Collectible autos: the BMW M Coupé

"Well," says the BMW M Coupé, "my mother thinks I'm handsome."

That's about all that can be said of the car, which is described by most as a sortof sleek BMW running shoe. It started when the nice German folks over at BMW took an innocent Z3 roadster and put a top and a hatchback on it. The direct result was the Z3 Coupé, which we're not talking about here...but then the BMW Motorsport got their grubby little hands on it and promptly churned out the BMW M Coupé. It's essentially the same thing as the M Roadster with a top on it.

So that means that the early models (years 1999 and 2000) have the S52 3.2L inline-6 out of the E36 M3, which makes 240hp here in the grand ole' Americas. Later models (years 2001 and 2002, when the M Coupé was discontinued) got the S54 out of the E46 M3, which made a rather more sprightly 315hp. All of them came with a five-speed manual transmission and those, ahem, irresistable looks.

Since I've pointed it out twice, you're probably asking why the hell BMW ever put the goofy back end on the car. The simplest answer here is for handling: the M Coupé is 2.6 times stiffer than its roadster counterpart, which means that as the car goes around corners, it feels significantly tighter and the suspension maintains its geometry much better, which results in better contact between the tire and the asphalt. Overall, it's a really good thing.

Plus, you get the added storage space that a big hatchback offers—it's not enough space for two added people (unless those people aren't more than torsos) but it'll better fit those accursed golf clubs.

BMW sold just under 4000 M Coupés between 1999 and 2002, which is only a quarter of the number of Z3 Coupés sold and just a bit less than the 300,000 Z3 roadsters made.

Collectability: Good. It's an M with looks compromised by performance, which is eaten up by the performance nuts.

(+) It's an M. Even though it's not much of a secret anymore, the M badge on the back of a car sporting the roundel will instantly double the value of the vehicle, if not more. BMW has flogged the Motorsport marketing thing for so long that it's become a recognizable brand in and of itself.

(+) It looks like a shoe. Yes, it's an ugly car—but it's ugly for a damned good reason: handling. And when you make a car ugly for a performance reason (like, say, sticking a big bulge on the hood), it becomes instantly cool. Nearly everyone will say something like, "my word, that's an ugly car," and then you, the proud M Coup&ecaute; owner, get to say, "yes, and it's ugly so it'll go quicker." I can't think of a better excuse to talk about a car's performance.

(+) It's not a roaster. It handles better and it'll hold its value just as well. The usual premium that you'd see for a ragtop is negated because the hardtop is much rarer and the Z3 was pitched to the enthusiasts in the first place.

(-) It's a BMW M with a rare chassis. If your idea of paying for car maintenance involves getting the power steering pump on your F-150 replaced, the M Coupé is going to be a bit of a shock. It won't cost you as much as a Ferrari, but it'll nevertheless set you back some big bucks to get the 15,000 mile service done.

(-) It's not an M3. There's instant sellability in the M3—it's a small car that can seat four and will blow the socks off of each of them. The M3 has a legacy, whereas the M Coupé is just a legend.

Expect to pay: $16,000 for a stock 1999 up to $21,000 for a 2002.

What to look for:

• The 1999 and 2000 models make significantly less horsepower and cost only slightly less than the 2001 and 2002s.
  
• Beware young owners, although I'm not sure you'll find many. These cars are just coming out of the high price range, so most kids haven't gotten their grubby little hands on them yet.
  
• Mods are kosher as long as they don't much with the bodywork all that much. Be sure everything is professionally installed—but odds are that they are. Most folks don't throw modifications into newish pricey BMW's themselves.
  
• Total sales for the 2002 models were only 354 worldwide, so if you want the hotter S54 engine, your best bet is to target the 2001.