The expensive E30 ‘verts got you down? Not to worry, there’s always the smash success follow-up, the E36! And looking light it’s ready for Charlie Sheen to abduct Kristy Swanson, this particular car might just be the one for you. It’s a fairly early example with the Sport Package 2, which gave you the standard affair of front sport seats. But in particular there’s one thing that caught my eye here, and its the wheels. Early Sport Package 325i models were also equipped with 15″ Style 17 wheels, which may go down in history as one of the most difficult wheel designs to clean that were ever offered by the company. Seriously, look at them. You have the normal outer basketweave openings that will test your fingers’ ability to survive a normal wash. But inside of those are a second row of even smaller openings that are so impossibly shaped and sized, it’s just not possible for normal devices. They’re so small, in fact, that my fall back – old toothbrushes – are also useless. What does fit in there? Q-tips. And it’s not like there’s just one – there are 30. Each wheel. And that’s, of course, in addition to the 30 OTHER holes. Not done yet, the Style 17 then offers you a further two sets of inner recesses – 30 for the outer, and…you guessed it…30 for the inner. That makes a total of 120 crevices on each wheel for the notoriously dusty BMW brakes to fill with adhering dust. You’re looking at nearly 500 total little detailing spots on just the wheels; it’s enough that they should have to provide health benefits for your service.
Still, they’re quite a pretty design and rarely seen today….for some reason (or, maybe 480 reasons!). Couple that with a nice color combination, a five-speed manual, a limited-slip differential, and just 18,200 miles from new? Well, it’s certainly impressive.
