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Category: BMW

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1985 BMW 323i Baur TC

1985 BMW 323i Baur TC

Published December 20, 2015 by Carter

There was a period in the mid 1970s where it appeared that safety nannies like Ralph Nader were going to bring about the death of the convertible. Consider, for a moment, that in 1965 Americans bought nearly 500,000 4-seat convertibles – but by the late 1970s, Detriot had completely abandoned what had been a very successful market. Today, it’s German firms that are the leaders in convertibles sold in the U.S. – no surprise, really, when you consider the number that are available. From the Eos and Beetle to BMW’s 3,6 and Z series, along with plenty of Mercedes-Benz models and Audi’s TT, A3, A5 and R8, there’s no shortage currently of options with air above. Go back to the early 1980s, though, and there were really only two. You could pay a lot of money for a Volkswagen Rabbit Cabriolet, or you could pay a ridiculous amount of money for a Porsche 911 Cabriolet. In response, many aftermarket tuners offered to take the top off just about everything from the S-Class Mercedes to the Porsche 928. Baur was one such firm, offering a drop-top version of the 3-series before BMW did. Rare to find, there’s one that’s popped up for sale today:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1985 BMW 323i Baur TC on eBay

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1987 BMW 535is

1987 BMW 535is

Published December 18, 2015 by Nate

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Ah, what a fun car to find right around the holidays. This 535is, resplendent in Santa’s Sleigh red. It’s about as clean as his sleigh would be leading up to the holidays too, with a decently redone interior and excellent respray sometime back. The E28 535is is an outstanding car, bringing a significant portion of the legendary M5’s allure at significantly reduced prices and a much wider selection of colors. It’s been a while since we’ve seen one this clean, with just 119k miles, but the huge caveat is the single-axis shifter, meaning it will be much more comfortable cruising rather than sprinting in the hills. But Santa needs something stylish, fast, and comfortable, and this E28 hits all the bases.

Click for details: 1987 BMW 535is on eBay

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Feature Listing: 2011 BMW 328i

Feature Listing: 2011 BMW 328i

Published December 16, 2015 by Paul

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Living in a fairly wealthy, urban area, the BMW 3 series seems as ubiquitous as a Toyota Camry. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. These compact BMWs are certainly capable of cars, but as a former E30 owner, the new ones fail to relight my fire, lest I steal a line from one of my favorite Dan Hartman songs from the late 1970s. This 2011 328i Coupe for sale from our friends at Euro Automotion has me doing a double take, however. Sure, it’s saddled with the 6-speed automatic, but considering the mileage and condition, this is a quite affordable option to a well-optioned, brand new subcompact.

Click for details: 2011 BMW 328i at Euro Automotion

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1979 BMW 528i

1979 BMW 528i

Published December 16, 2015 by Carter

In yesterday’s Alpina Roadster post, I mentioned cars that you just don’t see much of any more. Is there a better example than the BMW E12? I’m sure there is, but in many ways the E12 embodies exactly what I was speaking of. Early examples suffered from the notorious thermal reactor problems – something that would likely put them on a CIA watchlist for extremist activity today. But it wasn’t just engine problems that struck the E12. There was one that a friend of mine owned and then sold to my cousin. It was a fun car for sure with tremendous personality, but it also had tremendous rust – the downfall of many 1970s BMWs. From the floorboards to the (leaking) fuel tank, it seemed to rust from everywhere. Not many of these sedans survive today, but they really established the benchmark for BMW’s mid-range sedans that carried over through today – they were, at the time, the best driving sedans money could buy:

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Tuner Tuesday: Alpina Roadster V8 Roundup

Tuner Tuesday: Alpina Roadster V8 Roundup

Published December 15, 2015 by Carter

Part of the appeal of cheap(ish) cars to me is that when they get older they’re so infrequently seen. It’s not that exotics are daily drivers around me, but once a generation of car’s usefulness has been eclipsed they all but disappear from the roadways, replaced by the newest model. Do you really want a clean Audi 5000CS quattro Avant, for example, or an impeccable BMW 630CS? They can be found, but few and far between best describes the frequency with which they come to market. But as the price goes up, so rises the number of examples that are available at any given time. They may still be classified as “rare”, but they’re rare not because they’re hard to find – just hard to afford. There is nothing particularly rare, for example, about most of the Porsche 911 model range from any generation – they were all effectively mass produced sports cars. But because they were highly priced and treasured, the number of good examples that are on the market today exceeds the actually rare 924 Turbo and late 944 Turbo, for example. Looking in another direction, I marveled that on eBay this week there was not one, not two, not even three – but no less than six Z8s tuned by Alpina. That represents just over one out of every 100 that was produced, all for sale at the same time, all in perfect shape, all with low miles and high prices. In fact, this pool gives us a chance to check out exactly how much mileage changes perceived value – or at least, asking price:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2003 Alpina Z8 on eBay

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