UK’s rarest cars: 1971 BMW 2800 E3, the only one left

This trailblazing sports saloon firmly cemented the Bavarian company as a producer of reassuringly expensive prestige performance machines

Sleek coupés often unfairly overshadow their saloon counterparts, especially when it comes to late Sixties and early Seventies BMWs. Today, the two-door 2800CS (with the internal designation E9) is far less exclusive than its E3 four-door counterpart. This example of the E3 2800, owned by playwright and theatre director Ian Dixon Potter, is believed to be the only roadworthy example in this country.    
A few years ago, this series featured the Neue Klasse (New Class), which almost singlehandedly saved the firm from bankruptcy after its debut at the 1961 Frankfurt motor show led to a deluge of advance orders. But while the latest BMW appealed to middle-class Aufsteigers (social climbers), its 3200S “Baroque Angel” flagship saloon (1952-64) looked archaic compared with the Mercedes-Benz 220S “Fintail” (1959-71).  
Production of the Baroque ended in 1963. Two years later, the Mercedes-Benz W108-series S-Class made BMW’s need for a new prestigious saloon even more acute. Work commenced on the E3 in 1965, and the company’s market research discovered that motorists associated the BMW name with performance rather than comfort. Consequently, the E3 would be a sports saloon employing the Neue Klasse formula writ large.  
The 2500 and 2800 “New Six” saloons debuted at the 1968 Frankfurt Motor Show to a vast amount of press and public interest. Power was from the new M30 single overhead camshaft, straight-six-cylinder engine (which, incidentally, remained in production until 1995). The specification also included disc brakes all round along with all-independent suspension. The 2800 also featured a Boge Nivomat self-levelling system at the rear, a heated rear window, front headrests and a wood-trimmed interior.   
One German motoring magazine referred to the E3 as “a real sports car in a tailcoat”. A BMW engineer told the press that any new European luxury saloon must be “an athlete, for we no longer drive slowly on deserted roads”. BMW’s publicity further warned: “Our role model for this kind of buyer is neither the muscle-bound bodybuilder nor the portly gentleman.”
British sales began in August 1969. Autocar thought: “If design could be taught by example, we would campaign for all British manufacturers of luxury cars to investigate the BMW six-cylinder range.” Motor Sport believed the E3 was “about as near-perfect on almost all counts as any sporting saloon motor car can be”. 
This newspaper described the 2800 as: “Beautifully made and equipped, and goes indecently fast for its size with remarkably good acceleration. It should appeal to the well-off enthusiast or businessman with a taste for mechanical refinement and sports car performance.” Even if The Telegraph’s motoring correspondent thought the E3’s styling so innocuous that he briefly confused it for a Ford Cortina in a car park.   
BMW GB proclaimed the E3 possessed “the enjoyment of power all successful men have” and called it “the 125mph car that money alone can’t buy.” That said, a potential owner having access to a large amount of pounds, shilling and pence was quite an advantage; in 1969, the price of a 2800 was £3,245 – that is £1,000 more than a Jaguar XJ6 4.2, with power steering costing an additional £98 on the BMW. 
The E23 7-Series replaced the E3 in 1977 after about 190,000 units, almost 72,000 of which were sold in the USA. Comparatively few reached the UK, however. Dixon Potter had long sought a 2800 after he had sold his 2500. He discovered none still registered in the UK, so his example hails from BMW’s factory in Pretoria, South Africa. It came to the UK in 2023; the climate in its place of manufacture means that it does not suffer from the corrosion that afflicted British market E3s.  
As for the 2800’s road manners, Dixon Potter finds: “The 2800 is a light car for its size and so the 2.8-litre, 170bhp engine endows it with greater acceleration than cars with considerably larger engines. The all-round independent suspension is unexpectedly compliant. It gives the E3 a far more comfortable ride than modern BMWs with their low-profile tyres and rock-hard suspension.” 
Dixon Potter also describes the 2800 as “surprisingly chuckable”. In his view: “It is an old cliché but the E3 corners as if it were on rails and with very little body roll. The powered steering is beautifully weighted, accurate and precise at speed but with just the right degree of assistance for low-speed manoeuvring. The quality of the gearchange is unsurpassed. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a more rewarding gearbox.” 
The 2800 is currently for sale as Dixon Potter has “too many classics in my collection”. And it’s fair to assume that its new owner is highly unlikely to mistake it for a Ford Cortina.  
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