Single marque collections fascinate me. I’m personally interested in far too many cars to limit my  collection to just one particular brand, but it’s always impressive to see iconic models from one manufacturer collected in one place. For their 2025 Munich event, RM Sotheby’s “The Best of M” Collection headlines an impressive sale of European cars. In today’s Market Monday, I dive into the results for their stellar assembly of Bavarian automobiles.

RM Sotheby’s continues to knock it out of the park in regard to the lots on offer in Munich, consigning a number of amazing cars in addition to the Best of M Collection. Highlights include a 1996 Ferrari F50 that sold for an impressive $5,646,175, a 2019 McLaren Senna GTR Prototype, 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera RS, and a 2024 Mercedes-Benz AMG ONE.

My favorite lot of the event had to be the 1969 Pontiac GTO, one of 5 used for the 2004 film The Punisher. It’s an underrated comic book movie, actually, and one of my favorites. The car features prominently in the film and one of the best scenes is an attack on this car by Harry Heck, played to perfection by Mark Collie. It sold for a “wish I’d been a bidder” price of just $17,500.

In terms of results, RM Sotheby’s brought 66 total listings to Munich, and sold 57 of them for a sell-through rate of 86%. Total dollar volume was $30.2M, beating 2024 results by 24%.

Assembled over 10 years, the Best of M Collection started with a single car in 2014 and ultimately grew to a garage holding nearly all of the most significant, rare and best-driving performance BMWs. Examples range from vintage models like a 1975 BMW 2002 Turbo to Rad-era cars like the E36 M3 GT. Many of the cars in the collection feature extremely low or even “delivery” mileage.

In total RM Sotheby’s has consigned 22 cars in total for the Best of M, with every lot boldly offered at no reserve. On a single car level I am not a fan of no reserve auctions for recently acquired cars, but for a large and varied collection of important cars or vehicles acquired prior to the pandemic boom in values, it’s a safer bet.

Overall, 10 cars exceeded their high estimates, 8 hammered for a price within their estimated range, and 4 failed to reach their low estimates. In total, the collection brought in $4.4M.

The top performers below were selected based on their sale prices relative to the house estimates as a primary factor, though I am considering average market values for similar models as a secondary consideration. In general, the auction specialist did a pretty solid job of pulling together optimistic but realistic high and low estimates for these cars. In some cases, I suppose you could accuse him of being too conservative!

Offered in an exclusive British Racing Green finish and featuring homologation-spec performance upgrades, the M3 GT is a rare and desirable M car. I am astonished by the hammer price here, which exceeds the average value of $130,000 by 2.3 times. The mileage was lower than most recent comps, but not by that much. Watching the auction I can only assume we had two very competitive bidders at the end, and as the auctioneer said “find me another one.”

Like Hansel in the movie Zoolander, Dakar Yellow is “so hot right now.” The mileage is low at 31,000 kilometers and the condition is also excellent, but the average market price of one of these cars is $24,000. This example is far from average, but this is my runner-up for the most well-sold car of the collection.

As with the market overall, the intense heat for E30 BMWs has subsided a bit post-pandemic, even for cars as rare as this 1 of 600 homologation special. The last Sport Evolution to sell for anywhere near this price was in March of 2024, where RM Sotheby’s achieved a winning bid of $268,800. That car had 26,683 miles compared to this red car’s 21,404 miles.

Featuring what is near “delivery mileage” of just 1,635 kilometers, this car was in almost-new condition and the price realized reflects that. I suspect the hammer price had to have been influenced by an additional factor, as while I think the E46 3-series is probably my favorite body style, this is an insane price considering the prior top sale for an E46 M3 Convertible was $85,000. That car had 656 miles on the odometer, for reference.

Probably the rarest car in the collection in terms of production numbers, this E90 M3 CRT is one of only 67 cars produced with exclusive carbon fiber body panels and has traveled only 168 kilometers since new. Who says interest in the saloon body style is dead?

Similar to the list above, the worst performing cars sold for less than the low estimates provided by the auction house. This doesn’t necessarily mean they performed poorly relative to market averages, but given the condition and low mileage of the cars in this collection, some bargains were definitely had.

Compared to the market average of $154,000, it might seem that this 2023 BMW M4 CSL sold for a sobering but not tear-inducing price. Given the car is one of 1,000 built and had 39 kilometers on the clock, it’s a staggering bargain. Is the beaver-tooth grille of this generation of M4 to blame for the low bidding? Let me know in the comments!

Though it sold for $18,000 less than the low estimate, the sale price is actually the same delta above the market average for a 2023 BMW M4. Only 700 of these cars were produced and the Imola Red II and Gold Bronze wheel combination is rather attractive. Basically new with just 31 kilometers on the odometer, perhaps it’s just that darn grille…

It’s hard to call this a loser, as it sold for a mere $1,165 less than the low estimate. The 1M is a highly collectible enthusiast’s car, and this one was low mileage as with many in the collection and this eye-catching example painted in Valencia Orange Metallic sold for almost twice the average market price.

There aren’t many cars with doors that open by descending into the rockers, but this is one of them. Only 8,000 examples were built, making the Z1 a fun collectible. As with the previous car, it’s hard to call a car that sold for 2 times the market average a “loser,” but once again this was basically a new and never-used BMW. With just 63 kilometers on the clock, the house expected it to bring a bit more at the low end.

I’m including this car for consistency in the number of winners and losers, as it sold for around $50,000 more than the market average. On the flip side, the auction house expected the car to bring $45,000 more on the low end than was realized in the bidding room. In this case, I think we’re just looking at a mismatch between the estimate and market reality for these cars. I can’t blame the specialist too much for this, as comparables for F82 M4s with mileage this low are basically non-existent.

I’m a Volkswagen/VW Group guy and always have been. I have some fondness for BMWs, however, with my preferences being driven primarily by appearances of BMWs in popular films. I love the E34 M5 thanks to Ronin, the E38 750iL due to Tomorrow Never Dies, and the E30 3-series from Pretty in Pink (and like every 80s movie ever made). Despite all this inspiration, I’ve never had a BMW in my garage. I’m working to change that, however, and hope to add one to the stable sometime soon. Sadly, I doubt I will be able to afford any of the examples offered in Munich this year, but the results do give me a sense of where the heat in the market is.

It just might be time to start looking for E36 M3s again. Have a great week, everyone!

Wolf and Mare provides car finding, appraisals, and auction services for buyers and sellers of collector European cars. If you’re interested in acquiring an overseas car, give us a call or drop a line!