If the BMW 320is E30 with the 192PS (189hp) 2.0-liter naturally-aspirated four was the poor (Italian and Portuguese) man’s M3, then what does that make the 318is? While we let you think about it for a bit, let’s see what we have here.

This is a North American-specification 1991 BMW 318is 318i four-door sedan, which came with the same M42 1.8-liter inline-four rated at 140PS (138hp) as the Euro-specification 318is placing it between the 129PS (127hp) 2.0-liter straight-six 320i and the 170PS (168hp) 2.5-liter inline-six 325i.

If you’ve been following the used car market in the States lately, you will have no doubt noticed a surge in the popularity of all E30 BMW 3-Series models, with prices steadily rising for regular versions and rapidly for the diminishing number of M3s.

It’s not often that you find low mileage E30s in a respectable condition and when you do, they tend to be very pricey (think in the teens).

The white 318i saloon offered on eBay is a one-owner manual-gearbox car (those are even rarer) and has only 69,374 miles (or 111,623km). The best thing about it is that it is being sold on eBay without a reserve (unless the seller removes the listing…) and the highest (automated) bid at the time of this posting was a reasonable $3,900.

The car isn’t perfect (notice the over-the-dash plastic section, a sign that the original dash underneath may be cracked), but it’s one of the better looking E30’s we’ve seen.

If I entered the bidding war (it ends today, Jun 12, 2014 at 19:41:49 PDT), I’d probably wait for about 10 minutes or maybe even less before it ends, and use the max / automatic bidding function (see what eBay says here) with a set top price.

By John Halas

Correction: This is a North American-spec 318i with the same M42 engine as the European 318is and not a 318is, as originally stated in the article.

PHOTO GALLERY