Photo: Paolo Carlini for RM Sotheby's
If you feel like modern BMWs have lost that elegance from the not-so-distant past, you’re not alone. The all-new M3, M4, the 4 Series, and iX feature extremely polarizing design motifs, and the German automaker has been criticized even by the man who penned the first-gen X5.
By comparison, the Z3 M Coupe we’ll cover today is a sought-after collectible that grabs your attention for all the right reasons. The Bavarian company produced 6,291 examples, of which 89 were finished in Evergreen paintwork. Of those, merely 48 were designated for the European market.
Offered by RM Sotheby’s at the Open Roads auction in February, chassis number WBSCM91000LB55338 is a five-owner car with less than 87,000 kilometers or 54,059 miles on the clock. Originally delivered to an Italian customer in 1998, the E36/8 is “a well-preserved example throughout.”
The reason this fellow looks as if BMW painted it yesterday is because the Z3 M Coupe has been repainted by the current owner in the original color. Accompanied by the owner’s manual and service book, the car has been regularly serviced at authorized dealerships according to RM Sotheby’s.
As far as imperfections are concerned, the photo gallery provided by the auction house reveals normal wear on the left bolster of the driver’s seat and normal wear on the gear knob. Everything else, from the rim of the steering wheel to the passenger-side airbag cover and M-branded kick plates, looks marvelous. The lug nuts for the five-spoke alloy wheels also appear to have been replaced relatively recently because there’s no sign of rust on them.
A free-breathing sixer hides under the hood of the Z3 M Coupe, a straight-six engine with 3.2 liters of displacement and 316 horsepower on deck. Torque isn’t too shabby either at 260 pound-feet (350 Nm), but the E36/8 isn’t about the on-paper specs. Handling is of the essence here because the near-perfect weight distribution and responsive throttle translate to controllable oversteer.
Offered by RM Sotheby’s at the Open Roads auction in February, chassis number WBSCM91000LB55338 is a five-owner car with less than 87,000 kilometers or 54,059 miles on the clock. Originally delivered to an Italian customer in 1998, the E36/8 is “a well-preserved example throughout.”
The reason this fellow looks as if BMW painted it yesterday is because the Z3 M Coupe has been repainted by the current owner in the original color. Accompanied by the owner’s manual and service book, the car has been regularly serviced at authorized dealerships according to RM Sotheby’s.
As far as imperfections are concerned, the photo gallery provided by the auction house reveals normal wear on the left bolster of the driver’s seat and normal wear on the gear knob. Everything else, from the rim of the steering wheel to the passenger-side airbag cover and M-branded kick plates, looks marvelous. The lug nuts for the five-spoke alloy wheels also appear to have been replaced relatively recently because there’s no sign of rust on them.
A free-breathing sixer hides under the hood of the Z3 M Coupe, a straight-six engine with 3.2 liters of displacement and 316 horsepower on deck. Torque isn’t too shabby either at 260 pound-feet (350 Nm), but the E36/8 isn’t about the on-paper specs. Handling is of the essence here because the near-perfect weight distribution and responsive throttle translate to controllable oversteer.
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