Top 10 BMW Cars of All-Time

BMW has got to be one of my favorite manufacturers. They’ve made some pretty epic cars time to time. And their slogan “Sheer Driving Pleasure” isn’t any utter bullsh!t. Their cars are awesome and I gathered up the Top 10 BMW Cars of All-Time

10. BMW Z4 M

The Z4 M is probably my favorite 21st century BMW roadster (also available as a coupe). They’re pretty cheap too these days. The E85 Z4 M is powered by the S54B32 engine that makes 338 hp and 269 lb-ft of torque.

This is a very fun little car and it lived up to the “Sheer Driving Pleasure” slogan. Why? You have to drive one to understand completely because it is almost like a grand touring car. The Z4 is pretty practical as well so you can drive it pretty much everyday if you want to. Maintenance? Nah, we’re not going to worry about that in this article. So yeah, number 10 goes to the E85 BMW Z4 M.

9. BMW M3 GTS

The most bonkers M3 EVER! If I have to pick a favorite M3, I’ll go with this bad girl. This thing got some serious trackday gears on it such as a roll cage, a fire extinguisher, an adjustable rear wing, a set of lightweight wheels, and much more. BMW only made 135 of these and each costs at around €115,000 per unit. Aaaaand it’s not available in the US which makes them illegal to import until the year 2035/2036.

I’m thinking to get one of these as my car in Stuttgart but it is very hard to find them and I am expecting them to be expensive as sh!t. I am thinking about getting an M135i or a C63 507 Estate but that’s not the topic of this article. OK, back to topic, the GTS is powered by the same 4.0 liter V8 otherwise known as the S65 found on the standard E90/92/93 M3 but, the engine was stroked to 4.4 liters and also tuned to produce 444 hp. So, track prepped, daily capable, and very, very high revving, this thing is on the number 9

8. BMW M3 Lime Rock Park

Here’s an alternative for the illegal-in-America M3 GTS. Why is this number 8? Because it’s legal in America, that’s why. Well, it might be available to ‘Muricans but, it did lost a couple of things from the GTS such as the stripped down interior, the absence of a roll cage, and no wing. You don’t get the stroked 4.4 liter either.

So, what’s the upside? It has a 6-speed manual transmission option unlike the GTS that is only available with the M GDK (M Getrag Doppelkupplungsgetriebe, Double Clutch Transmission). And even when it only has the standard engine in it, the ECU was reprogrammed for less stability control and less traction control. The LRP is also equipped with a lightweight muffler which BMW claims that it gives +5 hp.

7. BMW M6 E63

My favorite 6-Series? Probably. OK, so number 7 belongs to the BMW M6 E63. A very comfortable and luxurious and yet BIG AND POWERFUL!!. “POWERFUL!“? Yeah. Like, really powerful. How powerful? 500 hp. Well, it doesn’t start with 500 hp at the beginning because you need to press the “power button”. Without tinkering the “power button”, you’ll get 400 hp.

0-60 is completed in 4.1 seconds (Road & Track). Top speed is limited to 155 mph (250 kph). It weighs 3,770 lb thanks to a carbon fiber reinforced plastic roof panel as well as thermoplastic front wings, aluminum doors and bonnet and compound boot lid. It sounds absolutely magnificent and an absolute fun to drive. You can daily drive it too which is great.

6. BMW M5 E34

OH YES! The E34 BMW M5. We’re getting a bit classic here. Why? Because:

“Cars are like music. The older they are, the better”
-Allen Thompson

It is quite affordable too these days and in my prediction, this thing will rocket in value within 5 to 10 years from now. A brilliant car in stock form and I heard that the E34 is one of the more reliable BMWs that is available. The E34 M5 is powered by the S38B36 3.6 liter I6 from 1988 to 1991 before switching to the S38B38 3.8 liter I6 (EU only) in the end of the year 1991.

They’re such a fun car to drive and with four doors this thing is more practical than the Z4 or the M3s or the M6 so you can daily drive it. And as a person who likes to drive dangerously (I admit), I am a fan of the late Giorgi Tevzadze that used an E34 M5 for his city hooning videos (yes, I like hooning too IRL)

5. BMW M5 E61

This is a car that I used to own from 2007 to 2009 before moving back to the US before moving back to Europe. I loved it and I wish I still have it but American laws says “OH HELL NO!”. Freedom. The freedom of being an American car enthusiast. Why I love this car? Simple. V10 in a wagon. You don’t get that anymore, do you?

Well, it is only available with the rather-clunky-at-high-speed SMG gearbox but, as a wagon, as a daily driver where you spend most of your time doing 50 kph, it could actually be a good thing. Why? You don’t need to jerk around the clutch every time you’re stuck in traffic. I took it to Nordschleife a couple of months before I sold it and boy, this thing surprised me with what it’s capable of doing on the track.

4. BMW E30 M-Technic

My favorite 3-Series of all time? Absolutely. Why? Because this is the more affordable and more practical version of the M3 E30. How is it more affordable? Well, it’s not as special as the E30 M3 so, I’m assuming that you can get them fairly cheap. More practical? Yes. Unlike the M3 which was only available as a coupe, the M-Technic was also available as a coupe, a sedan, a convertible, or a touring (wagon).

3. BMW 850CSi

Hell yeah! An 850 in number 3! Why 850CSi? Well, let me tell you a short history about this first. The 850CSi started as the BMW M8 (U wot m8?) which only one ever made and that was just a prototype. Originally envisioned as a Ferrari competitor equipped with a special 550 bhp version of the S70 engine, essentially a bored out version of the M70 with experimental multi-valve cylinder heads. A common misconception is that this engine powered the McLaren F1. However, when this was suggested to McLaren’s designer Gordon Murray, the idea was rejected because the engine was too heavy and long for the McLaren F1. Rather, variations on the original S70 used on the 850csi, the S70/2 and S70/3 were used for the McLaren F1 (The variation used on the M8 prototype was the S70/1 engine). The project was eventually scrapped because BMW decided that there was no market for an M8.

While the M8 was never produced, it is interesting to note that the 850CSi was also tuned by BMW’s M division. Aside from sporting an M-tuned engine (as identified by the S prefix instead of the M prefix that a non-M tuned engine would bear), the car’s VIN identifies the car as being built by BMW Motorsport (a WBS prefix) instead of BMW AG (WBA prefix). Per BMW’s own protocol, the 850CSi as marketed was essentially a de-tuned version of the putative M8. That’s the story and that was also very interesting. The 850CSi is a manual only car which is awesome!!

2. BMW 3.0 CSL

This is a very special car. A very rare car. A unicorn. No, no. It’s rarer than a unicorn, in fact. A car that has a lot of racing history behind it. The 3.0 CSL was raced in the IMSA GT Championship in 1975, with Sam Posey, Brian Redman, and Ronnie Peterson winning races during the season. And that’s not it, the racing version of the E9 was also victorious in other racing series in the 1970s.

Initially using the same engine as the 3.0 CS, the 3.0 CSL was given a very small increase in displacement to 3,003 cc (183.3 cu in) by increasing the engine bore by one quarter of a millimeter. In 1973, the engine in the 3.0 CSL was given another, more substantial increase in displacement to 3,153 cc (192.4 cu in) by increasing the stroke to 84 mm (3.3 in). The final version of the 3.0 CSL was homologated in July 1973 along with an aerodynamic package including a large air dam, short fins running along the front fenders, a spoiler above and behind the trailing edge of the roof, and a tall rear wing. The rear wings were not installed at the factory, but were left in the boot for installation after purchase. This was done because the wings were illegal for use on German roads. The full aero package earned the racing CSLs the nickname “Batmobile”.

1. BMW M1

You might disagree with numbers 10 to 2 but this, no one will disagree. The M1. By the looks of it, you’ll find a Lamborghini derived V12 because this car was initially a joint effort between BMW and Lamborghini until Lamborghini had some financial issues that made the Bavarians on their own. So, what engine does it have? An M88 I6. What? A 6 cylinder engine in a car that looks like that? Yes. Like you, when the first time I found out about this car, I expected a 12 cylinder engine but no. It only has half of what I was expecting it to have. 6 cylinders. This is also the first and so far the only RMR BMW ever produced to date. There are only 453 of these were built between 1978 and 1981

Well, ladies and gentlemen, that is my Top 10 BMW cars of all time. I hope you enjoy this article and please leave a comment about your thoughts on this and also don’t forget to share your opinions too.

-Raymond