On May 24th 1972, BMW signed an agreement to establish BMW Motorsport GmbH, this partnership is what turned into BMW M. For the 50th anniversary of this occasion, the M division wanted to build a unique set of cars to celebrate. What they drummed up was the 50 Jahre M3- limited to 500 units for North America, these M3s were offered in 5 Individual heritage colors that represent the 5 generations of M3. Based on an M3 Competition, the 50 Jahre cars would come almost fully equipped with performance options and would feature unique badging on both the interior and exterior of the vehicle. On the body, an exclusive carbon fiber front splitter is paired with an M Performance carbon trunk lid spoiler which both look great with the standard carbon fiber roof panel. A set of quad tailpipes are trimmed in titanium and carbon fiber and the Competition specification Style 826M wheels are finished in satin Orbit Gray which is not available on any other M3. BMW enthusiasts will note that the standard roundel badges have been replaced with the historic BMW Motorsports badging on the hood, trunk, and wheel center caps. The special badging continues with “Edition 50 Jahre BMW M” plates on the doorsill and an aluminum plaque above the cup holder notes that the car is 1/500.

This 2023 BMW M3 50 Jahre is finished in beautiful Lime Rock Gray Metallic which is the signature color for the M4 CS from the F80 generation. Delivered recently, the car shows just over 120 miles and is in showroom fresh condition. These special anniversary cars were very well optioned as standard with both the Executive Package and Parking Assistant package boxes already checked. One of the only options available to buyers was the carbon fiber M bucket seats which this car has been specified with. These seats offer significant bolstering to keep you in place during hard driving but are also comfortable enough to use around town and feature the classic tri-color M striping to harken back to the infamous Vader seats from the e36 M3. One of the other options was brake caliper color and on this car, they are painted red which pops against the satin finish wheels and gray color of the car. Throughout BMW's history, it has not produced many special anniversary edition cars, and those which they have built went on to become particularly collectible. Unlike the 50 Jahre M3, those did not have the additional nostalgia factor of offering limited edition heritage colors and were frequently little more than a single special color and badge package. When this M3 was announced, collectors around the country instantly snapped them all up so this is a unique opportunity to purchase a car in near-showroom condition with its original books, window sticker, and letter from the heads of BMW USA in the glove box. With only 500 examples in the US spread across the 5 unique colors, this is guaranteed to be one of the most exclusive M3s of recent times and is well set up for future collectability.