Everyone knows the BMW 325is is one of SA’s special cars, but the 333i is even rarer. Watch Ciro de Siena drive this unicorn.
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Only 210 of these were built, ensuring that this car remains one of the rarest cars ever made. And it’s a car that South Africa can be proud of; it was developed, built, and only ever sold in South Africa.
With help from Alpina, BMW South Africa set about building something unique. With the E30 M3 absent from our market (largely due to sky-high import duties and the fact that it was only ever going to be a left-hand-drive model), the local arm of the German car giant decided to go big.
Adding displacement was the answer and the 3.2-litre inline-6 engine from the BMW 733i was squeezed into the relatively tiny engine bay of the 323i Coupe.
A significant list of modifications and customisations were made to help the 333i stand out from its more pedestrian stablemates, and it worked.
With an original price of just R41 000 back in 1985, these cars easily fetch R2 million nowadays.
For our video guy Ciro De Siena, driving one was always a dream. Heck, seeing one was always a dream. And so when a collector up in Gauteng invited us to drive and film the car, we were quite simply over the moon.
We hope you enjoy this as much as Ciro did. Let us know what you think in the comments below.




