Sunday 11th February 2018

BMW Z3 M Coupe: Spotted

Putting a roof on the BMW Z3 made it better. Fact.

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The trouble with a lot of otherwise admirable sporting cars, tarted-up rally-style saloons, face-bending open-top speedsters or wide-shouldered two-seat coupes, is that they're just a bit too uncouth for a gentleman to be seen in.

A shooting brake, however, with its roots sunk deep into the psyche of the British country house estate, is a different matter. All sorts of these, from the Reliant Scimitar to the Volvo P1800 ES to the Lancia Beta HPE, and even taking in the mighty Ferrari FF, have blown in like a breath of three-door fresh air to enliven the driving pleasure of those seeking discreet speed and sensory gratification. Not a coupe, and not really even terribly useful as an estate, the very incongruity of the shooting brake is perhaps, in our world of sanitised purposefulness, its most heartwarming feature.

This BMW Z3 M Coupe is one such car and it has everything: the necessary divisive looks, the 321hp 3.2-litre inline six lifted from the contemporary M3, the tremendous turn of speed - think 0 to 62mph in 5.4 seconds and 155mph - and the handling lively enough to brighten up even the dullest of journeys.

In fact it's a real hoot to drive, this thing, being no higher than a packet of crisps and a true pocket-rocket, with none of your nannying safety aids to get in the way. It might be plug-ugly and so deliciously last century (What! Only a five-speed gearbox?) but it's also a bit of a lightweight, and much stiffer than the convertible on which it was based. Corners are where it all comes alive, of course, and you better like oversteer. You want to hold it in a long power slide? No problem. Negotiate an S-bend with a flick of the wrists? Yup. Make the dog sick? Easy-peasy.

With such looks and performance its classic status has always been guaranteed, and this one is a mere £23,995, for which you could buy a good deal less. It's blissfully unmodded, too, and comes with a full service history and decent provenance - the previous owner had the car for 14 years. It's even Estoril Blue, one of the more favourable of its deliberately extravagant hues, and a colour definitely fit for a gentleman.

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SPECIFICATION - BMW Z3 M COUPE

Engine: 3,246cc, inline-six
Transmission: 5-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 325@7,400rpm
Torque (lb ft): 258@4,900rpm
MPG: 25
CO2: 268g/km
First registered: 1999
Recorded mileage: 104,000 miles
Price new: £40,595 (1998)
Price now: £23,995

See the full ad here.

Mark Pearson

[JualMassFlywheel]

Quirky. Love em. Remember seeing one some years ago parked up in the layby on the A14 as you come off the M1. Front end smashed up and driver looking very peed off.

[golfer19]

One for the wish list.

[Plug Life]

I like the printed sheet showing where to place your feet. The car is a munter though.

[TR4man]

Beautifully ugly.

I'd love one but prices have been a bit mental for a couple of years.

[Agent57]

What's with the steering wheel? I thought BMW had good looking steering wheels.

[Gribs]

It's a shame we never got the normal 3l couple like the rest of Europe. I've always wanted one of these and gave it serious consideration when they'd got down to the low teens but they're just too expensive now.

[SidewaysSi]

Plug Life said:

I like the printed sheet showing where to place your feet. The car is a munter though.

Yes all BMWs have them. An electronic saw drops down and chops your feet off if you move them.

[rtz62]

Plug Life said:

I like the printed sheet showing where to place your feet. The car is a munter though.

Perhaps why they are sometimes referred to as a ‘clowns shoe’?
Better looking than the fugly roadster version though.....

[rtz62]

Weren’t the leather inserts on the steering wheel colour-coded to the colour of the leather on the sides/bolsters etc of the seats?
If so it’s a shame the first owner didn’t specify Blue for the seat sides as it might have made the steering wheel look better.
I did actually see one at the Ashover (Derbyshire) Classic Car Show with an aftermarket steering wheel, and it looked sooooo much nicer.

[Plug Life]

SidewaysSi said:

Yes all BMWs have them. An electronic saw drops down and chops your feet off if you move them.

Ordnung muß sein!

[motco]

I went to look at one of these in Derbyshire about 3 - 4 years ago. It was a Cat D but a bit of panel alignment was all that was needed to make it good. The VANOS was a bit noisy and the rear end had not been reinforced - but not cracked either. It could have been had for about £8k but we walked away. What a mistake that was - it would have at least doubled in value in the interim.

[akashzimzimma]

Wish I had some spare cash I'd buy this in a minute. Will sell very quickly.

[thesmurfs]

Wanted one of these as an upgrade to a 306 Gti6. Kinda glad l didn't get one and eventually got an E46 M3 instead. Reason being l later learned there was no ESP and l think l would have had a pretty nasty accident eventually.

[vanman1936]

Had one of these, great cars. Wish I had kept it.

Back did step out quite easily in the wet and almost had an incredible off on a motorway entry road that had a 100ft steep slope down to the motorway that I was rapidly oversteering towards.....somehow caught it and from behind probably looked like a rather well judged dab of throttle to put he back out....both myself and my passenger deathly white faces told the real story.

Fabulous engine. VANOS needs to be watched on all but the last S54 engined models (that have traction control also).

That one looks like a great buy......

[bungle]

vanman1936 said:

Back did step out quite easily in the wet a...
.
.
. last S54 engined models (that have traction control also).

Back steps out easily on the S54 as well. Experienced a number of times when I had one. Great car though, but need your wits about you (particularly if you are coming from a more nannying car with lots of tech reigning in your (my) bad driving skills).

[CRA1G]

Certainly now claiming a well deserved Classic status... and they are great fun to drive... I think the 8 series is the next BMW under the classic radar which will start gaining value..? Watch this space..!

[Bogracer]

I ran one for 72,000 balls out miles, track days, battle axing to to Nurburgring for hot laps as well as a daily driver. I drove it so hard I melted the tyres. I like the fact it’s a rebellious engineering ‘midnight club’ department partsbin scrounging special, E30, E36 bits here and there and not many were made. One of my favorite cars bar none.

My hot tip as an investment.

[TR4man]

Bogracer said:

My hot tip as an investment.

I think the boat sailed a couple of years ago.

[CRA1G]

TR4man said:

Bogracer said:

My hot tip as an investment.

I think the boat sailed a couple of years ago.

I would agree..I'd be embarassed to say what i paid for mine.. But honestly i think the E31 8 series are the next to jump up watch this space..

[Trfcok]

rtz62 said:

Perhaps why they are sometimes referred to as a ‘clowns shoe’?
Better looking than the fugly roadster version though.....

"Fugly" really????