Top nine collectable BMWs to buy now
If you’re a fan of Munich’s finest and are looking for a car to squirrel away, here are nine of the best collectable BMWs you can still find (just) and buy
SUVs may make up 60 per cent of its Australian sales these days, but BMW has a sporting sedan and coupe heritage that few marques can match.
And in among the ‘normal’ Beemers there are some gems that many think could become desirable and even collectable in the coming years.
So here is a selection of the cars that you might think of spiriting away to a better place (your garage). Some are already hard to find — some less so — but all are true to BMW’s rich heritage.
The price ranges suggested here were supplied by Shannons National Auctions Manager, Christophe Boribon.
The rankings are my own preferences based on a combination of how much I love the car, its current value for money and its investment potential.
But first a little history lesson…
bmw begins
Post-war recovery
BMW struggled to recover from World War II and management must have been embarrassed to see British Bristols with twin-nostril grilles and BMW’s 1971cc six-cylinder engine!
The company’s product range was confused. The large, underpowered 501 sedan, with pre-war styling and bearing the nickname of ‘Baroque Angel’ sedan (later to get a V8 and become the 502), never sold in numbers.
Though sublime, the 1955 503 and 507 sporting models were stratospherically priced. And the three-wheeler (also 1955) BMW Isetta bubble car reflected German austerity – one step up from the motor scooter or motorcycle which accounted for the bulk of powered vehicles until into the 1960s.
While the 1959 rear-engined 700 offered promise, the reality was that BMW seemed set to follow Carl Borgward’s eponymous company (officially dissolved on July 28, 1961) into bankruptcy.
Facing the brink and under new management with the Quandt family in control, BMW gambled on its ‘Neue Klasse’ 1500 sedan. This ultra-modern mid-sizer set the template for BMW’s future.
The undisputed star of the 1961 Frankfurt Salon turned around BMW’s fortunes and in 1963 BMW paid its first dividend to shareholders since WWII.
bmw 1500
The 1500 effectively redefined the compact sports sedan with a low kerb weight (900kg), four-wheel disc brakes, four-on-the floor and an SOHC engine (designed by racer Alex von Falkenhausen) developing 80 brake horsepower.
In 1962, 90-plus miles per hour was outstanding from 1.5 litres. (Some cars had one or more of these features but the BMW was unique in combining them all. For example, it was classier than the 1961 Fiat 1500, a little quicker and dispensed with the column gearchange and leaf rear springs.)
Interesting context is that BMW employed as many ex-Borgward employees as it could and technically the 1500 could have been a slimmed-down successor to the Borgward Isabella TS. The joke at the time was that ‘BMW’ stood for ‘Borgward macht weiter’ (Borgward lives on).
Nevertheless there are a host of collectable BMWs well worth investing in today. The rankings below are my own preferences based on a combination of how much I love the car, its current value for money and its investment potential.
Price ranges are suggested by Shannons National Auctions Manager, Christophe Boribon.
635CSI
“I drove my non-Australian-delivered 1981 635 in the 1993 Targa Tasmania” – John Wright
Even though the E24 633CSI had been sold in Australia from 1977 to 1980, the 635CSI was not imported until early 1986. Priced at $86,000, it was only ever going to sell in low numbers.
Three transmissions were available – conventional H-pattern five-speed overdrive manual, a Getrag five-speed with dogleg first and second and third in the same plane, and (most popular) a four-speed automatic.
I drove my non-Australian-delivered 1981 635 in the 1993 Targa Tasmania. The Getrag gearbox was probably my favourite feature.
It’s the success of this car in racing that made me select it for the final position among my top nine BMWs.
Curiously, even the Getrag-equipped 635 with its closer ratios and lower overall gearing was no quicker over 400 metres than the 3.0Si of 1972!
Avoid privately imported cars because (like mine) they are likely to have rust issues: when I jacked mine up after Targa, the jack went through the door sill!
Price range: $25,000 to $40,000 (Australian-delivered)
Ranking: 9
E46 M3
The E46 sits now about where the E36 was five years ago
The E46 is best understood as a further evolution of the E36 Evolution. Its new S54 3.2-litre six was only 40cc larger but was much thirstier for serious rpm.
And the E46 shape marked the last of the evolutionary styling developments of the original 1975 E21; the E46 3 Series sedan and coupe were the work of Chris Bangle who, at the international launch of the sedan in 1998, pronounced it to be the end of that line – his next car was the radical 2002 E65 7 Series.
It still managed to weigh 35kg more than an E36 but goes a little harder and displays even more dynamic finesse.
The E46 sits now about where the E36 was five years ago, which is to say essentially just a used car. But it has obvious potential as a collector car.
Arguably, it is less aesthetically appealing than its striking predecessor but is generally a better car, although the electronics can give trouble.
The convertible version feels more rigid than the E36 drop-top but purists will prefer the coupe. Always choose a manual over the SMG option.
Price range: $20,000 to $40,000
Ranking: 8
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2002
The BMW 2002 proved to be a huge success in racing and ranked seven in this list
In 1968 BMW found that its twin-carb 1600 TI would not meet US emission standards. Some genius came up with the idea of dropping the single-carb 2.0-litre engine from the uprated Neue Klasse sedan into the two-door model.
The 2002 was the result where the ‘20’ refers to engine size and the ‘02’ to the number of doors; there was also a 1602.
While the 2002 was not as quick as a Porsche 911, it was nevertheless a unique performance machine with effortless torque, superb gearshift, all-independent suspension and a lovely solid feel on the road.
The US market in particular loved this BMW: the proverbial Q-Car that left Mustangs and Camaros in its wake. In that context, the 2002 was to 1968 what the MG TC had been to 1948: the European sports machine to tempt numerous keen American drivers out of their Yank Tanks.
BMW sold 385,257 2002s in less than eight years, compared with annual total sales of less than 5000 units (mainly Baroque Angels and laughable bubble cars) through the 1950s!
The 2002 proved to be a huge success in racing. BMW’s four-cylinder SOHC engine was later developed into a Formula 1 unit!
Perhaps the 2002’s closest rival in Australia was the Alfa Romeo 105-Series GTV. But the BMW had went harder than a GTV 1750 (and equalled the GTV 2000), rode and handled better and was more robust. Austere it certainly was, but the quality of its fittings was high.
In 1971 the BMW cost $4800, compared with $5750 for the GTV 1750 and $4895 for a Ford Falcon XW GTHO Phase II (and $12,727 for a Porsche 911S).
But you really needed something like the Ford or the Porsche to beat the little BMW in a drag race, because it covered the standing 400 metres in 16.3 seconds and would reach 160km/h in 27. (For context, a 1966 390 ‘Thunderbird’ Galaxie and a 1979 Jaguar XJ6 Series 3 both took 28 seconds.)
The BMW 2002 made a virtue of austerity with buyers gladly accepting its plain but functional interior because of the overall integrity and Bauhaus design-feel: less in its case being mostly more.
The 2002 arrived in Australia during 1969 and in 1973 a facelifted version with rectangular (instead of round) tail-lights was introduced. The fuel-injected 2002 Tii was sold here in very small numbers from 1973, but Europe’s first turbocharged production car, the 2002 Turbo never was.
Values are rising steadily and the lovely car for which I paid $7000 in 1982 would now be $25K.
Price range: $15,000 to $30,000 (Tii $40,000 to $50,000)
Ranking: 7
E36 M3
BMW E36 has undeniable charms of its own and prices are now trending upward
Where the original (E30) M3 was essentially a racing homologation special and built only in left-hand drive, its 1992 E36 successor did not have racing at the top of its agenda.
While the E30, which is arguably the world’s greatest ever touring car, has gathered increasing praise, the E36 was overlooked for many years.
Although widely lambasted for being much heavier and less focused, the E36 has undeniable charms of its own and prices are now trending upward.
Early E36s were powered by the S50 210kW 3.0-litre engine with VANOS variable valve-timing and had a five-speed manual gearbox. Zero to 100km/h took six seconds flat and top speed was limited to 250km/h.
At 1460kg, notwithstanding its aluminium bonnet, the E36 served to showcase how light its predecessor had been at 1200 neat!
The Evolution arrived in 1996 with 236kW, six-speed gearbox and multi-spoke alloys of similar design to the earlier car’s five-spokers.
I own a very nice 1995 Daytona Violett [sic] example. (Daytona Violett has recently been reintroduced as a bespoke option on the new M5.)
British research showed that most M3 owners have just one car, so mileages tend to be higher than on many other classic cars.
Convertible variants suffer from scuttle shake and the coupe is to be preferred. Always choose a manual over the SMG option.
Price range: $20,000 to $30,000
Ranking: 6
