E30-chassis BMW M3 sells for more than $150,000 at Amelia auction

Colin
By Colin Wood
Mar 4, 2022 | BMW, e30, M3, Gooding & Company, The Amelia

Photograph Courtesy Gooding & Company

Sure, all the cool kids drive rad-era cars now, but it’s not getting any cheaper for any of us: Gooding & Company just sold a 1988 BMW M3 for $151,200.

The estimated selling price of said M3? $90,000-$120,000–without reserve.

Mileage was low, at around 56,770 miles, but does that alone explain the high selling price?

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Comments
David S. Wallens
David S. Wallens Editorial Director
3/4/22 1:14 p.m.

surprise

Colin Wood
Colin Wood Associate Editor
3/4/22 2:41 p.m.

I can't say I'm too surprised by the result, but I find it interesting it sold well over what Good & Company expected it to sell for.

I'd say it's a case of having the means and wanting what you want.

Noddaz
Noddaz GRM+ Memberand UberDork
3/4/22 3:28 p.m.

Did car people by this or did speculators buy this....

Pete. (l33t FS)
Pete. (l33t FS) GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
3/4/22 6:14 p.m.
David S. Wallens said:

surprise

QFT

stuart in mn
stuart in mn MegaDork
3/4/22 6:47 p.m.

Was it a US spec car, or maybe one of the european evo 1/2/3 cars?  They go for a lot more money.

Have you seen the restomod e30 M3 being sold by Redux in the UK?  They are having the cars built by Retropower, and are sort of an optimized version with lots of carbon fiber body panels, etc.  You can see a video of it on the Retropower YouTube channel.  They sell for around half a million dollars.

Slippery
Slippery GRM+ Memberand UberDork
3/4/22 8:01 p.m.

In reply to stuart in mn :

Pretty sure it was a US spec car with 56k miles. 

Slippery
Slippery GRM+ Memberand UberDork
3/4/22 8:01 p.m.
Noddaz said:

Did car people by this or did speculators buy this....

Not sure there is any room left to speculate anything there ...

Nader
Nader New Reader
3/5/22 6:13 p.m.

Dad had one new back in '87.  One of the first in the Midwest, in Alpine White.  I was 16, and drove it like a typical jerk whenever I could.  It was firm, had a deep rumble you could hear a block away, and wasn't very fast unless you really wound it out.  My dad used to hunt down Mustang 5.0s on the highway, challenge them, and drop it into 3rd gear to race.

They never sold well back in the day.  They never even made the cover of car magazines.  Americans didn't appreciate the racing purpose behind them, and despite their boy-racer looks with flares and spoilers, their (excellent) engines were de-tuned enough for common consumption to not offer much of an advantage over the contemporaneous 325i with the larger, smoother 2.5L 6 cylinder m20 engine. 

maj75 (Forum Supporter)
maj75 (Forum Supporter) Dork
3/6/22 12:02 p.m.
Nader said:

Dad had one new back in '87.  One of the first in the Midwest, in Alpine White.  I was 16, and drove it like a typical jerk whenever I could.  It was firm, had a deep rumble you could hear a block away, and wasn't very fast unless you really wound it out.  My dad used to hunt down Mustang 5.0s on the highway, challenge them, and drop it into 3rd gear to race.

They never sold well back in the day.  They never even made the cover of car magazines.  Americans didn't appreciate the racing purpose behind them, and despite their boy-racer looks with flares and spoilers, their (excellent) engines were de-tuned enough for common consumption to not offer much of an advantage over the contemporaneous 325i with the larger, smoother 2.5L 6 cylinder m20 engine. 

More proof that Americans are idiots.

David S. Wallens
David S. Wallens Editorial Director
3/7/22 11:49 a.m.

In reply to maj75 (Forum Supporter) :

A lot of now-famous cars didn't sell well at the dealership. See also: M3 LTW, M coupe, Cobra, DeLorean. I know, right? 

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