Next year, the BMW M3 will celebrate its 40th anniversary, a saga that began with a 4-cylinder engine. Here is the most desirable variant charged at full price.
Before the era of in-line 6 cylinders and the V8 parenthesis, the BMW M3 wisely increased its power. When it debuted in 1986, the first version built on the E30 type series housed under its hood a simple 4-cylinder engine known internally under the reference S14, with a capacity of 2.3 liters and a power of 200 hp.
For comparison in 1987, the Renault 21 Turbo with 175 hp had comparable performance. Yet from the start, the engineers in the Bavarian firm’s Motorsport department had the cult of power racing in mind. A BMW M3 Evolution I then II (with 220 hp under the hood for the latter) followed. The holy grail being the BMW M3 E30 Sport Evolution whose S14 engine was rebored to 2.5 liters, an evolution allowing it to claim a power of 238 hp. image
A rare copy offered at €250,000
Enough to lower the 0 to 100 km/h from 6.9 s for the standard version to 6.5 s for this variant, the sharpest. While the top speed increased from 235 to 248 km/h. A rare variation assembled in 600 units which today commands a high price on the collector’s vehicle market. As evidenced by this example for sale in Portugal which also only has 59,000 km on the clock.
-Dating from 1990 and in a very good state of conservation, it is offered on the Car & Classic website for the tidy sum of €250,000. Another BMW M3 E30 Sport Evolution sold in the United Kingdom but with the steering wheel on the left with 78,100 Miles or the equivalent of 125,000 km is offered at a price of £159,995 or €137,400.
Mouse in his right hand, graphic palette stylus in his left hand, journalist/designer who has been into automobiles since his early childhood.
