Press "Enter" to skip to content
Warning!
We have 15 years of archives. Links older than a year may have been updated to point to similar cars available to bid on eBay.

Category: BMW

This site contains Ebay partner affiliate links, which may earn us a commission at no additional cost to you.

2016 BMW M4 Coupe Individual

When the F8x BMW M3 and M4 launched, they were loud, proud, and…well, large. Park an M4 next to an original M3, and you can nearly hide the entire older model behind the silhouette of the new one. But when the G80 was launched recently, well…suddenly meet the new boss had me looking at the old boss in a new light. And the S55 is still good for 425 horsepower – and it’ll still rip your face off. 0-60 is gone in 4 seconds and it’ll demolish the older generations in a straight line. Early models have also gotten pretty affordable; look around, and you can find a nice M4 coupe in the 20s now! Today’s car is nowhere near that low, though, given its special color – BMW Individual Laguna Seca Blue:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2016 BMW M4 Coupe Individual on eBay

3 Comments

1980 BMW M1

Okay, I missed St. Patrick’s day, but we’re close enough. What we have here is a 1980 BMW M1. I won’t bore you again with its history since I recently dove into that in a look at a very impressive dark blue one:

1979 BMW M1

But if dark blue is fairly rare, today’s car is even moreso. That’s because it was repainted Irish Green. Sacrilegious though it may be, the result is pretty undeniably awesome:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1980 BMW M1 at Bousten Classic Cars

5 Comments

2022 BMW M240i xDrive

When the 1 Series launched in 2007, there were mixed reviews – primarily about the looks. However, it was undeniable that the 3 Series had gotten large and expensive, and the 1 was “just right” for those wishing for a compact driver’s car. There was even the spunky 1M, which since has become a collector. As BMW does with pretty much every generation, the follow-up 2 Series was bigger and more powerful. The M235i and later M240i offered performance close to that of the 1M and were cheaper, and the M2, M2 Comp, and M2 CS rose to new levels of performance. It was bigger and the styling was more traditional than the outgoing E8x, as well.

Well, the F2x chassis is dead, and in its place we now have the G42. The new chassis is built in Mexico and has…well, polarizing styling. It’s also huge. And, powerful. And….all-wheel drive, if you’d like. Top of the range is this car, the M240i xDrive. In terms of performance, the M240i is able to hang with the outgoing M2 Competition. How is that possible? Well, the B58 turbo six is up in power to 382 now, an increase of nearly 50 horsepower over the last model, and in xDrive models it’s hooked to an eight-speed ZF gearbox. That means 0-60 in 3.6 seconds and a 12.1-second quarter mile. In a straight line it’ll outrun an M2 Comp all day long despite it’s nearly 4,000-lb curb weight. That’s what all-wheel drive does for you, folks. It’s also, amazingly, cheaper than the M2 Comp was by some measure – a nicely loaded example will set you back around $60,000, which is where the M2 Competition started.

Today’s car is claimed to have been a press demonstrator for BMW, and – presuming you like the new look – it’s pretty eye-catching in Melbourne Red Metallic over Tacora Red Vernasca leather along with the optional M Performance forged-alloy wheels:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2022 BMW M240i xDrive on eBay

1 Comment

2011 BMW 335is Convertible

Back in October I took a look at the 135is, the swan song for the E8x chassis. But the “is” package extended to the E92 335, as well. Indeed, since the two share a fair amount of architecture and a similar recipe, on paper it’s a bit strange that they were offered at the same time. But though the 335is and 135is looked similar, there were actually quite a few differences between the two packages.

For starters, though they were both turbocharged and rated at 320 horsepower, the 335is package retained the N54 motor to do so. I’ve never quite understood BMW’s logic on this one, but clearly there was something about the N54’s power delivery that they felt was superior to the N55 single-turbo retained in the 135is and all of the other E8x/E9ss. They reserved the higher-output N54s in late production for the 1M (335 horsepower), the Z4 sDrive35is (335 horsepower), and the 335is (320 horsepower). The N54B30TO also got a 7-second overboost of 40 lb.ft of torque on top of the 332 that was rated in this car as stock. As I described in the 135 post, the easiest identifier for these cars was the wheels, and on the 335is you got massive yet delicate Style 313 M Double Spoke wheels, 8″ in front and 9″ out back, with more aggressive offsets than the E8x got. Hunkered down on M Sport suspension, the 335is also got a unique M aerodynamic body kit, and the transmission was borrowed from the M3, along with additional cooling for the engine. They also carried a less restrictive exhaust system. Coupes went so hardcore that, like the 135i, they dropped the foglight option for additional brake and engine cooling. The convertible variant was apparently judged to be a little less track-ready, as so like today’s Crimson Red example, you could retain the foglights:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2011 BMW 335is Convertible on eBay

2 Comments

2016 BMW 335i xDrive GT M Sport

BMW’s brief foray into “Gran Turismo” models still confuses me. After removing the 5-Series wagon from the North American market, the company decided that US buyers needed more space in the 5 again. Why those buyers couldn’t opt for one of BMW’s plentiful SUV and SAV models – the X1, X3, X5, or X6 – still baffles me, but nonetheless the company forged ahead. While it was called, a 5, it was actually closer to a 7-Series platform. The resulting G07 chassis was a disproportionate and clunky combination that managed (somehow) to look even more awkward than the X6. Baffled, too, were buyers, who drove away from dealers at a rate of only about 3,000 per year.

Undeterred, the company extended the same treatment to the 3. Based on the long-wheelbase Chinese-market F35 sedan, the F34 GT utilized the F31 wagon’s rear suspension, revised and adjustable rear seats, raised front seats, and a big hatchback. Although it looked sleeker than the Sport Wagon, because it was larger in every dimension it actually could hold more luggage. The range-topping 335i carried the single-turbo N55 inline-6, and here they were tied only to an 8-speed automatic. While admittedly a lot less awkward than the 5 GT, the 3 GT was still…different, and the 5 and 3 GTs were single-model-only to date, as the hatchback designs moved to the 6- and 4-Series models, respectively. So why buy? Well, like every prior generation of 3, you couldn’t get the most powerful motor in the Sport Wagon in the US, so the 3 GT offers the most space and spunk that you could get in the small chassis. Let’s take a look.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2016 BMW 335i xDrive GT M Sport on eBay

2 Comments