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here are certain spec BMWs that you look back on and wonder why nobody ordered more of them at the time. This often happens every time you find your dream spec car, only to find out it’s an auto when you wanted a manual. Demand 1530 years after production is very different to when that car rolled off the production line. This reflects in used values today, hence why a manual six speed BMW 540i (either E34 or E39) can sell for double that of the same car with an auto. 286bhp felt like a lot back then, but now it’s diesel
numbers, and buyers want to have full control of each of those horses to keep it ahead of the Sprinter van in the outside lane. The E36 is a model you can still pick up for buttons. They have yet to shed their drifter/stance image, and the rough sub-grand are still clinging on, and scraping through MOTs across the nation. It wasn’t long ago I recall E30s with dubious mods and eight less-thangentle owners kicking around for the same money. Look at them now. Any 325i Sport commands serious money.
Even a rust free 325i Touring is quite a thing, and pushing £10k in excellent condition. Jumping forward a generation, this E36 328i M Sport Touring with the coveted manual gearbox and quite a few other desirable extras, is a tough car to value, given its extreme rarity. Aside from the original M Contour alloys (from an E36 saloon), visually it’s completely as it left the factory. Hardcore E36 heads will correctly point out that the E36 Touring only officially came in M Sport flavour as a 323i in the UK. All 328i Tourings were
ESTATE OF THE ART Photographs by Rafe Abrook
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BMW Car Club Magazine June 2020
www.bmwcarclubgb.uk
