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BMW E3 3.0 SI Estate
£79,995
first met the owner of this car in 1991 when my Father and I sold him a ‘one owner from new’ 3.0 Si in Fjord blue. He still owns that saloon today and it is regularly used for trips to Le Mans and Goodwood.
It would appear that I rather underestimated just how much this chap loved E3s. His first memories of them dated back to the 70s as a school boy and riding in a friend’s father’s 2500. That one trip started the love affair with these 70s super-saloons.
Years ago, he had heard of the super rare estate version of BMWs E3 saloon. BMW Motorsport did build some estate versions (Kombis) for internal use and these cars acted as support vehicles to the rally campaign of the works 2002 Tis. These left hand drive versions were never made available to the general public.
BMW GB saw an opportunity and in conjunction with the BMW main agent, Langley Motors of Thames Ditton, an estate conversion was offered to the range of E3 saloons.
An E3 saloon was already twice the price of an equivalent British saloon car and this costly conversion, added to the purchase price of the car, made the total cost stratospheric.
This hefty price tag limited the number of conversions to an estimated figure of 10 – 12 cars. We have seen a number of these over the years both as 2500 and 3.0 Sis. This is the fourth example the owner has acquired and the only one that justified restoration. Sadly the other cars were so far gone they were only good as parts cars.
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Although financially uneconomical, he felt a responsibility to save this rare bit of BMW and automotive history, hence a 14-year and no-expense-spared restoration was carried out.
The restoration was to the very highest standard possible. The owner wanted perfection. The car wanted for nothing. The bodyshell was totally restored using genuine factory panels and finished with a bare metal respray. The bright work and trim is all new, as are all rubbers and weather seals. The interior is finished in stunning blue leather with new carpets, Cocomats and period Blaupunkt radio. Mechanically every single component was rebuilt, painted and plated. All suspension, brake components and hydraulics, hoses, fuel lines, brake lines, are new. The engine, gearbox and differential are rebuilt. Not a single mechanical component was left without being either exchanged for new or completely rebuilt.
Watch our film about this unique car and hear the owner's story:
This is the only surviving E3 estate usable condition. A couple of other examples survive but due to corrosion it is highly unlikely they would ever be restored.
Specification:-
BMW 3.0 SI Estate
1974
Polaris Silver
Blue Leather
Factory sunroof
Cocomats
Original Blaupunkt radio
14” Alpina wheels
Through Loading
This represents an opportunity for the BMW car collector with everything - to own the last surviving example.
Imagine how cool to be towing your historic BMW race car around with this 3.0 SI Estate.
A lovely history file will be passed to the new owner, documents, original blue wallet, handbook, BMW birth certificate, magazine articles featuring the car, original sales brochure and the exceptionally rare brochure featuring the actual conversion.
This car will pass through our workshop for full check over, PDI and new MOT before being handed over to the new owner.
If anybody reading this was around or worked at Langley Motors, who remembers anything more about these super rare cars, we would love to hear from you.
Specification
Year
Engine Capacity
Exterior Colour
1974
2958cc
Polaris Silver
Transmission
Interior Colour
Manual 4 Speed
Blue Leather
