Auction Fever

We’ve all noted, even cussed at times, as prices of BMW’s venerable E30 M3 have risen at a fair pace, sometimes dramatically, over the past ten years. A recent Bring-a-Trailer auction has sent the E30 M3 world into a frenzy after a ‘standard’ car crashed through the $250,000 barrier!

Words - Jeff Heywood - Photographs – Bring-a-Trailer/Barret-Jackson

Arecent Bring a Trailer online auction for a mega low mileage 1988 BMW M3 has shattered the previous record for an E30 M3. The Zinnoberrot example’s price had been slowly ticking steadily upwards, but in the final few days a twoperson bidding war erupted that saw the price rise from an already crazy $190,000 to the closing $250,000 (£191,000), as both made bids and counter bids in the final 20 minutes. Including commission, the final sale price stood at $255,000 or £195,000 in sterling, nearly double the car’s current A1-condition (concours) value. That’s nearly £50,000 per flared arch! What is worth noting is that although the car had very low miles, it was a standard, North American spec E30 M3, not one of the Evo or Cecotto/Ravaglia limited edition models, unlike the car it knocked off the top spot.

The previous record auction price for a roadgoing E30 M3 was achieved

This Jet Black, 1989 E30 M3 Sport Evo was the previous E30 M3 record holder, having sold for approximately $177,000 (£135,000) at the Silverstone Classic Sale in 2018

at the Silverstone Classic Sale in 2018 when a Jet Black E30 M3 Sport Evo sold for approximately $177,000 (£135,000), despite having an odometer reading of 79,000 miles, and in January 2020 at a Barrett-Jackson sale a standard Alpine White II 1988 model from Paul Walker’s collection made $165,000.

This example, painted in Zinnoberrot (German for vermilion) with a tan leather interior, has covered just over 8,000 miles in its lifetime, which explains the megahigh price achieved. The condition of the rest of the car seems to support that low mileage. The interior is in excellent

condition, the recently serviced engine (reportedly) starts up readily and ticks over smoothly.

There have been some subtle OEM+ upgrades, like the Sport Evolution spoilers and front splitter, plus the upgraded BMW wheels; the factory spoiler and wheels were also included in the sale, along with the original spare. (As pointed out by a Bring-a-Trailer spokesperson, that spare presumably contains the original German air!)

Obviously, the price attained at auction can be attributed to this car’s fantastic condition and low mileage. The buyer obviously wanted a museum quality E30 M3 and he certainly has that now. Such a crazily-high, record-setting price sent shockwaves through the collector car and BMW communities. Enthusiasts tend to get anxious that other similar cars will jump in price as well. But we have to remember that this car was quite unique and unrepeatable owing to its mega-low mileage. Sellers will hope that higher prices for E30 M3s are now the norm, but we’ve got to temper their excitement with the reality that, like any single sale, the result comes down to two people who really wanted this particular M3. If you’re in the market for a run-of-the-mill E30 M3, this single sale shouldn’t affect the prices of cars that you are looking at.

It wasn’t always the case that E30 M3s went for the crazy high prices seen recently though, I remember viewing

quite a number of E30 M3s with club member Kev Royle back in the 1990s, when prices ranged from £4-8,000 at an E30 M3 specialist, which seemed quite high. While visiting this specialist, Kev had also arranged for us to view a socalled mint example owned by a private seller just outside Reading. On arrival we found the paintwork to be particularly dodgy, the sill covers (part of the bodykit) had faded and discoloured (as they do), and the alloy wheels didn’t have one decent bit of rim left. Kerb rashed and with chunks missing, where the owner had either parked the car way too

Paul Walker’s Alpine White II 1988 E30 M3 was part of his collection that went under the hammer at the Barrett-Jackson sale in January of this year, fetching a cool $165,000 (£126,000), mostly because of the tragic celebrity connection to this car

enthusiastically or, more likely, bashed a kerb whilst pretending he was Roberto Ravaglia one too many times! And then the A-pillar. There was something not quite right with the driver’s side A-pillar; although it escapes my memory exactly what was wrong, I do recall that it indicated that the car had probably been parked roof side down at one point!

Kev finally found a nice, low mileage silver example with a stunning factory red leather interior that sat in a garage alongside the owner’s Ferrari 355, and Kev got the M3 for comfortably under £8,000...