Each year, more and more interesting non-US market vehicles become eligible for importation stateside. Recently, the BMW E30 Touring has crossed that threshold to where it is legally possible to bring one of these five-door E30s into the US. Most of the examples we’ve seen arrive on these shores have been packing the 2.5 liter inline-6, but this 1993 example for sale north east of Düsseldorf, Germany is a 316i, equipped with the single cam 1.6 liter M40 four-cylinder. It won’t set your world on fire, but it certainly looks sharp in Daytona Violet with the special Design Edition fabric sport seats.
Growing up, I never really understood the appeal of wagons, or “estates” as we called them in England. The triumph of sensibleness and practicality over style, they didn’t seem particularly cool or desirable. Instead, they were for posh people in the countryside who owned big dogs. But as I’ve gotten older, and particularly since I moved to America, something has changed. Not only do I find myself needing to carry around a lot more stuff these days, but wagons have become, well, cool. No longer the staple of the staid upper classes, they’re for the person who needs the extra space of an SUV or a minivan but says “f-that, I’m not ready to give up on life just yet.” And there are some seriously cool wagons around these days. On a recent trip home to London, the first sight greeting me in the car park at Heathrow was that of an F11 530d M-Sport, B8 S4 Avant and an E63 AMG estate, all lined up next to each other. It’s as if somebody was trying to make a point.