I typically would stay far away from posting a car in the condition of today’s E28 M5, and not just because it hurts my heart to see rust all around the lower edges of the car. We’ve posted a few project cars, but for the most part GCFSB is interested in nice examples of fast, rare, and awesome German cars. This M5 inherently covers the first two, but falls far short of awesome. The reason I’m posting it is because the no-reserve auction is already well over $12k, more than I paid for my distinctly non-rusty M5 a few years ago. This one has a Euro bumper and headlight conversion that shares the major flaws on parts close to the pavement. The S38 has 167k miles, but certainly holds some intrinsic value if you look at this as some bidders probably are: a parts car, or at least a car that will need another parts car to become complete. It’s about as unoriginal and in-need-of-work M5 as I’ve seen that runs, yet is still getting scores of bids! The bottom of the market coming up like this is as strong of evidence of the E28 M5’s overall rise as any.
Category: BMW
For many, the top dog of the E31 lineup for BMW was the 850CSi. Others will contest that aftermarket tuner Alpina got it just right with their modification of the 850CSi, the B12 5.7 Coupe. Let’s be honest though – great condition examples of those cars are hardly affordable for most, and the exotic performance comes with some potentially costly maintenance on the big V12. But I think our reader John may have spotted the perfect alternative to those cars, and it’s a bit unusual. When BMW launched the 840Ci, I remember initially thinking it was a bit of a letdown. After all, the company was seemingly running away from the signature V12 and replacing it with a smaller and less powerful V8. That, in many ways, doesn’t seem like progress. But the M60 produced 9/10s of the power of the M70, yet was less expensive and got better fuel economy. Of course, unfortunately it was also only available in the U.S. with the 5-speed automatic – and it was a lot less powerful than the CSi model. At least most of them are…
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1995 BMW 840Ci 6-speed Supercharged on eBay
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A fan favorite symbol of the 1980s with a perfectly balanced chassis, great aftermarket support, capable of massive upgrades in power, brakes and suspension, and avid race series still today; both the BMW E30 and Porsche 944 fit this mold. Since new, many have been hitting race circuits and autocrosses and now going on 30 years later they remain staples of their respective marque racing club events as well as amateur race series. Today I have a showdown between two modded examples; who will outbrake the other into turn one?
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1989 BMW 325is on eBay
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Seller boisterousness and bravado is always a thing which interests me, and its something which comes out in droves when we’re talking about rare cars. In the U.S. market, many people consider the M3 to be rare, though it’s very far from being the most rare M product from the 1980s and it’s not hard to find multiple good examples for sale any day of the week. But rare does describe the limited edition models of the E30 M3. In total, 7 different limited edition models were produced. The best known are the Evolution series, but there were others that did not get the performance boost of the Evo models. One such example was the Europameister model shown here. They were built to celebrate Roberto Ravaglia’s successful seasons in both the European Touring Car Championship. Painted only Macao Blue Metallic with Silver Nappa leather, they were effectively loaded luxury versions of the normal M3. With only 148 produced, they’re indeed quite rare to see – especially stateside:
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1988 BMW M3 Europameister on Classic Driver
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Ah, the E39 M5: the humble king of supersedans. Plenty of followers have come out with more tech, more power, and more luxury, but none have found the perfect balance that made the E39 M5 astonishing when it came out and still eminently desirable today. Its 394hp shocked when released, but it was backed up a chassis and 6-speed transmission equally ready to brawl. It’s a holistic package that gets blown away on paper by today’s sedans bordering on or exceeding 600hp and yet still represents the platonic ideal for many enthusiasts.
This example in Texas has a lot going for it. 75k miles is right in the middle of the 50-100k wheelhouse for these cars, enough to protect it from cream-puff prices but not too many as to worry about big maintenance. Le Mans Blue over Caramel is a lovely combination, but my association of this BMW interior with a friend’s E36 M3 would make me long for that car’s Estoril exterior as well. It looks to be in just about perfect shape inside and out, but even then the price looks a bit high.