Thanks to a Road & Track tuner feature, AC Schnitzer (along with Ruf, TechArt and HPA) was one of the first tuners to really catch my imagination. Big chunky 5-spokes and wings fore, aft, and midship were plenty to turn middle-school me into a daydreaming Autobahn master. In this day and age and much like the cars they tune or the pop stars we are force-fed, aftermarket design has become a caricature of hyper-stylized aggression. There was a time, however, when bodykits and wheels were subtly aggressive extensions of classic designs. This 325i sedan is exactly that, having received a bodykit, exhaust, wheels, and suspension that make it look more like an appetizing foreign model rather than a crazy tuner cartoon. Originally a Euro model that was imported to Japan and then Florida, it’s covered 43k miles on the road and nearly half that amount in shipping. The automatic is a bummer, but with so few miles and such beautifully restrained modifications it can be forgiven. The exhaust and suspension will help make the drive more exciting (as long as it doesn’t have the sad sound of good exhaust droning across an auto trans’ overly-smooth revs), and the bodykit and wheels will put a smile on any BMW fan’s face. Eventually a manual swap and some engine mods would help it keep up with its appearance, but for now it’s a very cool E30 that won’t break the bank.
Category: BMW
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:
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2004 BMW 330Ci on eBay
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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.
CLICK FOR DETAILS: BMW 120 Rallycross on Race Cars Direct
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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.
Click for details: 1991 BMW M3 Convertible
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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.