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Tuner Tuesday: 1988 BMW M3 S52

I’d like to try a social experiment if you’ll allow me; I’d take an E30 M3 listing and say absolutely nothing about it. My hypothesis is that it wouldn’t matter; the car would still generate lots of comments both positive and negative, outlining both the strengths of the E30 and the rapid appreciation of the market. The convergence of factors that has resulted in the M3 market as we see it today is the evolution of not only a naturally occurring timeline coupled with a increase of personal wealth vis-a-vis the ownership group juxtaposed with those who actually ponder ownership. This, in turn, can be viewed as in part the skeuomorphic racing details of the M3 coupled with the natural analogue interface of the E30 chassis. Immersion in the marketplace has resulted in datafication as we try to quantify the various appeals of the models and even sub-models, while the scalability of the marketplace seems to utilize fuzzy logic – models constantly morphing in and out of vogue as the relative price of ownership fluctuates. Modularity in the E30 platform has not helped but convoluted the matter. Coupled with the emergence of internet fora the M3 is the first truly viral car. The rapid influx of various examples in order to take advantage of these previously stated confluence of factors has resulted in, ironically, crowdsourcing in an effort to elicit an explanation:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1990 BMW M3 on eBay


Year: 1988
Model: M3
Engine: 3.2 liter inline-6
Transmission: 5-speed manual
Mileage: 140,000 mi
Price: $34,900 Buy It Now

Real 1988 E30 m3

This is a rare opportunity to own the iconic M3 that started everything with the drivetrain from the most reliable m3 ever produced a 99′ e36 M3.

As a lot of people will agree with me, the original s14 was very underpowered for this car and is extremely costly to maintain… the e30’s should have come this way from the very beginning. Now you are able to have the vintage look with new school power and much easier and less expensive to maintain.

This Original E30 M3 has had a high quality repaint in its original Alpinewiess and looks absolutely amazing! White in my opinion really shows the body lines and the box flares the most. The exterior of the car benefits from E30 evo upgrades like a genuine evo front lip, and a real carbon fiber rear Evo flap.

The e36 m3 drivetrain was pulled out of a donor car with only 90k miles. During the swap mostly everything was replaced and a lot of preventive maintenance was performed. The 250 hp S52 engine is bone stock except for a M50 manifold and a full stainless steel exhaust. The 5 speed ZF tranny is in perfect shape with no worn sychros or pop out issues. The stage 3 UUC clutch is almost brand new and is capable of holding 3 times the power it has now.

As for the Interior, the car still retains its original Recaro seats along with the rear. Euro Evo alcantra steering wheel, UUC weighted short shifter, Ac Schnitzer aluminum pedals, Alcantra shift boot and handbrake boot, and a Pioneer head unit with USB connection everything for the most part is stock. For an additional 1k I will throw in a set of NRG hard backed seats with BMW rails that will bolt in. The Dash is crack free and interior shows very well for the year and mileage.

The suspension has pretty much been completely gone through, all bushings and miscellaneous parts seem to be new. The front suspension consists of Ground control coilovers that are fully adjustable and the rear has H&R springs with adjustable shocks. The rotors are drilled and slotted, and the pads were just replaced. The Ac Schnitzer wheels are painted bronze and gives a nice contrast to the white exterior. the Falken Azenis tires are almost brand new with a 1k miles on them.

I will be posting a video of a start up and fly by this week.

If there are any further questions please call me at 7862913622 Danny

We will entertain other cars and shipping is available around the world

Inspections are welcomed before auctions ends, car can be seen in Miami, FL 33156

The vehicle is Sold as – is with no warranty expressed or implied

Ideally, the next portion of my social experiment would have even less to do with the M3. I thought, for example, that writing some poetry or perhaps recounting song lyrics would be an interesting way to both say nothing – and yet, a lot – about the M3. But what song lyrics work? Perhaps R.E.M.’s Bandwagon

Come on board, I promise you
You won’t hurt the horse
We treat him well, we feed him well
There’s lots of room for you on the bandwagon

Is it the E30’s fault? No, for the same reason that it’s not Leonardo’s fault that we’re overly fixated as a culture on the Mona Lisa, or that Americans think only good thoughts about George Washington. All around Rhode Island, there are signs indicating that George Washington passed through on his Revolutionary march. Interesting? Sure, but like his all original axe, I’m not sure how it’s hugely relevant. The only thing that I gather from those signs is that he didn’t have a particularly good sense of direction.

Now, imagine for a moment if George Washington had a E30 M3. Only Ditka or Jordan could have beaten him.

-Carter

13 Comments

  1. MDriver
    MDriver December 16, 2014

    @Carter where do you find this stuff???.
    the seller seems confused a bit….250Hp?…maybe just a typo..
    “Suspension was gone through seems good??” either it is or it isn’t..
    I have no problem with a drive train swap…even in an E30…and the S50B32 gives you reliability solid power and a bump in tq.
    but this car…I don’t know…where did this originate from?? what started as the donor?….
    you want to build a “Franken-M3” ??…drop a an S85 V10 in there…LOL

  2. kevin
    kevin December 16, 2014

    visa vie? is that a new credit card?

  3. Ed
    Ed December 16, 2014

    I see that the car has an M3 vin, and that makes me sad
    to see that there was an E30 M3 Donor out there – and it had this done to it – makes me wonder where/how it looked before this.
    I believe that currently a 3-5 owner e30 with 125k-175k miles w an original s14 is workth the 35k…in this market – so with this car – i see it , like I would see any 325i that was converted or any e30 m3 that has been wrecked and rebuilt. with high miles and multiple owners..worth about half price…. So i think this is worth maybe $ 17k in my book, a penny more is overspending. It would cost more then $18k to bring this back to stock.

  4. Doug
    Doug December 16, 2014

    nice ‘meta’-commentary. next time write it in greek and it still won’t make a difference! thanks for keeping it fresh.
    when does the E34 M5 catch a draft on the tailwind of these little-brother beasts?

  5. Ry
    Ry December 16, 2014

    Carter – indica or sativa this morning?

    Mdriver – “pretty much” it “seems good,” forget about it!

    😉

  6. Carter
    Carter December 16, 2014

    @Kevin – LOL “Typos – they’re everywhere you don’t want them to be”. Sorry about that, good catch. What’s more perplexing, perhaps, is why the auto-correct seems to think “visa vie” is a real thing….

  7. Dallas
    Dallas December 16, 2014

    This is some parade, yessiree Bob 😉

    Love me some vintage REM. Nice post!

  8. Ry
    Ry December 16, 2014

    I’m convinced Carter went to an inspiring counter-culture poetry slam this past weekend.

  9. MDriver
    MDriver December 16, 2014

    @Ed…what do you peg an 89 E30 M3 original owner all service records and under 120k on the odo worth if a 3-5 owner car w/125k and over is at 35k??

  10. Ry
    Ry December 16, 2014

    You guys know you can go into eBay and search for “BMW m3, 1988-1991, completed auctions only” and actually see what recent ones have finished at, right? It’s all under advanced search properties, even on the mobile app.

  11. Howard S
    Howard S December 16, 2014

    The “Completed Auctions” is not exactly like reading the tape. The even when they appear to have sold the majority are listed again or listed elsewhere still for sale.

  12. Ry
    Ry December 16, 2014

    @Howard S – for sure, it can’t be entirely trusted. But it’s easy to spot chronic re-listers and some other improprieties (but not all), and generally is a decent feel, in my personal experience over the years.

  13. AL
    AL December 16, 2014

    There have been two sales of 90k+ mile E30 M3s in the past two months – both one owner cars in good overall shape. A red one on eBay sold for $55k – after bidding went to $45k. The seller received an offer and took it. That car was not 100% original but was easily brought back to stock. Another white one sold for $50k – approx. 95k miles, one owner, all stock (except aftermarket alarm) in excellent condition. This sale was off market, sold by a dealer in the mid-Atlantic region.

    For sales of the 2-5 owner 100k-150k all original cars in excellent condition – there are not than many good examples to point to since August. A red one just sold on eBay for a little over $30k – 125k miles, 5 owner, original but with accident history. I do think $35k is a good price for any clean cars in the 100-150k range – assuming it has known ownership history.

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