It has been a half century since the beginning of BMW’s 3 Series, launched with the E21 in 1975. It’s a continuation of the compact sports sedan formula BMW established with the 02 series and the much loved design icon, the 2002.

To mark this anniversary, Classic Car Club Manhattan hosted a BMW-focused edition of Gears on the Pier. The morning included the unveiling of a very limited edition BMW M340i 50 Jahre Edition. The 2026 model dips back into history with 5 available colors from previous generation 3s. The Avus Blue shown at the unveiling comes from the E36. No doubt there was some work to reformulate those vintage colors to contemporary paint systems.

I’m more of a fan of the aesthetics of late twentieth century BMW than the contemporary design direction. I admit I do like the Bangle era cars and the era of flame surfacing. The current stuff is a little too weird for my taste.

Photos and Text: Dave Pinter