Recently, a massive collection of BMW's most iconic models, from the M1 to the M3 went up for sale at RM Sotheby's in Munich. We covered some choice picks from the Bavarian Legends Collection about a month ago, including a pristine BMW M1. Now, the hammers have fallen on this year's cars, and it appears all you need to be the biggest Bimmer fan ever is about $3.3 million USD.
We did the (admittedly tedious) legwork of converting the final sales prices from EUR to USD on a select handful of BMW's best, and they sold for a combined $3,365,879.33 USD. If you think about it, that's not really all that much money for ten pristine, nearly zero-mile, collector-grade BMW icons.
The cars are as follows: a 1975 BMW 3.0 CSL 'Batmobile' ($602,739.19), a 1980 M1 ($825,349.12), a 1990 BMW 850 CSi ($274,682.44), a 1987 M6 ($215,580.15), a 1985 E23 745i ($209,591.81), a 1989 E30 M3 ($215,580.15), two Z1s ($161,685.11 for the green one and $95,813.40 for the red), a 1999 Z8 ($425,735.80), and a 2003 M3 CSL ($339,122.16).
With all those numbers out of the way, let's take a moment to focus on the fact that an E46 BMW M3 CSL sold for an astounding $339,122.16. That may very well be a record price for the 2,919-mile example. Keep in mind, the CSL was never sold here and is not yet legal for import into the US. We expect to see CSL prices rise again once the car's 2028 import eligibility date rolls around.
Other notably massive sales include the $600K 3.0 CSL, which now has a modern counterpart, and the $800,000 M1. However, the '90 BMW 850 CSi caught our eye as well. That sold for $274,682.44, largely due to its history. This purple Autobahn-killer was a pre-production CSi owned and registered by BMW in January 1990.
Per RM, the car was pulled from the production line and used as a test mule by the Bavarians until it was sold to Venezuelan racing driver Johnny Cecotto.
We should also note that the roadworthiness of many of these cars is unknown, their spectacular condition aside. Most were sold with only a bill of sale, though some came with old "Fahrzeugbrief," German title documents. Regardless, $3.3M seems like a heck of a deal for some of BMW's best cars ever.