[Auto] A BMW M3 E30 Race Version Is Cheaper Than Its Street-Legal Brother

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According to FIA regulations, the carmaker had to build a street version to be granted a race-spec model. BMW built the E30 M3 between 1986 and 1991 to get the Group A Touring category's homologation and to race-it in the DTM (Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft). FIA required a production run of at least 5,000 street vehicles, but the commercial success was unexpected, and the Germans produced it in 17,184 units between 1986 and 1991.

BMW introduced the M3 E30 at the 1985 Frankfurt Motor Show as a street vehicle, but it intended to get an FIA approval for the Group A Touring category and race the car in the DTM (Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft). To get that, the German carmaker had to build at least 5,000 units, but the commercial success was tremendous. As a result, BMW sold 17,184 units between 1986 and 1991. It was a very successful track weapon and won the DTM twice, the World Touring Car Championship once, and dominated the Italian Superturismo Championship four times (the last three were back-to-back between 1989 and 1991).

For the M3 E30 Rally version, BMW employed the British race and engineering company Prodrive to develop the car, and the result was stunning. It wasn't terrific against the all-wheel-drive monsters of Group A on loose surfaces, but it was fierce on dry tarmac, as it proved in the 1987 Tour de Corse Rally. 

A BMW M3 E30 in Rally-spec was offered on Bringatrailer.com with a reserved price of $59,000, but the reserve wasn't met in December 2020. The reasons are plenty, but most of them are related to the car's technical condition since the seller didn't provide details about servicing history, ECU version, and so on. In the end, it was too much of a gamble, and nobody risked that much.

A DTM version, not street legal, was up for sale at a dealer in Germany, for $100,000. It was an actual race vehicle with its engine rebuilt in 2018 in race-spec rated at 279 hp. On the other hand, a mint-condition street vehicle BMW M3 E30 with just 33k miles on the odometer was auctioned at over $100,000 in Calgary - Canada and they can be even pricier. In the past decade, the E30 M3 more than doubled its value, especially for vehicles with less than 60,000 miles on the dash and a proven history record. 

Since these classic cars are driven less and less on public roads, sometimes it doesn't make sense to buy a street vehicle and go for the hard-core racing version. But then, if the proud owner would like to drive it at the local BMW meeting, the street version would be a much better choice.

Leave us a comment below on what you think: would you go for the hard-core version, or the street one?