Photo: BMW
BMW still knows how to make proper cars, no matter what some people say. Living proof in this regard stands one of their models built not so long ago. We’re talking about the BMW 1M Coupe.
With its spiritual successor being prepared on the Nurburgring as we speak, the 1M comes into view once again, with more and more focus on it. Why is that? Because it brought BMW back to its roots.
The Bavarians used to be known for their small, light, perfectly balanced and extremely powerful cars back in the day. They used to make cars that somehow connected to your lower cortex and infused your brain with adrenaline and excitement.
In recent years, that feeling went away, being replaced by characteristics such as luxury, weight and comfort. Old-school fans of the brand won’t go along with such changes though.
With the 1M things came back into the same pattern. The car was offered with a brilliant 6-speed manual, had perfect 50:50 weight distribution and an inline 6-cylinder engine as it should. Sure, it was turbocharged but those two blowers under the bonnet made it all that much more fun to drive, offering 340 HP and up to 500 Nm (369 lb-ft) of torque for the rear wheels.
Unfortunately (or fortunately for some people), the 1M Coupe was only built in a limited run. Only 6,331 units were ever made and just 740 of them made it into the USA. We said fortunately for some people because those that got their hands on one, are now looking to make some extra buck off it.
Usually, after a car is driven out of the dealership’s parking lot, its value goes down by more than 10 or even 20 percent in the first couple of miles. The price drop is simply staggering in some models, rendering buying them new a rather unpleasant business.
Not on the 1M Coupe though, as it turns out. Looking over on eBay the other day, we couldn’t help but notice that instead of going down, the prices have actually gone up on these cars.
When brand new, a E82 1M Coupe started at $46,135 in the US. Sure, add on some optional features and the price would go higher but when dealing with the second-hand market, those optionals don’t carry that much weight, you should know.
However, most of them are selling for $10,000 more, at the very least, these days. The cheapest one we could find was priced at $55,998 and has 19,328 miles on the odometer. Quite a lot you’d be tempted to say and ‘nobody is ever going to buy it’. Right? Wrong. The ad showed that 2 people are viewing it every hour so there’s plenty of interest.
The most expensive one was an Alpine White one, with 4,775 miles on the odo, going for $62,000. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t more out there, even more expensive and with fewer miles on the clock. We just showed you what we found in a random search.
That means that these cars are actually showing an appreciation of around $5,000 a year, more than enough to justify an investment. As if the feelings you get behind its wheel wouldn’t be enough...
The Bavarians used to be known for their small, light, perfectly balanced and extremely powerful cars back in the day. They used to make cars that somehow connected to your lower cortex and infused your brain with adrenaline and excitement.
In recent years, that feeling went away, being replaced by characteristics such as luxury, weight and comfort. Old-school fans of the brand won’t go along with such changes though.
With the 1M things came back into the same pattern. The car was offered with a brilliant 6-speed manual, had perfect 50:50 weight distribution and an inline 6-cylinder engine as it should. Sure, it was turbocharged but those two blowers under the bonnet made it all that much more fun to drive, offering 340 HP and up to 500 Nm (369 lb-ft) of torque for the rear wheels.
Unfortunately (or fortunately for some people), the 1M Coupe was only built in a limited run. Only 6,331 units were ever made and just 740 of them made it into the USA. We said fortunately for some people because those that got their hands on one, are now looking to make some extra buck off it.
Usually, after a car is driven out of the dealership’s parking lot, its value goes down by more than 10 or even 20 percent in the first couple of miles. The price drop is simply staggering in some models, rendering buying them new a rather unpleasant business.
Not on the 1M Coupe though, as it turns out. Looking over on eBay the other day, we couldn’t help but notice that instead of going down, the prices have actually gone up on these cars.
When brand new, a E82 1M Coupe started at $46,135 in the US. Sure, add on some optional features and the price would go higher but when dealing with the second-hand market, those optionals don’t carry that much weight, you should know.
However, most of them are selling for $10,000 more, at the very least, these days. The cheapest one we could find was priced at $55,998 and has 19,328 miles on the odometer. Quite a lot you’d be tempted to say and ‘nobody is ever going to buy it’. Right? Wrong. The ad showed that 2 people are viewing it every hour so there’s plenty of interest.
The most expensive one was an Alpine White one, with 4,775 miles on the odo, going for $62,000. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t more out there, even more expensive and with fewer miles on the clock. We just showed you what we found in a random search.
That means that these cars are actually showing an appreciation of around $5,000 a year, more than enough to justify an investment. As if the feelings you get behind its wheel wouldn’t be enough...
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