1996 BMW M3

Unlike many E36 M3s, this car is remarkably original with just four previous owners, the last having owned it since 2002 which means it avoided the clutches of anyone wanting to either lower it, add a body kit or go drifting back when these (now rapidly appreciating) modern classics fell to their lowest value at the height of the Max Power era.

This BMW’s owner was exactly the sort of owner you want to buy a car from as he lavished it with main dealer and specialist care throughout his ownership with a thick receipt file showing everything, even the most minor of niggle, having been sorted out straight away.

With original dealer number plates front and rear matching the age related marks around the car, it has all the signs of a car that has never seen the wrong side of a hedge and the matching quality brand tyres suggest an owner who cares enough to spend the appropriate amount of money to keep the car in the best possible condition.

The panels are all straight with good shut lines, no parking dings and what appears to still be the factory Arctic Silver paint. The latter is in generally very good condition, with only a few stone chips on the bonnet and the inner edges of wheel arches are starting to show rust blisters.

The car has the correct M3 Evo bumpers, splitter and spoiler plus the famous M3 door mirrors. On the rear bumper there are a couple of slight marks in the black rubber trim and to the paint on the bumper top but otherwise all is very good.

Looking in the door shuts and door bottoms all is well with smooth paint and solid metal. It has the correct original M3 alloy wheels, which are in a tidy condition with just the lightest of marking around the lip. All are shod in Michelin Pilot Sport tyres with deep tread remaining.

The glass and lights are all good, with crisp bright lenses and even the dealer sticker remains in the back window. Oh, and the misted headlamps you can see are only so because the car was photographed on a cold morning after having just been washed.

Although a four door, the passenger seats don’t look like they have ever been sat on, and even the seat shows barely any wear.

The car appears to have the soft upgrade leather option and was specced with dark wood for the door pulls, dash inserts and centre console, all of which is in a good condition, as is the wooden gear lever for the six-speed gearbox.

The black carpets are in a superb condition, as are the door cards and leather steering wheel. The car has a black headlining and is fitted with an electric tilt-and-slide metal sunroof, which works as it should. It has four electric windows and air conditioning, and below the heat and ventilation controls there is a trip computer.

A Kenwood head unit replaces the BMW stereo, and there is a 10 disk CD changer in the boot, where we also find a BMW first aid kit, complete tool kit and a full-size alloy spare wheel. The carpet has a couple of marks but is otherwise in a good condition.

The underneath of the car appears very original, with what looks like some of the factory underseal flaking off in places. The exhaust is extremely clean and looks fairly recent. The engine has been regularly serviced and an OMP strut brace has been fitted.

The engine bay is spotless. The naturally aspirated 3.2 litre straight-six motor, which is one of the all-time great engines fires on the button, idles smoothly and revs readily with a crisp growl.

The car was fitted with a BMW alarm from new and it has the original remote, two full keys and an emergency spare as well as three leather fobs from the dealer.

The car had been off the road for a short time, and its last MoT expired in 2016. It only covered a couple of hundred miles a year in the early 2010s, before getting a new pass for a fresh ticket in March this year, something it achieved with no advisories.

Green paint dabs on the bolt heads are there from having the Vanos variable timing changed recently at a cost of around £2500. The car has also been constantly cared for with quality tyres and the correct spec maintenance throughout its life.

In 2002 it suffered the loss of the door mirrors - a common theft at the time - and the owner took exception and wrote to BMW and Top Gear but only got an apology from BMW!

This really is a very clean and unmolested example of a much loved E36 M3 with great bodywork and an immaculate interior. With prices of the coveted E30 M3 now having gone through the roof, the E36, which is arguably the better car, is starting to follow so this is possibly the last opportunity to own one of these machines for a reasonable amount.

With only a little cosmetic work to do, work that is still at the catch-it-nice-and-early-stage rather than whoops-I-should-have-caught-it-earlier, this is likely to be one of the cheapest way to get your hands on an iconic E36 M3 you’ll see all year.

How cheap? Well, we think it’ll only sell for somewhere between £9,500 and £13,000, which is an impossibly small amount for such a well-fettled example.

And, if history is any guide, they may well be due a boost in values now no-one can afford to buy the E30 they think they want…