’s like the Outback Steakhouse of racing – no rules, just right.
In these dark days, E30 M3s even well above 100k miles can crest $50k, a baffling amount of money. The craziest thing is that the E30 M3 isn’t even that rare. Nearly 17k were produced, some three times more than were required for homologation and three times more than the E28 M5. There are certainly rarities within the M3 family, from the Evolution I and II models to Cecotto, Ravaglia, and Europa Meister editions. And then there were these convertibles, of which about 800 were released over three editions from 1988 to 1991. This car comes from the final and most-produced batch, whose S14 now produced 215hp instead of 195hp. You’re going to need that extra power to move the incredible 400 extra pounds the convertible is saddled with. We talk about severe driving penalties associated with convertibles, but I have to imagine this is one of the most egregious examples. With just 21k miles covered and rare to spare, the seller is hoping for $130k to pass this M3 to the next climate-controlled secure location.
This beautiful Burgundy 528e is one of the nicer non-M E28s we’ve seen in a while. The red and brown tones come together to underscore what this model is all about. The eta-engined Bimmers of the late 80s were value judgments from the get-go – are you ok with going a little slower in exchange for torque and fuel mileage? If so, you’ll still get the handling and killer good looks of the E28 while being primed to crush long miles without heading to the gas station every few minutes like in my M5. There are some compromises to be made with this particular example as well, like accepting that the real mileage is unknown due to a replaced cluster and knowing there are a couple small spots of surface rust hiding in the Burgundy next to seams. The flip side is extremely conservative bidding on the no-reserve auction for this nice daily-driver quality E28.
I’ve talked a fair bit of trash about right-hand drive cars here, specifically some E30 325i Tourings. A lot of the E30 wagons we’ve seen imported now that their 25-year waiting period has ended have been base- or low-option Brits, bringing along the need to get comfortable hugging the fog line and rowing the gears with your left hand. This longroof has the rare factory M-Tech package as well as some show-stopping 17″ gold BBS rims to help you look like a gangster out of Run Lola Run. Inside, recovered M seats look outstanding, but the ubiquitous cracked dash strikes again, echoing a chipped front spoiler that looks fixable. Wrapped in Alpinweiss, the seller is pretty right as long as you can handle right hand drive – “this is the one you’ve been looking for!”
