Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
Andrew’s very orange Boxster reminded me of another special from the same time. Volkswagen launched a special run of GLI and GTIs called the Fahrenheit Edition in 2007; the GLI was Imola Yellow, and the GTIs like you see here were Magma Orange. Otherwise, you got the same wheels, interior package, and performance – they were primarily an appearance package. Today’s car has below-average mileage and some mods; how does that affect the price?
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:
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:
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:
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:
Back in 2021 I looked at two Aluminum Silver Metallic S6 Avants with below-average mileage. Rare when new, the chances of coming across them over 25 years later in pristine condition was…well, improbable. Yet there they were, and the latter of the two sold for a fairly reasonable $17,600 all things considered. As you can see, it’s BACK! The presentation last time was one of the most impressive I’ve seen, and now it’s with a shop that we’ve seen on these pages before. It’s got 7,000 more miles since 2021, but that hasn’t decreased the asking price…
