‘Tis that time of season again to decorate your home and choose that perfect Christmas tree, and for automakers it’s also a nice opportunity to promote their products by creating Christmas-themed ads.

BMW did just that, but instead of choosing something of its current arsenal, like the new, all-wheel drive M5 or one of their powerful crossovers/SUVs, they went for something from the past, and most specifically a pickup version of the M3 E30.

If you’ve never heard of it, it’s because it never hit the market and was a skunkworks project created by the Bavarian brand’s M division in 1986 to transport various work equipment and parts. That it did until 2012, when it was retired.

The M3 pickup is based on an E30 Convertible and initially used the 2.0-liter engine of the 320iS, which was subsequently replaced by the M3’s 2.3-liter unit that’s rated at 200hp.

The commercial shows a mother and her daughter making the final preparations for Christmas, while the father is coming home with the tree in the M3 pickup’s bed. Apparently, he enjoyed powersliding on the snow-filled roads and had so much fun, he forgot about the Christmas tree at the back and, by the time he got home, it was ruined, much to the dismay of his family.

The video is also BMW’s way of promoting their new M website, which includes no less than 12 models, from the M2 Coupe to the X6 M and from the M3 CS and M4 CS to the all-new M5.

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