Most Rare Modern BMW in North America?
. Depends how you look at it. We can start talking about BMW motorcycles and prop engines from back in the day....get off my chonies...
I've seen plenty of B7's. In fact, you could even drive one at the Ultimate Drive event at dealerships earlier this year. I see a black one around town and this gorgeous lighter blue one every now and a again.
And yes, there is at least one Z1 here. I've seen pictures of it in Georgia. I would guess that is the rarest BMW in the country.
And yes, there is at least one Z1 here. I've seen pictures of it in Georgia. I would guess that is the rarest BMW in the country.
6th Gear
Joined: Jul 2008
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From: St. Louis
Probably the most rare BMW of the last 25 years would be the E46 M3 GTR. BMW produced 10 road going versions of these to homologate it for the ALMS. The race version was so damn good Porsche cried foul until IMSA changed the homologation to 100 cars and 1000 engines, causing BMW to drop out of the series (and they didn't want to spend the money to race a less competitive car).
Anyway, the 10 production M3 GTRs went to "special" customers, I believe in Germany and Saudi Arabia.
There was also the E46 M3 CSL which never made it to the US. Not as rare as the GTR, but pretty rare anyway.
The new E92 M3 GTR will debut at The 12 Hours of Sebring in March '09 with two cars entered by Rahal-Letterman Racing, and possibly another one or two by other teams.
Anyway, the 10 production M3 GTRs went to "special" customers, I believe in Germany and Saudi Arabia.
There was also the E46 M3 CSL which never made it to the US. Not as rare as the GTR, but pretty rare anyway.
The new E92 M3 GTR will debut at The 12 Hours of Sebring in March '09 with two cars entered by Rahal-Letterman Racing, and possibly another one or two by other teams.
nope, none, especially when they look so horrid. Forgive me for calling a spade a spade...I know it's frowned upon here on NAM.
Let me make up for it with some pics I took at Summit back in '05
Let me make up for it with some pics I took at Summit back in '05
6th Gear
Joined: Jul 2008
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From: St. Louis
Those are great cars, but I still think the new M3 GTR in the flesh is pretty badass. I can't wait until it debuts in March (I'll be there to see). It has factory support and has potential to be very competitive in GT2 against Ferrari, Porsche, and Corvette Racing. I've even heard rumor that BMW is going to pull out of WTCC to focus on the ALMS program.
Banned
Joined: Aug 2008
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I always wondered if those canards on the front do anything? I know they probably do on the high end racers (F1, Champ, etc), but on these? I mean even at the top of the racing world some things are stuck on the cars just because as evidenced by the dorsal fins on most of the cars in F1. I saw an interview with Williams who said that most teams are just following the lead of McLaren and Ferrari even though there is no empirical proof that it does anything.
6th Gear
Joined: Jul 2008
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From: St. Louis
I always wondered if those canards on the front do anything? I know they probably do on the high end racers (F1, Champ, etc), but on these? I mean even at the top of the racing world some things are stuck on the cars just because as evidenced by the dorsal fins on most of the cars in F1. I saw an interview with Williams who said that most teams are just following the lead of McLaren and Ferrari even though there is no empirical proof that it does anything.
6th Gear
Joined: Jul 2008
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From: St. Louis
In ALMS, aero development is really pretty important. These cars have incredible apex and straight line speeds, so downforce and mechanical traction are significant. They would not be there if they didn't so something beneficial. Watch an ALMS race and you'll see how these cars slow when they get in a tangle and lose or damage some of the aerodynamically significant bodywork.
I took that picture of the M3 GTR at Sebring where Rahal-Letterman had it on display in the paddock. It was brand new at the time, and barely beyond it's announcement at the Chicago car show. Since then BMW has been developing the car in Europe to ready it for its Sebring 2009 debut. I don't know what those specific canards do. They might add downforce for cornering, or they might add stability to the car on high speed straights. But by the time the it hits track at Sebring, I would not be surprised to see the aero on the bodywork evolved to some degree, based on telemetry and experience gathered during development this year, and it will likely change further during the course of the race season. The canards you see now may even disappear entirely.
I took that picture of the M3 GTR at Sebring where Rahal-Letterman had it on display in the paddock. It was brand new at the time, and barely beyond it's announcement at the Chicago car show. Since then BMW has been developing the car in Europe to ready it for its Sebring 2009 debut. I don't know what those specific canards do. They might add downforce for cornering, or they might add stability to the car on high speed straights. But by the time the it hits track at Sebring, I would not be surprised to see the aero on the bodywork evolved to some degree, based on telemetry and experience gathered during development this year, and it will likely change further during the course of the race season. The canards you see now may even disappear entirely.
6th Gear
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 3,673
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From: Marsala, Sicily
since we are supposed to be talking about "rarest MODERN BMW in NORTH AMERICA," i thought of this one i saw once when in Montreal for the F1 race. only 136 made in 1988 for the world!! With none coming to the U.S. how many could there possibly be up there?
Also, I think in terms of modern and rare are the 2004 M3 Candada spec and the Austrailian M3R
3rd Gear
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 215
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From: Fairfax, VA
The first picture is of the Z8 Alpina that was talked about earlier. 1 of only 555 ever produced, so in my book that is pretty rare. Not the most rare modern BMW, but I have only seen 1 ever, and the only reason I got to see this one is because I work at a BMW dealership and the owner drives this about 3 times a year.
IMG_0142.jpg
These next two are of a BMW 3.0 CSL. A total of 765 were build from 1971-1975. This particular one was imported to the US from Belgium. This car is considered the first project car from the BMW M division.
IMG_0089.jpg
IMG_0088.jpg
Honestly I think that the most rare modern BMW is probably the Neiman Marcus Limited Edition M6. There were only 50 sold. I cant think of any modern, non-race car, BMW that would be more rare. And now they are doing a 7 Series version, $160,000 MSRP. But buy it quick the M6 version sold out in 92 seconds.
IMG_0142.jpg
These next two are of a BMW 3.0 CSL. A total of 765 were build from 1971-1975. This particular one was imported to the US from Belgium. This car is considered the first project car from the BMW M division.
IMG_0089.jpg
IMG_0088.jpg
Honestly I think that the most rare modern BMW is probably the Neiman Marcus Limited Edition M6. There were only 50 sold. I cant think of any modern, non-race car, BMW that would be more rare. And now they are doing a 7 Series version, $160,000 MSRP. But buy it quick the M6 version sold out in 92 seconds.