Of all the cars to spend the extra money on for a BMW Individual color, this was not one I would have guessed. This is a 1999 BMW 316i, better know as the ti to us Americans. It was the compact hatchback body of the E36 and generally known as the “cheap” version. For the rest of the world, not so much, as little hatchback versions of luxury brands are the norm and not looked down on in any way. They just exist. That probably explains how this car ended up finished in the very cool Fiji Green and how it seems so inexpensive today. Too bad this one needs another two years before it is welcomed to the US because it has some great equipment on it.
Category: BMW
Sometimes, basic can be cool. Case in point – today’s E36 Touring. This is about as basic as they came; powered by the M43 1.8 with 114 horsepower, the car has cloth seats, no sunroof, and manual crank rear windows. This is a 1996 BMW, right? In all seriousness, that makes it cooler today. And, in fact, it has some nice optional equipment – heated front seats, air conditioning, a sport steering wheel – even body-color bumpers were optional on the low-end E36s in Europe, and this one has them. Speaking of color, it’s a great one – Montreal Blue Metallic, and even the basic cloth has a neat pattern. Other Euro-slick items like adjustable headlight control and a European cluster top it off, and it’s got alloy wheels too. And it’s in the US already! This means it should cost an arm and a leg, right?
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1996 BMW 318i Touring on eBay
Comments closedBack in March I took a look at what seemed to be a European-spec M535i – but some digging revealed it was just a regular 535i kitted out with M Technic bits:
If you’re a careful observer, today’s car was parked right next to it and is now available. Unlike the last one, it carries a DC71 VIN and appears to be a legitimate LHD M535i. Unfortunately, outside of that we don’t know very much – this dealer seems to be hooked up with importing E28s but they often look a bit tatty and there’s little direct information. Still, these are rare cars to see in the US, so I figured it was worth a gander.