Less than 10 Alpine White M3s in the UK?

[shibui]

I was talking to an English buddy of mine and he told me that Alpine White E46 M3s (RHD) are rare as hell in the UK- less than 10 in the whole country. Any reason for such a disproportion?

Is it just because a whole lot more were sent stateside that they’re more prevalent there? It feels like at least a thousand were sent to North America.

While on that topic was LSB only offered in the US? I never see them owned by Euro guys.

[Thoglan]

I think alpine white is just a strangely rare colour in some areas. For instance in NZ there is only one. I have heard there is two and one of them is a vert, but I've only seen the coupe.

LSB was definitely offered outside the states.

[Estoril]

[shibui]

According to M3Cutters, most of them were sent to HK, Japan, and Australia.

Wonder why?

[Thoglan]

Wish this kind of information was available for interior colours, better yet interior x exterior combinations. Something about production numbers for different colours and combinations is so fascinating to me.

Why were so few Oxford Green cars ordered, one of the most incredible colours available for our cars IMO. The things I'd do to go back in time to buy the only oxford green car in NZ, which happened to also be specced with M tex. Wonder how many of those there are around.

[Estoril]

Wish this kind of information was available for interior colours, better yet interior x exterior combinations. Something about production numbers for different colours and combinations is so fascinating to me.

Why were so few Oxford Green cars ordered, one of the most incredible colours available for our cars IMO. The things I'd do to go back in time to buy the only oxford green car in NZ, which happened to also be specced with M tex. Wonder how many of those there are around.

Because people ordering cars didn't want green cars. And dealer knew to not order a spec car in green.

How many green cars do you see on the street?

[Thoglan]

Estoril Obviously not many were ordered because people didn't want it lol. Wasn't really my question. My question is more why didn't people want it? Oxford green is uniquely low in production numbers for a standard colour and was even outsold by some individual spec colours IIRC. Especially when colours like PY did really well (obviously the fact that it was the launch colour played into that). But even other bold colours like LSB did comparatively well, the disparity between the two is even larger in the LHD market. Interesting considering that today, rarity aside, oxford green is one of the best looking colours and I would take it over PY or LSB all day.

It's the same story with the interiors. M-texture for instance was rare at the time because it was regarded as ugly and no body wanted to pay for the cost option of adding it. But these days, again rarity ignored, many would say the m-texture is way better looking and more interesting than standard black leather.

[Estoril]

Estoril Obviously not many were ordered because people didn't want it lol. Wasn't really my question. My question is more why didn't people want it? Oxford green is uniquely low in production numbers for a standard colour and was even outsold by some individual spec colours IIRC. Especially when colours like PY did really well (obviously the fact that it was the launch colour played into that). But even other bold colours like LSB did comparatively well, the disparity between the two is even larger in the LHD market. Interesting considers that today, rarity aside, oxford green is one of the best looking colours and I would take it over PY or LSB all day.

It's the same story with the interiors. M-texture for instance was rare at the time because it was regarded as ugly and no body wanted to pay for the cost option of adding it. But these days, again rarity ignored, many would say the m-texture is way better looking and more interesting than standard black leather.

As I noted - generally, people don't like green cars.

OG with a Cinnamon makes a good looking car - but..... see Rule 1.

LSB and PY were the intro colors. For a couple of months - if you wanted an E46 M3 - those were your choices. Thats what shipped to dealers. Demo cars were LSB, A lot of young guys leased them and loved the loud colors. The dealers moved to ordering "safe" spec colors for sale lot cars - silver and black. Safe and easy to sell. Some people ordered specific colors they wanted - but a lot of cars sold were dealer spec cars.

My dealer had a new PY M3 in the showroom in early 2003. It had been there 6 months. He said they guy that ordered it refused it when he saw it in person. The dealer called it "Sales-proof Yellow".

[DropTopKingM3]

In the early age of e46 M3s, black interior and grey were more sought out than cinnamon and red. These days people are ditching their black and dove interior by the boat load.

[ra2fanatic]

When presented with blacks, silvers and whites it’s easy to say at the time “I want OG” and then when it’s time to sign the dotted line you end up saying “I better play it safe”. No denying OG is a gorgeous color though.

[Thoglan]

When presented with blacks, silvers and whites it’s easy to say at the time “I want OG” and then when it’s time to sign the dotted line you end up saying “I better play it safe”. No denying OG is a gorgeous color though.

That is a fair point. They weren't cheap cars, and colour is the first most obvious thing you see. But at the same time, oxford green is far more muted and I would say more 'safe' than many of the other hero colours. But I guess it all depends on the person. Just seems so strange that disproportionately few by a such a significant margin ordered OG. I guess people really do just not like green cars. That or putting a historically british colour on a german car is somewhat egregious.

[Ianb]

I was talking to an English buddy of mine and he told me that Alpine White E46 M3s (RHD) are rare as hell in the UK- less than 10 in the whole country. Any reason for such a disproportion?

Is it just because a whole lot more were sent stateside that they’re more prevalent there? It feels like at least a thousand were sent to North America.

While on that topic was LSB only offered in the US? I never see them owned by Euro guys.

We got LSB in the UK, it now seems to be one of the most favoured colours.

Think so few cars were white as it wasn't fashionable at the time to have a white car, during the e9* era white was a lot more popular and recently every other car on the road seemed to be white.

[Kcalhoun27]

Even in 2018 when i bought my car, there were not a lot of people claiming to like OG. Now, there are tons of them and i get compliments driving frequently. But this sentiment seems to be a recent development. Probably doesnt hurt that there are only ~118 OG cars in the US, so they are rare even here

[old///MFanatic]

My question is more why didn't people want it? Oxford green is uniquely low in production numbers for a standard colour and was even outsold by some individual spec colours IIRC. Especially when colours like PY did really well. But even other bold colours like LSB did comparatively well,the disparity between the two is even larger in the LHD market. Interesting considering that today, rarity aside, oxford green is one of the best looking colours and I would take it over PY or LSB all day.

Not sure where you’re getting your info but all three colors were discontinued by BMW because of poor sales. They were Not popular. Dealerships could not sell them unlike the other colors.
As for the Oxford Green, just doesn’t fit the personality of most M3 original buyers. It was more accepted on the 5 series sedans. More of an older conservative color if you go by psychological color analysis.

[Thoglan]

old///MFanatic Hence why I said comparatively well. Even though in the grand scheme LSB did poorly, it still sold over 5x more than OG. But yes the latter is probably true, the wrong colour for the demographic.