Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
I’ve covered a series of BMW 3 series Individual cars recently, and I seem to be on a streak of finding neat ones. Today for your consideration are two E92s; one 335i turbo with low miles in a nice color combination compared to a M3 Individual with higher miles. The price is nearly the same between the two examples; which would be the one you’d select?
On a recent visit to Berlin, I was surprised to come across a black BMW Z8 parked on the street in Die Mitte, a central borough of the German capital. Since reunification 25 years ago, a lot of money and talent has flooded into this city, with high end shops and consumers with Euros to spend. The Z8, though, was a bit of short lived flagship for the Bavarian marque, rarely seen in the wild today. At first values held steady to right around where they sold for new, but now collectors are becoming hip to this rare roadster. The fact that James Bond made the Z8 famous in The World Is Not Enough just adds to the vehicle’s cache. This Z8 for sale in Florida has just over 5,000 miles on the odometer and will catch your eye in its red hue, a departure from the silver and black paint jobs that usually adorned these Bimmers.
Following on to the 1989 BMW 750iL we featured yesterday, here is possibly one of the lowest mileage V12 E32s in existence. We featured this car four years ago and its back up for sale with barely any more mileage tacked on.
Something interesting is occurring in the BMW world. As the E36/8 M Coupe skyrockets in value and collectability – especially the very limited S54 versions – for some reason, it’s successor isn’t. Now, both generations of M Coupes and Roadsters are love it or hate it designs, but the early cars – even though stylistically they have some typical 90s weak spots. Those fender vents, for example, have become a cliche stick-on applique to all the best ‘hood Accords and Maximas. To me, the replacement for the Z3 was edgier but more handsome. It still looks modern and honestly I think it could reasonably still fit into the design language of the current BMWs. The M Coupe managed to escape the period which many enthusiasts characterized as the worst styling period for BMW as the Belle of the Ball. And the layout and drivetrain wasn’t updated, instead running the end of the run naturally aspirated screamer S54 through a manual gearbox and driving only the rear wheels. Only some 1,800 of them were imported to the U.S., too – guaranteeing their exclusivity, they seemed to be a natural collector status BMW right out of the box. But for many more, the E86 M Coupe was more classic GT sports car than the bread delivery van styling of E36/8. Throw in a similarly love it or hate it rare color like Laguna Seca Blue, and you’ve got either a travesty against automobiledom or a car with serious collector potential:
Mercedes gets all the attention for producing some unstoppable diesel sedans and making them available in the US for the better part of a decade. BMW only brought its oil-burning straight-six to the US for 2 years, but it got the benefit of coming in the sharp E28 5-series. Of the few 524tds I’ve seen on the road, most have been beat survivors, still chugging away in spite of less-than-attentive owners. This example, however, may be the best one out there, and certainly the cleanest I’ve seen. Silver on bottle caps looks as good as ever, and the blue cloth interior has held up better than just about any E28’s leather. This 524td has had the same owner since 1987 and looks ready to be classy, comfortable, and decently efficient transportation for another 30 years and 100k miles.
