BMW’s E30-generation M3 was the first M car truly for the mass market. Originally a Group A homologation special, it was enthusiastically received by the public on account of its excellent driving dynamics and motorsports pedigree.

Within 12 months of its release to the public, privately-run and works-backed M3 entries had already established dominance in the World, Italian, Japanese, and German Touring Car Championships. The model continued this success streak with further titles in the 1988 European Touring Car and 1989 German Touring Car series, two British Touring Car crowns (1988, 1991), as well as three consecutive drivers’ championships in the Italian Touring Car series (1989, 1990, 1991) and six more consecutive titles in the Japanese Touring Car Championship (1988 through 1993).

These consistent motorsport achievements across the entire production run meant demand never ran short for the model. Packed with track-derived technologies like independent front and rear suspension assemblies with gas dampers and servo-assisted, ventilated disc brakes, the M3’s outstanding chassis design is equaled by its genuinely excellent powertrain. The Paul Roche-designed, 2.3-liter double-overhead-cam four-cylinder engine found in the E30 M3 produces nearly 200 horsepower, thanks to Bosch fuel injection and an advanced 16-valve, aluminum alloy cylinder head repurposed from BMW’s M1 supercar project. Power is routed to the rear wheels via a “dogleg” pattern, close-ratio Getrag five-speed gearbox and limited-slip differential.

Now nearly 40 years since its unveiling, the E30 is widely considered the most collectable of all generations of M3.

This 1987 M3 Coupe is an especially desirable, and very well-documented German-market example that benefits from a life of fanatical upkeep by two recorded owners since new; at the time of cataloguing, it indicates only 48,054 kilometers (~29,860 miles). Finished in ¬Henna Red over extended black leather, this M3 is made all the more notable by its fantastic specification of manual windows and sunroof, alongside air conditioning, a sound system, onboard computer, aerial, BMW Bavaria cassette, and 16-inch light alloy wheels.

The car’s history file notes delivery on 12 February 1987 to BMW Auto-Huser in Munich, and it was subsequently sold to its first owner on 2 April and registered in Munich with his personal vanity number “HM-6545.” It remained in the care of its original owner for the next 25 years until January 2012, when it was purchased by its second recorded owner and subsequently registered in Leverkeusen as “BD 666.”

A true icon of 1980s performance excess, the M3 is an immensely collectable modern classic. This home-market, Henna Red example presents a welcome opportunity to acquire a low-mileage car in what is inarguably the model’s most desirable 1987 specification.