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Original BMW M3 sells for $US250,000

An immaculate first-generation BMW M3 in original condition has sold for $US250,000 ($AU350,000) on the popular US website Bring A Trailer.


That price is more than double the cost of a brand-new current generation BMW M3 in Australia.

The 1988 BMW M3 – a performance model originally developed for motor racing – had just 8000 miles (12,800km) on the odometer and a perfect service record.

The advertisement for the car shows near-perfect red paint and an original tan interior.

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The original buyer drove the vehicle rarely and kept it in pristine condition. 

When he passed away in the mid-1990s the vehicle remained garaged, driven only occasionally by the original owner’s family.

The family sold the vehicle to an enthusiast and collector in 2010, who drove it rarely, keeping the miles on the odometer to a minimum. 

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According to the report, the 1998 BMW M3 had travelled just 640 miles (1030km) since the seller since took ownership in February 2010.

The seller said the vehicle was most recently serviced in April 2020, and reported the driver-side front fender had been refinished, and the passenger fender “shows a paint-depth reading slightly higher than the rest of the body”.

To the naked eye, though, the car looks amazing. And it also runs perfectly in a “cold start” video posted by the seller (below).

A bill-of-health report by US firm Carfax “indicated no accidents or other damage”. 

The handsome sum for the 1988 BMW M3 is another sign that it is not only muscle cars and Japanese classics that are fetching big bucks.

Now German thoroughbreds – other than Porsches – are selling for top dollar.

The complete walkaround video is shown below.

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Joshua Dowling

Joshua Dowling has been a motoring journalist for more than 20 years, spending most of that time working for The Sydney Morning Herald (as motoring editor and one of the early members of the Drive team) and News Corp Australia. He joined CarAdvice / Drive in 2018, and has been a World Car of the Year judge for more than 10 years.

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