Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
Back in 2020, I took a look at series of cool customized 2002s:
Today’s car started life as a 2002tii, and had it be restored to pristine in its original configuration, it’d be worth a pretty penny. Instead, it’s gone all Dutch with a repaint in Inka as well as a 5-speed swap, custom interior trimmings, turbo-look flares and spoilers, and to top it all off, it’s got a screaming S14 under the hood. Let’s take a closer look:
Back in April I took a look at a post-LCI E39 540i Sport with the desirable 6-speed manual:
Today’s earlier example looks great in hard-to-find Anthracite Metallic with the multi-piece BBS Style 19s. While it’s not a spring chicken, there looks to be a reasonable amount of value in this car. Let’s take a look:
Crazy though it may sound, this E36 – priced at $24,000 – may actually be a reasonable deal. Wind the clock back a few years, and that statement was inconceivable; E36s were relegated to the bargain basement of BMW M pricing. That’s not the case anymore, though, as pricing has been trending sharply upwards – recently a few non-Lightweight examples have crested $60,000 sales after fees. Hard to believe? Well, perhaps more a sign of the trends, but finding a neat and clean E36 is certainly no longer as easy as it once was, and early examples are – amazingly – able to be registered as antiques in more than a few states.
So here we are, with a very shouty Dakar Yellow ’94. And if you know E36 M3s, you know that a pre-’95 model year automatically means one important thing – European specification. Well, at least it should mean that. Let’s take a look:
BMW’s second generation M5 followed the same recipe as the outgoing E28; manual transmission, rear-drive, howling inline-6 under the hood. But the E34 was far from a copy of the car that was really credited with being the first super sedan. BMW upped with power first with the 3.6 liter version of the S38; though the increase in displacement was a scant 82 ccs, the result was impressive. BMW Motorsport GmbH fit a new cam, a higher compression head, and a new engine management system to yield 311 horsepower at a rev-busting 6,900 rpms. They weren’t done.
In 1992 M upped the capacity again, this time to just 5 cc shy of 3.8 liters. Even higher compression, a further revision in electronic management, and a few other odds and ends now netted 340 horsepower and 300 lb-ft of torque. Again, they weren’t done. Perhaps tired of Audi cornering the go-fast-5-door market with their 200 20V Avant, in 1992 BMW launched the M5 Touring. Production began in March 1992 and ran through 1995. All E34 M5 Tourings were left-hand drive 3.8 models, and a total of 891 were produced.
BMW opted not to bring the enlarged motor or the M Touring model to the United States, as the 540i took over the top rungs of North American production. But now legal for importation, these rare Ms are one of the more desirable models around:
This M3 sold for best offer under $37,900 on 11/22/2021.
A Phoenix Yellow M3 coupe? Damn straight I can’t look away. Back in May I looked at the most recent one after a string of a few others:
PYM cars continue to hit big numbers when they come up for sale, with a 44k mile 2001 6-speed coupe recently trading for $55,000 – close to its original sticker price. Today’s car has over double the mileage, but it’s also got a bit of a treat inside:
