This BMW E30 M3 Evo Has Covered 154k Miles But It'll Still Cost You £90,000

It really doesn’t seem like much time has passed since E30 M3 values were hovering around the £20,000 mark. Now, though, you’ll need to stump up quite a bit more for one.

Case in point? A 1988 Evolution II model going under the hammer at Silverstone Auctions’ September, with an upper estimate of £70,000. Admittedly as an Evo II it’s a little more special than your average E30 M3, but still, that’s a serious chunk of cheddar.

The trouble is, if you bought an M3 of this vintage, you might be fearful of using it and denting the car’s high value. Perhaps, then, the answer is to buy a higher-mileage example. A car like the 1991 E30 Sport Evolution which will be auctioned during the same event.
Its clock displays a heroic 247,000 kilometres (154,000 miles), 126k of which were clocked by F1 Race Director Charlie Whiting, the custodian of the car until 1996. Silverstone Auctions has the following to say about the car:

“Uniquely, this car presents the enthusiast with the perfect mix of impeccable maintenance, an odometer reading that is high enough that additional mileage would be near negligible and an exterior condition that would not be harmed with enthusiastic driving.”

If you want an E30 M3 you can drive frequently and drive hard without feeling bad about it or destroying the resale value, this is probably your best bet. It’s been fastidiously maintained throughout its life and had significant rust treatment and prevention work completed on it in 2014.

As a Sport Evolution, it’s the best of the E30 breed. Just 600 of these final DTM homologation specials were built, each packing 235bhp and benefiting from various weight-saving measures. Due to its significance, the high mileage doesn’t stop this car from being painfully expensive: the estimate is £75,000 - 90,000…

Source: Silverstone Auctions via Motoring Research