Another week, another S54 powered BMW M Coupe. As a follow on to the 2001 M Coupe that Rob featured two weeks ago, here we have a similar vintage M Coupe with less miles wearing the it’s original equipment alloy wheels. Just over 1,000 S54 engined M Coupes were produced, with 678 making their way stateside between 2001 and 2002. Fewer modern cars have had the collectability factor that these Bimmers had out of the box. How high will values go? That remains to be seen.
I love the E36/8 aka M Coupe aka Clownshoe, and clown shoes are best in red, right? This beautiful Imola example has just 73k miles and has been well cared for by 3 owners. The previous owner addressed the well-documented potential rear subframe weld issues, and the only updates are light enough to not even be called modifications – air filter, headlights, stainless steel clutch cable, etc. It’s not quite perfect but pretty close, with a few minor scuffs and dings. It’s a 1999 model, meaning it has the 240hp S52 instead of the later S54 monster, but that’s mattering less and less these days and the prices of both head north.
Just the other day a friend of mine was complaining about the lack of “pure” sport coupes available on the used market for a reasonable price. They aren’t interested at all in roofless options which does eliminate fan favorites like a Mazda Miata, Honda S2000, or Porsche Boxster. I then asked, “well what about a BMW Z3?” and my perfectly reasonable question was met with a chuckle. I don’t know what it is about the Z3 that so many people so dislike but when thinking of driver focused sport coupes, it’s always the first thing that comes to mind. M Coupes are more powerful and aggressive looking, but they’re also highly sought after, therefore the reasonable price part of the equation goes right out the window. I love the odd styling and the wonderfully simple interior. Driver position is amazing in these cars and they’re surprisingly functional as well thanks to the hatch. The Z3 roadster might be what comes to mind when the name is mentioned, but it is the coupe that is the real star.
I always felt a bit sorry for the BMW Z3 Coupe. It was introduced at a time when an M version arrived alongside of it and not surprisingly, it was the Motorsports version that made the bigger splash in the market. Even that car was at first a bit misunderstood, with some critics deriding the looks but others shining on to the performance it offered. The M Coupe has reached air-cooled 911 levels of popularity at the moment and as such, the Z3 Coupe can only stand to benefit. This early production Z3 2.8 Coupe comes to us from our friends at Sun Valley Auto Club and looks quite attractive in silver over red leather, with the desirable manual gearbox. If the M Coupe is a little bit rich for your blood, try this lite version instead.
I’ll just come right out with it: I really don’t like the styling of the Z3. Never have and presumably at this point never will. And it isn’t even something specific, but rather the entire package. So, back in the late ’90s, when BMW announced they would be releasing the Z3-based M Roadster and M Coupe I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect nor whether I’d like it. I did. The M Coupe is a wonderful design in its own ridiculous looking way and the M Roadster seems to fix whatever styling problems I had with the Z3. It’s funny how more power and a better suspension can work its magic, right? They are still peculiar looking cars with odd proportions, but those curvier and more muscular looking lines fill out the body nicely and bring the entire package together. Some designs were just meant to be pushed to their extreme and the Z3 clearly seems like one of those. With better styling also comes better performance and even the early models with their lower-power S52 engine still pack a nice punch. This striking example is a Dakar Yellow 2000 BMW M Roadster, located in California, with just 20,446 miles on it.
After seeing the sweet deal on the Canadian BMW M Roadster, I got all S54-loopy and started looking at clownshoes. This is a dangerous hole for me, as it’s still one of the few cars (the E39 M5 being the other) that I pass on the street and think “hmm… that’s almost cool enough to supplant the E28 M5…” While the roadster was a steal for roughly $20k with just over 30k miles, this seller is capitalizing on the double-rare hot stuff that is the final-year, S54-powered ///M shooting brake. 50k miles is still quite low, but they’re asking almost twice the price of the Canuck. What do you think… down payment on a future classic, or speculative lunacy?
The BMW S54 engine is right up there in a long line of wonderful inline sixes from BMW, marking a large step forward from its predecessor, the S52. While the S52 provided great sound and smoothness, it lacked the brute force that other great BMW engines have shared. The S54 brought an extra 75 (!!!) horsepower to table, an increase of over 30%, for the last two years of the E36/7 and E36/8’s lives. This one comes claims to come with an extra 30, matching the power of the E46 M3 – not bad when you’re carrying several hundred fewer pounds. The clownshoe may be the funkier of the pair, but the M Coupe keeps all the drop-top fun of the Z3 while losing most of the hit to the self-esteem via some swollen fenders, quad pipes, and serious power. Like an 18 year-old jumping the border to drink, you can hop to Canada for some cheap thrills with this classic silver example, coming with fewer miles and priced a good $5k less than the nicest US examples. And according to the ad, it’s the ONLY example sold in Canada with headlight washers! That’s gotta do something for the rarity-resale value down the road, right?!
It might not have seemed so at the time, but if there was ever a car produced with the enthusiast squarely in mind, it was the BMW M Coupe. This lithe sports car only got better with age, with BMW dropping the newly developed S54 inline-6 that would see duty in the E46 M3. Just over 1,100 M Coupes with this engine were produced for 2001 and 2002, making them one of the most highly sought after BMWs of recent memory. This 2001 M Coupe for sale in California is a minter, with less than 40,000 miles on the odometer. This car was sold in 2011 by that famous purveyor of some of the finest Bavarian machinery, Enthusiast Auto Group.
At the end of the Z3-based M Roadster’s life, it was given a horsepower treat in the form of the S54 inline-6, finally bringing the performance potential of the E36-based US market cars up to level of their European market cousins. With 315 horsepower on tap, this was a serious little beast and a far cry from the Z3 we first saw in the mid-1990s with it’s 1.9 liter inline-4. This 2002 M Roadster for sale in Florida has under 30,000 miles on the clock and sports a great look in silver with its contrasting red canvas top and black and red leather interior.
After a long winter for many of us, clear skies and sunshine are back. A car like this M Roadster epitomizes summer, looking resplendent in Dakar Yellow. This particular example for sale in New York has under 50,000 miles on the clock and offers M3 levels of performance in a fun, diminutive drop-top package.
