S52B32 M Coupe | Arctic Silver | Black

This M Coupe was posted on carthrottle.com by James Mackintosh after seeing it at the Raleigh Cars & Coffee on June 4th. I’m not 100% certain, but based upon the the portion of the seats and dash that are visible, the interior appears to be black. The flat badges, and Hyper Silver Roadstars suggest that there is an S52 under the hood. The Coupe seems to be all stock. Anybody here own or recognize this M Coupe?

James posted an article expressing his appreciation for the M Coupe in May of 2009. I’ve copied the article below.

BMW’s made a lot of different cars, and a lot of them have been really quite good. It’s a nearly impossible discussion to pick the best one, but for me it’s not hard to pick a favorite. I’ve always loved the Z3 M Coupe, with either an S52 or S54 – they’re just badass cars.

The Z3 M Roadster combined the compact, light Z3 chassis (a shortened version of the compact, light E36 Compact chassis) with the powerful E36 (and later E46) M3 engines, revised suspension, huge sticky tires, bigger brakes… the whole nine. The Z3 M Coupe was a low-production fixed-head version of the suave Z3, that turned it from a cute hairdresser’s hot rod into a feisty-looking little hatchback…

…or a tennis shoe with wheels and a BMW badge, depending on your opinion of the “individualistic” styling. Still, with a kerb weight hovering just under 3,000 lbs and 240 silky-smooth straight-six horsepower, no one could argue with the M Coupe’s 5.1 second 0-60 time back when it debuted in 1998. Come to think of it, 5.1 seconds is hardly anything to spit at today. And the Z3 M Coupe was hardcore in a way that modern BMW’s can’t hope to replicate; it was just as likely to stick in the corner as spit you backwards into the armco at 100mph in a blaze of glory. Oversteer was the M Coupe’s middle name. It ripped and snorted and rode like crap and made a lot of noise and accelerated like a race car. What’s not to love?

And what a fantastic picture to illustrate the velocitative properties of the M Coupe. The pseudo sepia-tone post treatment gives the M Coupe that moody, romantic feel that seems natural with an impractical 2-seat coupe. Being a press photo, you expect clarity – if not excellence. This is raising the bar. And a fantastic subject, too. Enjoy the high-resolution full-sized version; it’s keeping my desktop looking good this week.