In most states, this car would qualify for “Collector” license plates, since it’s more than 20 years old now. A 1998 BMW M3 with collector plates? I bet there are more than a few out there, although there can be driving restrictions and you want to drive this car. The seller has it listed here on eBay in sunny Punta Gorda, Florida, there is no reserve, and the current bid is $13,300, a steal at this price.
BMW’s third-gen 3-Series brought the car into the 21st century, although the design began in the early-1980s. The E36 3-Series was made from 1990 to 2000 in all the usual body styles and they were quite an upgrade from the E30 cars, which were from the 1970s, development-wise – even though an E30 M3 is arguably the hottest BMW to own right now.
I had an E20 in the mid-1980s, a two-door black 318i, so it was a four-cylinder, not the silky-smooth inline-six, but at least it had a five-speed. With rear-wheel-drive, it wasn’t the best winter car in Duluth, MN, but once I got winter tires, it was super fun to drive in the winter. This particular ’98 M3 is in a different stratosphere from my measly four-cylinder BMW, this one has most likely never seen a snowflake. Not to mention that my car had 103 hp and this one has 240 hp.
As a Florida car, it’s in the required Florida colors, or tones: white exterior and light-gray interior. I do like white cars, it’s easy to touch up dings and dents and they block the sun a bit over darker colors. As expected, given the perfect-looking exterior, the interior looks almost like new, as well. Plus, this one has a five-speed manual transmission. There is some cracking on the driver’s seat bottom and most likely on the left-side bolster (we don’t see a view from that angle, unfortunately), which is understandable after 123,500 miles.
Hagerty is at $30,600 for a #3 good-condition 1998 M3 coupe, so this could end up being a flipper’s dream at the current price. Believe it or not, Hagerty is at a whopping $62,400 for a #2 excellent car! SIXTY-TWO GRAND! I’m assuming that this auction will magically end at the last minute (“due to an error in the listing”…) if the bids aren’t $30,000 or more. Seriously, anything less than that and it will show up on another auction site in the next future.
The engine hiding under that plastic cladding is BMW’s S52 (for North America) 3.2-liter DOHC inline-six, which would have been factory-rated at 240 horsepower and 236 lb-ft of torque. As almost always, Europe got a higher-performance engine and a six-speed manual. This looks like a very nice M3 and at anywhere this current bid price it’s a steal. The seller says that it’s all original, adult-driven, has no rust, and can be driven anywhere in the country. A classic fly-in-and-drive-home car. Have any of you owned one?
That looks like a really nice unmolested example and it a 2-door to boot. I remember going to the New York car show in 1996 with my friends. We were looking at the Toyota Supra and the Mitsubishi 3000 VR4 and I remember telling my friends what a bargain the M3 was hen compared to the latter which if I can remember were knocking on the 60K price barrier. I think the M3 was in the high 30’s at the time. This is when BMW still had a soul and could be still considered the “ultimate driving machine” I actually prefer the E36 over the E30 M3 especially when fitted with the euro engine which was a shame we didn’t get that one.
Scott, good write up and your comment on antique registrations struck a chord. Here’s a contrast for you: In South Carolina any car over 15 years old can be registered as a classic. The taxes per year are about $75 depending on which county. Oh, did I mention the maximum sales tax on any car purchase is $500?
Meanwhile my old state, Connecticut keeps on talking about raising the age for qualifying as an antique from the current 30 years to 40 years. That’s on top of a usurious sales tax that kicks in on most cars, plus ridiculous property taxes. I escaped CT six years ago thus the origin of my current moniker.
A lot of states have restrictions when you run collector plates,like you can’t use them for your daily driver.
Usually these go cheap because of dodgy auto trannys so what a bonus to not have that to deal with.
The ZF 5spd auto in the E36 M3 is pretty robust. I own 2 of them.
Buddy had a dark green one, manual. Beautiful driving automobiles. Deceptively quick as well.
I used to break these as a side hobby.
Wish I still had a garage full of parts today.
Looks nice in white.
I owned a 99 m convertible in 2010 , bought it for $4500 because the seller had problems with the top mechanism and the stealership wanted 5 k to repair it !
That 3,2 liter engine was more powerful but still not enough
I wasn’t using it enough and stupidly sold it but it was a more than adequate performer
A bit picky like all bmw’s but not as hairy as the new ones
We now own a z3 with the 2,8 and i find it gutless but a joy to drive
My santa fe has more get up and go !
But santa aint topless
YOLO
In some states now the ‘vintage’ year status is being raised from 20 years to 25,30 even 35 years (arizona) and the Vintage plate costs more than a regular plate.
In Connecticut you see’Vintage’ plates on all sorts of daily drivers because people are using it as a dodge to keep from having the car inspected and going through emissions.
In South Carolina the ‘vintage’ car can only be driven to and from car shows legally.
Peter, while you are correct, in SC there is no real advantage to registering as an antique. The tax advantage at 15 years applies to all cars. So, all my vintage cars are registered as normal, therefore unlimited mileage, and cost me $75 each annually
“…a steal at this price”. I see this comment in all too many writeups about cars selling at auction. It isn’t selling at that price and is therefore a pointless statement that otherwise detracts from a good writeup.
Agree, always thought this very odd a comment to make.
They literally say it over on BaT after every auction. I guess if your net worth is that of some small countries, everything legitimately does feel like a steal. Not the case for most of us though, true!
Point taken, 767driver, and thanks for the nice comment. It’s only at $18,000 now with less than a day to go and the $30,600 #3 good condition value is still a long way from there.
If this sells at all – without being magically retracted by the seller at the last minute for not approaching a reasonable (however that’s defined) bid amount – for anything under $30,000 it will have been a “steal”, at least according to Hagerty. That took a while to get there, but that’s what I was talking about. What are your thoughts on what it’ll sell for?
I believe the 89 referred to for value is an E30. This 98 model is an E36. If this is the case the values is different
Hi, Lee. Here’s a Hagerty screenshot of their values for this car.
Shop foreman said watch these they get tweaked real easy. These being big hp thin walled small BMWs. The Germans tout big grunt. Buy & svc at an authorized dealer you trust & if you don’t trust then have a big wallet & don’t trust.
Auction update: this one sold for $18,000! Expect to see it on another auction site in the near future.