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Litmus Test Double Take: 1988 BMW M5 and M6

Neither the E24 M6 nor the E28 M5 need an introduction on these pages. Legendary even when new, they both captured the imagination of generations of German car enthusiasts and established the benchmarks for sedan and GT performance in period. Both went through a relatively long downturn in value, as well. And today, as each has moved firmly into classic status and the market ///Madness continues, each has increased in value considerably over where they stood a few years ago.

But with so many shared components, which is the one to get? While a lot of that boils down to personal preference, more so than ever it’s also dependent on your budget. We’ve seen asking prices for nice examples of each chassis hovering between $50,000 and $80,000 depending on mileage and condition, and with a hot market there’s no letup of good ones to choose from.

But what I have today is not the best examples of each. Both are higher mileage and neither is pristine. However, the real draw here in both cases is a no reserve auction format, giving us the opportunity to really see what’s what in the M market today.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1988 BMW M5 on eBay

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Feature Listing: 1987 Porsche 911 Turbo

Yesterday we presented a very nice 993 twin-turbo and in that post I spoke of my conflicting desires between those beautiful 993s and the original Turbo, the 930. So let’s turn our attention to the 930 as this presents us a nice opportunity for comparison. This triple Black 1987 Porsche 911 Turbo Coupe is offered by the same seller as the 993, which means the condition of the car is good and the price sits on the more reasonable side when factoring in condition and mileage. As we’ve discussed quite a bit on these pages the 930 market definitely has moved downward for all but the best cars, but the desirability of the model itself remains strong. There are a lot of them out there with sub-$100K price tags so it takes very low miles or rare colors/options to really attract notice. I do think that makes this the tougher sell of the two cars, but for someone like me, whose heart remains strongly tied to these iconic ’80s Turbos, that allure might be too strong to overcome, tempting us toward the dark side.

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GCFSB Alumnus: 1992 Volkswagen Corrado SLC with 28,000 Miles

When originally I saw the link to this listing, I was unsurprised. Coming across a 28,000 mile pristine Corrado should be a cause for celebration among Volkswagen fans, but it has almost become expected from the seller Luxsport Motor Group, who currently has no less than three pristine and original Corrados in their inventory. That number includes currently one of the two Corrado Magnum prototypes I wrote up in May, but they’ve also had a string of amazing G60s and SLCs. Still, this early 28K SLC looked pretty familiar to me….

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1992 Volkswagen Corrado SLC on eBay

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1988 BMW M5 M30 Turbo Swap

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Typically the legendary S38B35 is an engine that gets swapped into other BMWs, now out of them, but today we’re playing opposite day with this No-Effs-Given E28 M5. A little while back it received a turbocharged M30 transplant which is a pretty common setup for E28s – just usually done on more pedestrian models than the extremely rare M. A unique aspect to this auction is that the S38 comes with it, so you have the opportunity to ride the turbo monster as long as you please while retaining the prospect of putting the numbers-matching engine back in eventually. Even so, any hopes of originality are long gone after they spray coated the floor rooting out some rust, replaced the wheel and shift knob with anachronistic wooden parts, and spray painted the homebrew center console to accommodate auxiliary gauges. The one thing that I actually do think is original, contrary to the seller’s claim, is the black interior. With all seats, door cards, and interior trim in black, and miles instead of km, I think this may well be one of the 31 US M5s with black interiors (more than 2 the seller thinks they made, but still an extreme rarity).

This M5 has been hacked and sprayed to the point that it will forever be valued more like an E28 rather than the second-rarest M car. It looks pretty darn good from the outside, albeit modified with later wheels and yellow lenses, and the S38 alone could recoup a serious chunk of the purchase price. It’s already into 5-digits with a long time left on the auction and looks like this basket case M5 with its heart in a box will still pull decent money.

Click for details: 1988 BMW M5 on eBay

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1989 BMW 325i AC Schnitzer

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Thanks to a Road & Track tuner feature, AC Schnitzer (along with Ruf, TechArt and HPA) was one of the first tuners to really catch my imagination. Big chunky 5-spokes and wings fore, aft, and midship were plenty to turn middle-school me into a daydreaming Autobahn master. In this day and age and much like the cars they tune or the pop stars we are force-fed, aftermarket design has become a caricature of hyper-stylized aggression. There was a time, however, when bodykits and wheels were subtly aggressive extensions of classic designs. This 325i sedan is exactly that, having received a bodykit, exhaust, wheels, and suspension that make it look more like an appetizing foreign model rather than a crazy tuner cartoon. Originally a Euro model that was imported to Japan and then Florida, it’s covered 43k miles on the road and nearly half that amount in shipping. The automatic is a bummer, but with so few miles and such beautifully restrained modifications it can be forgiven. The exhaust and suspension will help make the drive more exciting (as long as it doesn’t have the sad sound of good exhaust droning across an auto trans’ overly-smooth revs), and the bodykit and wheels will put a smile on any BMW fan’s face. Eventually a manual swap and some engine mods would help it keep up with its appearance, but for now it’s a very cool E30 that won’t break the bank.

Click for details: 1989 BMW 325i AC Schnitzer on eBay

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