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I’ve featured a few collectable coupes this week – the 2013 Audi TT RS and the modified M Coupe. But as much as I love the soundtrack of the Audi and the statistics on paper, and as hot as the E36 M Coupe market is, were it my money I was plunking down for a personal coupe it would be the second generation Z4-based M Coupe that would get my attention. And for my Christmas wish, this one would do quite nicely! Interlagos Blue is certainly one of my favorite colors, and the lower miles and pristine shape of this particular example would have me overlooking the all-black leather:
The E30 before it, the E36 chassis BMW quickly became a fan-favorite for affordable, practical, and sporting German motoring. From nearly its inception I can recall tuned and tweaked models showing up at the track. Relatively easy engine swaps, a plethora of aftermarket tuner and support and with a ton of them produced, it’s easy to see why the E36 is a popular choice for enthusiasts. That said, we’ve seen just about every conceivable swap completed and nearly every permutation of E36 cross these pages; but once in a while, one really stands out. Or, in this case, two:
It’s a bit of a Euro-spec day here at GCFSB, and both of the featured cars are rare to see on this side of the pond. In the case of the earlier 420SEC, it’s rare to see them because there weren’t many produced and stateside we have the 560SEC that ran at the same time; in many respects, the smaller motor is a curiosity and a neat side note, but offers no real advantage to U.S. buyers. However, this example is very different; a Euro-spec 1994 M5. While the M5 left U.S. shores in 1993, it soldiered on for a few years in Europe with a revised and enlarged motor. Dubbed the S38B38, the new motor gained 25 horsepower but importantly 30 lb.ft of torque – it was now only 17 horsepower shy of 100 more than the U.S. spec E28 M5’s S38B35. That made up for some extra pounds that adorned the E34 chassis versus the earlier M cars and the M5 was even more of a flyer once again. A few of these 3.8 cars and motors have made their way stateside but they’re still quite rare to find. Usually, they have some neat oddities that we didn’t get here, such as this example’s Hurricane cloth interior. All in all, it makes for one tidy performance package that’s still quite discrete:
To round up what has been an excellent week for the S38 motor here at GCFSB, I thought we’d take a look at the Euro version of this car. The M88 is a legendary motor for BMW; powering the M1, it was slightly modified with Motronic fuel injection for the M5 and M635 – where, amazingly, it produced more power than the M1 had. For a long time discarded in favor of the later M6 on U.S. shores, the grey market examples of the M635CSi offer a better power to weight ratio and cleaner European styling. Optional were then-giant 415MM TRX BBS Wheels, along with the requisite Euro-market wipers. Awesome? You bet, and one has popped up on our self-service classifieds:
