2000 M Coupe | Imola Red | Imola/Black

This beautiful, well photographed M Coupe was posted on edmunds.com by Mark Takahashi. The article the photos were featured in highlight the authors dream car. I think he has good taste. 😉 I’ve posted the article below.

The first M Coupe — not the Z4 M Coupe, the one based on the Z3 — is one of my all-time faves. There was a time when an M Coupe once occupied my driveway and I have been mourning its departure since. The first time I first became aware of the M Coupe was when I saw a video of 2009 F1 Champion Jenson Button drifting and executing smoky donuts. In my opinion, if you want to get good at car control, this is the car to do it in.

The 2000 M Coupe (photographed here by yours truly) came into my life right around the same time that I decided to pursue my passion for motoring more seriously. I already had a few Skip Barber Formula Dodge races under my belt and I had just completed a stunt driving school. At that point, I had a pretty firm grasp of car control and was comfortable driving sideways.

The M Coupe was balanced. A 50/50 weight distribution and more than enough power to break the meaty rear tires loose meant I could point its nose precisely where I wanted it. We (it belonged to an ex-girlfriend) autocrossed it more than a few times and I found no other car to be as entertaining in this setting. Every control was precise and immediate. Steering was quick and seemed to snap perfectly to drift it gracefully past the cones. It wasn’t the fastest way around the track, but man, was it a hoot.

Mick, as she called it, was Imola Red and looked like a shoe. In 2001, The M Coupe got a lot more power — a jump from 240 horsepower to 321. Believe me, the 240-hp Coupe had plenty of power. I’d be interested to try out the higher power version, naturally. I never thought it was much to look at. In fact, I even listed as one of the top three cars I’m willing to forgive for being ugly. But in terms of performance, it’s absolutely gorgeous.

Edmunds TMV lists a 1999 M Coupe with 60,000 miles at around $9,100, but good luck trying to find one at that price. A quick search online revealed the average price holding firm right around $18,000. For some reason, a few sellers seem to think their Coupe is worth well over $40,000. So, prices haven’t dropped much since I last drove one. Bummer. I’ll just have to sell something (ha!) or come into a lot of cash (double ha!).