Sultan Of Brunei’s BMW Car Collection

There is no greater BMW enthusiast than the Sultan of Brunei. Public records indicate that His Royal Highness has ordered at least 271 BMWs.

The Brunei Royal car collection may include even more, possibly featuring several concept cars like the BMW Nazca. The Sultan also owns multiple models customized by Alpina and BMW Motorsport. Additionally, most of the BMWs in his collection are right-hand drive.

BMW 3 Series

Seeing the 3 Series models in the Sultan of Brunei’s car collection could be strange as he owns thousands of rare and monstrously expensive cars. However, the 3 Series represents the humble side of the Sultan. Here are some of the models he owns.

• BMW 318iS
• BMW 320ix
• BMW 325i
• BMW 328i
• BMW 328iA

BMW 318iS and 320ix

There is just one BMW 318is coupe from 1997 (chassis number WBABE82070EU21896) in the Sultan’s BMW collection. 

Additionally, the 320is was the special model sold only in Italy and Portugal. However, reports show that the Sultan owns two units of the 320ix  which could either be specially curated versions of the 320is by BMW or customized models by Pininfarina, similar to many of his Ferraris and other cars.

BMW 325i, 328i, and 328iA

The BMW 325i in the 3 Series possibly managed to leave an impact on the Sultan of Brunei. Since he ordered eleven units of it. 

Meanwhile, even though it has not been reported yet, the Sultan might have also bought a couple of 325iX models from the E30 generation which happens to be the first BMW to have an all-wheel drive system. 

Furthermore, at least five units of the BMW 328i are present in the royal car collection of Brunei. Four of them are four-door saloons (one from 1995 and three from 1996) and one has a convertible body (chassis number WBBK82020ET80957). There are two 320iA models as well.

BMW 5 Series

The BMW 5 Series has a special place in the Sultan garage. In 2022, he even took the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar bin Ibrahim for a ride to Seri Perdana, Putrajaya in a BMW from the airport which appears to be the 5 Series model. Here are some different variants under the 5 Series that he owns.

BMW 525i

There are five units of the BMW 525i which reportedly are part of either the third or fourth generation of the 5 Series. At least two are Touring versions while there is one with the saloon body style.

BMW 530i

The Sultan of Brunei’s BMW collection has nearly 27 530i models. Some of them have the estate/wagon body styles and belong to the third generation (E34) or fourth generation (E39) which ran from 1988 to 2002. 

One 1993 BMW 530i Estate model is painted in white and has chassis number WBAHK220400GF75084. Meanwhile, there are at least two more 530i Estate models covered in charcoal paint.

BMW 535i

Almost all the BMW 535i models in the Hassanal Bolkiah, the Sultan of Brunei’s car collection are part of the BMW 5 Series third generation (E34) powered by six-cylinder engines. Close to 25 units of the 535i have been reported. 

Likely, most of them are either wearing sedan or "Touring" wagon/estate body styles. Furthermore, one of the distinct models from the Brunei cars leaks was the 1989 BMW 535i Alpina sedan in yellow color (chassis number WAPBA35012BB20571).

BMW 540i and Others

The E34 generation of the BMW 5 Series is the Sultan’s favorite as most of the models are part of it. He has four BMW 540is (E34) out of which three are saloons and the remaining one is the Touring model.
Lastly, the Sultan of Brunei car collection also features one BMW M535i (chassis number WBADC82OX00660712) and two M535iA models.

BMW E39 Alpina

The Sultan bought and sent numerous Ferraris to Pininfarina for customization. However, he preferred buying the modified versions from Alpina when it came to BMWs. One of his notable models is the E39 Alpina, a high-performance version of the 5 Series which belongs to the fourth generation. Reportedly, the B10 E39 Alpina (chassis number WBADE62050BW72060) is a saloon from 1997.

BMW B10

The Sultan of Brunei prefers keeping special cars. So it makes sense why he would order Alpina for four customized B10s. The BMW Alpina B10 Bi-Turbo or simply BMW B10 was based on the third generation (E34) of the 5 Series. We know the chassis numbers for three models as of now.

• WBAH22060BF53160
• WAPBA35011BB20518
• WBAHD22020BF54368

One of the Alpina B10 is painted in yellow. There is another B10 which is no longer part of the Brunei car collection. It is covered in glacier blue color and was imported from Malaysia. Its last location as of November 2024 was in Australia.

BMW 7 Series

The Sultan of Brunei has flagship models from Rolls-Royce, Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, and many others in his sub-collections. Hence, it is rather unsurprising to see the BMW 7 Series in his garage.

The Sultan owns nearly 59 units from BMW's flagship series in total which feature different iterations of the 750i.

• BMW 750iL 
• BMW 750iAL
• BMW 750ix

The Sultan’s garage houses at least 15 units of the BMW 750i sedan. Among them, at least one is a B12 750i Alpina model, which belongs to either the second-generation (E32: 1986–1993) or the third-generation (E38: 1994–2001). This particular model is black and has the chassis number WAPBC57L08RD30122.

Furthermore, two 750iA models with automatic transmissions are also part of the collection. The 750iL is one of the famous James Bond cars that appeared in the 1997 film Tomorrow Never Dies. 

However, it is not confirmed if out of 35 units of the 750iL, there exists one that Mr. 007 actually drove. 

A user on the M5board forum claims that all 750iL are tinted black and they were bought as the Sultan of Brunei’s personal police cars. The Brunei BMW collection also includes five 750iAL and two 750ix models.

BMW 8 Series

The Sultan took quite a liking to grand tourers offered by BMW under the 8 Series nameplate and ordered a bulk of 8 Series models in different iterations.

850i Models

Most of the 850i and sub-models in the Brunei car collection are part of the BMW E31 generation and wear the coupe body style. He owns fourteen 850i and thirteen 850Ci which is the renamed version of the former model. There are three BMW 850CiA and six 850CSi which used to be the top-ranking variant on offer in the 8 Series in the mid-90s.

The 850CSi has quite a cult following and even Jay Leno couldn’t resist to bring it on his show and review it.

Here are chassis numbers for some of the 8 Series models from the Sultan’s car collection.

• 850i - WBAEG22040CB57197
• 850Ci - WAPBC50C02D110064
• 850CSi - WBSEG92000CC88048

830i and 840Ci

The 830i was the prototype model. The Sultan of Brunei ordered nine units of the 830i from the first generation (E31) of the 8 Series which didn’t even reach the production line. Reportedly, eighteen cars were made. Only thirteen were given the auto gearbox out of which the monarch of Brunei has two 830iAs. His royal garage also houses six BMW 840Ci models that were made between mid-1993 to late 1995.

BMW B12 Alpina

In total, only 57 B12 5.7 Coupes were made. According to Dupont Registery’s latest info, the Sultan’s BMW car collection only has one B12 in his garage. Other sources such as M5board claim that the Sultan bought three B12 Alpina. 

In 2001, his Royal Highness sold one right-hand drive 1993 Alpina B12 5.7 Coupe. Only nine models with RHD were and out of these only two featured manual transmissions. That is why, the Sultan of Brunei’s was a scarce piece. 

It was also custom ordered by the Sultan but he hardly ever drove. In 2001, the car was sold back to the original dealership, UK Alpina dealer Sythers of Nottingham with only around 1,000 miles on it. 

There is one more B12 which was imported to Brunei in 1998 from the UK and was sent back to the UK in 2022. The car features a black Nappa leather interior and a jet-black exterior. It was first ordered by Prince Jefri Bolkiah of the Brunei Royal Family (BRF).

BMW M1

Even the Sultan of Brunei is unable to resist the charm of BMW M series cars. He owns two M1 units, one of which has a chassis number WBS59910004301120. It is from the 1980 model year and has the coupe body style.

BMW M3

The BMW M3 was launched years after the M1. Chances are that after experiencing the capabilities of the M1, the Sultan decided to order seven M3 models. At least three are convertibles and one is coupe. Meanwhile, besides the Sultan, MotoGP World Champion Marc Marquez is also obsessed with BMWs and he owns one M3 CS model in his garage.

That said, here are the model year and chassis numbers of some of the M3s from the Brunei Royal collection.

• 1994 M3 Convertible - WBSBJ62000ES84270
• 1994 M3 Coupe - WBSBF92080EA66626
• 1995 M3 Convertible - WBSBJ92080ES85355

The 1990 M3 Convertible (chassis number WBSBB05090EB86177) is part of the E30 generation and has yellow exterior paint. It used to be a left-hand drive car before being converted to the right-hand by BMW Motorsport. The Brunei car collection also includes the M3 GTR. 

It is a road-legal version of the car that won the 1993 ADAC German GT Cup Touring Car series in 1993. 

Besides that, it is impossible to ignore that there is a high possibility that the Brunei Royal Garage also has a prototype version of the race car which has never been revealed to the public.

BMW M5 and M6

The high-performance version of the 5 Series, the M5 has the most spots in the BMW M series collection owned by the Sultan of Brunei. There are at least 17 units of the M5 sitting in his garage one of which is a 1990 M5 sedan from E34 third generation. 

The Sultan reportedly also has at least one BMW M5 Touring station wagon model. Besides that, it appears the M6 didn’t suit his royal highness’ Palate, so he only ordered one such model. 

Many fans of the E28 BMW M5, including Dough DeMuro, are fascinated by its surprising punch and sleek styling. These could be some of the reasons why the Sultan ordered the M5 in bulk.

BMW Z1

Buying rare automobiles in bulk is a normal activity for the Sultan of Brunei. His BMW Z1 collection further reflects his love for convertibles. As for why he ordered the Z1? The vertically sliding doors may have caught his royal interest. 

The Sultan owns 17 first-generation Z1 models. There are two Z1 visible in the Brunei car leaks. The Black (chassis number WBABA91070AL03888)  and the red (chassis number WBABA91060AL01842) are both from the 1990 model year, as per the M5board forum. 

At the same time, at least three Z1s are part of the 1991 model year. Besides the Sultan, there are a few notable names such as Jeremy Clarkson, who has spent bucks on the Z1, although the word is that Jezza hates it.

BMW Z3

It is likely that after being impressed by the Z1’s looks and performance, the Sultan wanted to try the next-generation Z3 models. So he ordered two of them. That said, the Z3 is also famous for being in the James Bond movie, Golden Eye (1995). 

BMW made 100 "James Bond Edition" Z3 convertibles. Could the Z3s in the Sultan of Brunei’s garage be part of the limited edition models? What do you think? Meanwhile, could you also name anyone other than Grammy award-winning singer, Prince who owns a BMW Z3?

BMW Z4

The Sultan of Brunei’s buying spree continued for BMW’s first convertible series. After the Z3, he eyed the BMW Z4 and, according to some sources, purchased five units. 

He has never been spotted driving it, so it is best to assume that these Z4s are resting along with the other 7,000 cars in his royal garage complex.

BMW Z8

How many reasons the Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah needs to buy a car? NONE! Sometimes his majesty possibly sees a car and says, “I want two dozen of them” and the manufacturer just ships them to Brunei. 

In the Z8’s case, he must have commissioned half a dozen units just because the Z8 was the new model in the market. It will not be a stretch to say that somewhere in his huge garage, we could also end up seeing the Z07 Concept one day. 

The Z8 wasn’t just a pretty car for the Sultan but it was and is popular among numerous Hollywood celebs such as Ryan Gosling. They can hardly compete with the Sultan’s net worth but at least the ownership of the Z8 provides some similar interests with a royalty.

BMW 2000 and BMW 2000CS

The BMW 2000CS was the special luxury coupe under the BMW New Class series. Sultan probably ordered the two units in his garage because it was a “comfortable touring car with a sporty heart”, as BMW wrote in its press release.

You would also find a minimum of two BMW 2002 models in the Brunei royal fleet of cars which was sold as the compact executive car.

BMW NAZCAs

The Sultan used to own a blue BMW Italdesign Nazca V12 model from 1993 until it showed up on James List (now James Edition), a classified website for rare and expensive cars. 

The BMW Nazca from the Brunei car collection holds significance since it is among the rarest BMWs out there and only three were ever produced in the NAZCA series. 

Reportedly, as of now the royal Brunei cars also include one BMW Nazca C2 Spider, one BMW Nazca C2 Coupe, and one 1991 BMW Nazca M12 in black (chassis number 003/ID). 

This takes the final count of the NAZCA cars to four. It is possible that BMW made one more car for the Sultan in secret like Ferrari did several secret projects (e.g. F90) for the Sultan.

Sultan’s Former Car

One of the BMW 8 Series models owned by the Sultan of Brunei hit the market in 2024. The 1993 BMW 850Ci was specially ordered by the Sultan with the four-speed automatic transmission and Maldives metallic blue color. 

It is the only 8 Series model with such a color scheme and right-hand drive arrangement to this date, according to the Throttle House. At the time of the sale, the car had 31,600 miles.

Special Mention

The X5 4.6is was another collaboration between BMW and Alpina. The Sultan of Brunei’s car collection has three one-off BMW X5 4.6is models, according to byeturbo on Instagram. The cars have a black exterior. One of the models features a black and grey interior while another has a red/maroon leather cabin.

The Sultan of Brunei's BMW car collection could include more cars. We will be updating the remaining ones as soon as someone leaks them again. Till then you can check out his other car collections.

Also Read:

• Sultan Of Brunei’s Aston Martin Car Collection
• Sultan of Brunei’s Audi Car Collection
• Sultan Of Brunei’s Rolls-Royce Car Collection