After 5+ years of searching for the perfect BMW M Coupe, I had not found it, but I had learned a lot about them and about the market. While waiting for my perfect coupe to show, I thought I would share some of my insight with other potential M Coupe buyers. This site will contain some basic information about what to look for in an M Coupe as well as links to current sale ads and my thoughts on them. Feel free to leave comments as I am not an expert and am always happy to learn more about the car I love.
Now that I have finally found my coupe, I will be posting more articles on upgrades and modifications as I research and install them. It has also motivated me even more to help others like me find their perfect coupe. Enjoy!
Jon Martin
Fort Collins, CO
A little bit of history...
1997› M Coupe Unveiled at the Frankfurt Auto Show
2000
The first drive
One of the guidance counselors at my high school purchased a brand new 2001 Z3 Coupe in Titanium Silver over Black with chrome-line interior. He knew I was a car guy and was impressed that I knew everything about it. He offered to let me drive it during lunch one day. The seed was planted.
2001
The ONE
Attending the 2001 Denver Auto Show with a couple buddies changed my life. Presented in the BMW section was a steel gray over imola red S54 M Coupe. I knew then and there that's what I wanted. Let the money saving begin.
2005
The search is on
After graduating from Colorado State University, I had a real job and the funds to finally buy my dream M Coupe. The only problem was there were never any steel gray over imola coupes on the market.
2010
The first buyers guide
After nearly 6 years of fruitless searching for a steel gray over imola red M Coupe, I decided to try a different approach. I would start a website that publicly tracks M Coupe listings (that I was tracking personally anyway), so I'd have more eyes searching for my coupe.
July 2010
Search complete
While at a family reunion near a lake in rural Nebraska, I was doing my hourly listings check on my phone. There it was! A 2002 steel gray over imola red with just 28k miles. It was slightly beyond my budget, but it was love at first sight.
2012
The second and third buyers guide
A lot of people were worried the site would die once its original purpose had been accomplished. I was having too much fun and instead doubled-up by starting the M Roadster Buyers Guide in January and the Z3 Coupe Buyers Guide in November.
2014
The Z4s
At the very beginning of 2014, the guides were expanded to also include the Z4 M Coupes and Z4 M Roadsters. The new concept of having another expert maintain the guides was born as well. This worked for a while, but in the end I again maintain the Z4 M Coupe Buyers Guide and the Z4 M Roadster Buyers Guide is now dead.
2015
The first non-BMW guide
At the end of 2014, a fellow coupe owner approached me with the idea of starting a guide for the other car he was passionate about, the Panoz Esperante. Thus was born the Panoz Buyers Guide.
2015
The latest "M Coupe"
After tracking both Z3 M Coupes and Z4 M Coupes, I decided I'd branch out to the newest "M Coupe" the 1M. With collector interest already picking up after just 4 years, it just made sense.
PRESENT