Legacy Metrics

1937 BMW 328

85111racingGermany
Colour
White

Chassis 85111 is an early BMW 328, delivered new in July 1937 to a Berlin BMW dealership, making it one of the first customer examples of a model that transformed pre-war circuit racing. After an obscure wartime and early post-war history, the car surfaced in the Netherlands in 1949, where its owner entered it in at least one documented race. It was later registered in Germany before undergoing a comprehensive factory-level restoration by BMW Group Classic between 2014 and 2016, at a cost approaching €200,000. The car subsequently entered a private museum collection.

Ownership

  1. —Auction sale
    Sold €511,250 (≈ $562K)

    RM Sotheby's catalogue lot →

  2. 1937-07-05 →Factory delivery
    Brenner & Schoth BMW dealership, Berlin
    partial documentation

    Delivered new to this Berlin-based BMW dealer; what occurred between initial delivery and the car's appearance in the Netherlands is not documented.

  3. 1949 →Acquisition unknown
    Mr. Klaver
    partial documentation

    Dutch owner who raced the car in 1949; a race entry sheet and photograph corroborate his ownership and use of the vehicle during that period.

  4. 2011 →Acquisition unknown
    German-registered owner
    none documentation

    The car was noted as carrying German registration in 2011; no further details about this owner are provided.

  5. 2016 →Private sale
    Current consignor
    partial documentation

    Acquired after a comprehensive restoration by BMW Group Classic and added to a personal museum collection, where it has remained on static display.

Competition

  1. 1949-06-26
    Nationale Sportwagen Race
    Driver: Mr. Klaver

    Photographic evidence shows this specific chassis being driven by Mr. Klaver at this event; a race entry sheet dated 15 June 1949 also documents the entry under his name.

Maintenance & restoration

  1. —Restoration
    BMW Group Classic

    Full restoration carried out by BMW Group Classic over approximately two years, supported by invoices totalling close to €200,000.

    Work spanned 2014 to 2016; invoices are on file.

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How this record is sourced

Each chassis record is compiled from public auction archives and links to its source material. Ownership, competition and maintenance entries are extracted from those catalogue listings by an LLM, which can make mistakes — please contact us with any corrections. The summary is Legacy Metrics’ own writing; we do not reproduce catalogue text.

“Full” and “partial” documentation labels indicate how well each entry is corroborated in the underlying sources, not an audit of the car’s physical paperwork. Names of recent or living owners are withheld for privacy.