# misinformed?



## omen2853 (Feb 6, 2004)

i was looking into another project car, specifically an e30 m3. i ran across someone who is selling one for $350 as it has a wasted bottom end. he, however, says its a 1985 M3 built in Germany and brought over. he sounded like an older man (so its safe to assume he has/had the money to do such a thing in 1985...basically he didnt sound fishy). in any case, i went searching as i rarely ever see an m3 pre 1988. He acknowledged this and said hes been getting alot of "are you sure its an m3?" and said he sould have advertised it as a 318 and forget all the hassle of explaining it to people. he then assured me it was an M3 and has an m series engine.

in my search i found that the e30 m3's began production in 1986 (in germany), however, there was a 1985 m5. my question is, do any of you guys know if he may be just misinformed? if i were to go look at it, of course i would check out the engine and look for extended rear flares etc.. as i would assume the 1986 (if it is in fact 1 1986 NOT a 1985) would have the same/similar features. i dont think he would confuse his car for an m5, however, maybe he has the years wrong. or maybe it is a 1986 but he had it made near the end of 1985.any help would be appreciated.


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## andy_thomas (Oct 7, 2002)

omen2853 said:


> in my search i found that the e30 m3's began production in 1986 (in germany), however, there was a 1985 m5. my question is, do any of you guys know if he may be just misinformed? if i were to go look at it, of course i would check out the engine and look for extended rear flares etc.. as i would assume the 1986 (if it is in fact 1 1986 NOT a 1985) would have the same/similar features. i dont think he would confuse his car for an m5, however, maybe he has the years wrong. or maybe it is a 1986 but he had it made near the end of 1985.any help would be appreciated.


IIRC a very small number (< 10) M3s were produced in 1985, but I understood that these early production models were not sold directly to the public. It is entirely possible that some did find their way into the second-hand car market.

When considering cars from abroad you need to get this "model-year" thing out of your head, since it causes confusion. If a car is built in 1985, it will generally be a "1985" car. Calling it a "1986" car - at the whim of some sales or marketing department - serves to obfuscate and annoy.

If legit, the car was built in 1985, and if it's sold to you as a 1985 car because that's what it was called in the country it was built for, then it's a 1985 car. But given the rarity of this particular car, and given the likelihood that BMW would never build one very early example of its first volume-production M car for a punter, then the chances of this car actually being one of the very few built in 1985 - and being sold for three hundred and fifty bucks - are practically zero.


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## Bruce (Dec 24, 2001)

I bought a non running 88 M3 for $2750. I have parted it out for nearly 5k and I still have the tranny and the diff. I bought the car for the shell. $350, if real, is a deal. Just get pics or take a look at it. Also get the VIN that will tell you all you need to know.


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