An article written by Turtle Garage is being published in the October issue of Sports Car Market. The subject is the auction result of a 1988 BMW E24 M6 at Bonham’s during the Greenwich Concours in June. The M6 in question was a B/B+ example with 75,000 miles and no documentation. The hammer fell at a staggering $55,000. My article (posted below) takes a deep dive into the history of the E24 and dissects some recent six-figure sales of investment grade E24 M6’s. The verdict: The E24 M6 is clearly on the move and is rising in value. This is a majestic and powerful coupe that is rapidly becoming a legitimate modern classic.
Saif,
This is great and insightful feedback, thank you. I think you nailed it: These cars are future classics. The M6 is also powerful enough to be interesting to drive. The Euro versions are certainly more desirable, however, the 1988 U.S. version is comparatively rare. The Turtle Garage example is a sight to behold, it has 1,800 original miles and has been maintained annually. Thank you for being a reader and subscriber to Turtle Garage.
Philip
Hi Philip, great article. I have been a fan of the e24 for a long time and knew it was very undervalued. I spoke to Keith Martin about this at Legends of Autobahn in 2014 and also Wayne Carini that same weekend at another auction. Both were very nice, but both were very confident I was putting my eggs in the wrong basket. Not deterred one bit, just excited that I knew something the ‘experts’ didn’t, I bought a 30k mile 88 M6 in 9/14 and sold it in 7/15 for $68,200 on ebay. (Same car now w/ 32k miles sold for only $42k this weekend at Mecum Monterey). I also sold a 49k mile 88 for $55k last week and sold an 85 M635csi for $50k a few months back. What I have noticed is that the big collectors have gotten their low miler cars and the now the market and used car dealers are trying to catch up. Sales at the major auctions such as Bonham’s Amelia or Gooding Monterey are sometimes a bit inflated and don’t accurately paint a picture of the market as a whole. However, I do agree these are future classics, but they have a had such a sharp increase in value from 2014-16 that those looking for a good deal might be too late. Also, I personally own an 85 M635csi with high miles that I drive often and I can attest that the euro M’s are far better driving cars than the US M6.
I’m the lucky guy who got the ’85 M635CSi that Saif speaks of and I love it more everyday. Not a moment of regret in the price I paid for it either. These cars will absolutely continue to rise in value.