BMW Z3 M Coupe | The Brave Pill

The once unloved oddball has become a modern classic, but there are still well-priced examples out there

While driving is great, some of our most memorable automotive memories always come from time in the passenger seat. Back in 1999 I was a newly minted car journo and a more experienced colleague gave me a lift in a box fresh Z3M Coupe. We were soon on a quiet stretch of road that he knew well and, very shortly afterwards, were travelling at speeds that seemed completely impossible from the perspective of my prior experience of hottish hatches. By the end of our journey by knuckles were bleached white and I had practically sweated through the seat, although I obviously tried to act in the nonchalant way that would suggest I was entirely used to such outlandish velocities and chassis loadings.

The relevance of such anecdotage is the registration of the car in question - S236GAN. Our Pill's plate is very close to that - S176GAN - suggesting that it also belonged to BMW in period, and that it may well also have been thrashed senseless by other thrill-seeking journalists. Some reckon that buying a former press car is tantamount to buying a house that has recently been on fire or a 'mostly cleared' minefield. It is certainly true that few will have been treated with deferential respect in period, especially not those that have been used to harvest performance numbers. Yet the reality is that high-performance media loaners are normally pampered and preened between loans like elite athletes, given everything they need and more. Regardless of how it spent the first six months of its life, our Pill certainly looks good now.

The story of the Z3 M Coupe is a fascinating one, not least as it shows how different the corporate ethos at BMW was in the late 20th century. This was still the swashbuckling, manly company that believed everything was better with either six-cylinder or V8 power, rear-wheel drive and 50:50 weight distribution - all details that used to feature heavily in the glossy advertising. It was also a time when the company's engineers didn't take no for an answer.

Which is what happened when Berkhard Goeschel, then BMW's director of 'Special Model Series' decided be wanted to commission a coupe version of the Z3 M Roadster. The open-topped M-powered Z3 was fast and thrilling but its lack of structural strength was a very obvious dynamic weakness. Goeschel reckoned that a more solid roofed structure would make the car much better.

Fearing that the considerable development spend wouldn't be justified by sales, the BMW board initially refused permission. Goeschel refused to hear "nein" and promised that the Coupe would share as much as possible with the Roadster, including its pillarless doors and everything from the A-pillar forwards. It would also use the same S50 3.2-litre VANOS straight-six engine from the E36 BMW M3, with the sole transmission option of a manual gearbox. Goeschel was obviously pretty persuasive: the board reversed its position, the green light was lit and the M Coupe was developed and launched, the first reaching the UK in 1998.

At this point the heroic narrative requires Goeschel's confidence in the concept to be rewarded by rave reviews and a flood of sales. That didn't happen; indeed, the board's skepticism over the merits of a car that soon acquired the not-especially affectionate nickname of Clown Shoe in both German and English proved almost entirely justified. Volumes were dismal; globally the Roadster outsold it by more than ten to one.

Beyond the slightly odd design bequeathed by the number of shared components, and a chunky £40,595 pricetag, there was another good reason for the lack of success. One I discovered when I finally experienced the long-termer from the driver's seat rather than passenger side. It was a real anti-climax: quick and snarly, but with suspension that struggled to keep discipline on non-smooth roads and a strong sense that any transgression of the chassis's high grip levels would be snappy and likely crashy. The M3 was cheaper and much more composed when driven hard.

In some markets BMW tried to ameliorate the M Coupe's lack of success by also selling a 3.0-litre non-M version. But in Britain we only got the range-topper. Sales started slowly and quickly tailed off, failing to rally even after the Z3 M was switched to the later 324hp S54 engine (from the then-new E46 M3) in 2001. Just 168 of these later cars reached the UK before it died with the rest of the Z3 range in 2002; in total less than a thousand M Coupes were sold here. Somewhat amazingly, BMW found the budget and willpower to do something very similar again, launching the Z4 M Coupe in 2006.

But the first M Coupe's lack of contemporary success would soon become its secret weapon, secondhand buyers realising that this compelling oddball was effectively an M-powered limited edition. Values stayed stronger than those of similarly aged M3s, and then defied gravity and actually started to rise. Anyone smart or lucky enough to buy a nice M Coupe for around £10K in 2010 will have seen the value of their car increase substantially.

For a while things got silly. Some sellers convinced themselves the Z3M was the modern equivalent of an E30 M3 Johnny Cecotto, and a few managed to persuade buyers likewise. In 2016 RM Sotherbys sold one at auction in Italy for €65,000, and in February last year a U.S. buyer paid $92,000. Prices in Britain never reached quite the same giddy heights, although dealers have been asking high £40s and even low £50s for the nicest-looking examples.

The good news is that you don't need to pay that for a fine-looking specimen like our Pill. It's an early car, so S50 engined, and the cheapest example currently to be found in the classifieds - yours for a reasonable £23,895 without haggling. It also carries the highest odomoter reading - 118,000, with a six-figure Z3M still a rarity - but is being sold with evidence of copious spend and loving attention over the years. The seller reports 20 dealer and specialist service stamps in the book, the freshest applied just 1,300 miles ago. It also comes with bills for a full suspension overhaul, recent brake discs and a new VANOs unit.

The latter being good news, the cam-tweaking VANOS being the mechanical component most likely to head for an early bath, although misadjusted valves can also make the engine sound rough and tappety. Like lesser Z3s the Coupe is also at risk of the boot floor tearing around the rear differential mounting, which gets seriously expensive to fix, although it seems much less prone than the flexy roadster. Our Pill also seems to have escaped from the milky discolouration that can affect the rear screen, although any potential buyers should make sure the back wiper works - they often don't.

Granted, none of this makes for the spiciest of Brave Pills - something that will be remedied with next week's selection. Z3M prices seem unlikely to climb further in the short term, and may well come back down. But when it comes to value, the Clown Car has had the last laugh.

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Billy_Whizzzz

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