Prior to the release of the North American specification M3, BMW Canada sold 45 of the European specification M3s. At the time, BMW North America was opposed to importing the E36 M3 (due to its high price and the poor sales of the previous M3). The Canadian Edition M3 was imported using a loophole that allows low volumes of Norwegian-certified cars to be sold in Canada. Despite a high price of nearly $60,000 CAD, all 45 cars were sold in 3 days in early 1994. As with other European specification M3s, these 45 cars had the version of the S50 engine, oil temperature gauge and glass headlights. Each of the Canadian Edition cars has an individually-numbered plaque on the glovebox which reads "S50 B30 Limited Production Canadian Edition". The cars also have a numbered engraved plaque in both the glovebox and the custom leather case which holds the owner's manuals.