An observation from E39 540m to E30 323

[LemonHunter 583]

After years of the shame of knowing an E30 325m could smoke my old E34 540iS in the twisties, but not having experienced an E30 for myself, today I broke the seal, myself plus OEFOXs old E30 blasted from picton to golden bay in the most funnest of ways.

All i can say Is i get it now... holy crap... a car that WANTS to corner vs one that WANTS to go straight!

I've never understood why anyone in there sane mind would want a puny I6 m3 when they could have an V8 m5 and allll that power!

Yet here i am with an alleged 81rwkw grinning like an idiot.

I cannot fathom how much more fun a car that handles like this with closer to the power to weight ratio of my 540...

I think I'm converted.

Next step... bolt on faster toys to this M20B23 or go find somthing that starts with and S.

[LemonHunter 583]

So that really is the question folks, how do I get light weight and nimble and add low end torque as i must admit it does make me nervous flogging an M20B23 from 4.5 to 6.5krpm as that seems to be the business zone. Or do these things love to rev and i shouldn't worry?

[hybrid 1043]

welcome to e30 ownership. you are now better than everyone else by default.

[LemonHunter 583]

welcome to e30 ownership. you are now better than everyone else by default.

It feels pretty awesome so far...

So what's the general consensus of the most tear free way (financially and mechanically) to get 400NM of torque in the engine bay (because who actually cares about HP anyway).

400NM will give me similar or better seat of the pants feeling to an E39 or E60 M5 (by my drunken calculations)

[LemonHunter 583]

Oh and i had a drive by chat with the dude that owns the blue E30 340 in Nelson.

[Driftit 2069]

The perfect E30 setup is what Josh and James has and had in their E30's,

Passing dirty super beetles in James' E30 at Puke race track was great.

But there is nothing wrong with sticking with the cheap old easy to maintain M20. You can get some respectable power out of them.

B25 Block with B20 pistons and a M50B28 crank. Re-mapped Motronic 1.3 and you are away laughing. For not a lot of money.

Otherwise go M50.

I am meant to be selling my E30. But I just don't want to. It is too much fun.

[BM WORLD 1283]

e28 M535i with a worked m88 3.65l in it best of both worlds.

lightish , plenty of torque and power , nimble enough

fixed !!

[E30-323ti 66]

It feels pretty awesome so far...

So what's the general consensus of the most tear free way (financially and mechanically) to get 400NM of torque in the engine bay (because who actually cares about HP anyway).

400NM will give me similar or better seat of the pants feeling to an E39 or E60 M5 (by my drunken calculations)

The only way to get 400nm is cubes or forced induction.

Also remember that many nm's (roughly 2x what they came from the factory with) is going to make the E30 a very different beast to drive, and needs some very considered choices for suspension & tyres to keep the rear stuck to the asphalt and (try to) retain some of the characteristics you've come to love. Speaking from experience...

Edited September 25, 2015 by E30-323ti

[LemonHunter 583]

The only way to get 400nm is cubes or forced induction.

Also remember that many nm's (roughly 2x what they came from the factory with) is going to make the E30 a very different beast to drive, and needs some very considered choices for suspension & tyres to keep the rear stuck to the asphalt and (try to) retain some of the characteristics you've come to love. Speaking from experience...

You do speak some truth. I think i might just aim for a modest increase over the power of an E30 M3, which would still be a nice increase over what it has now.

A 400NM E30 would probably be better as a separate mostly straight line toy, looking at the stance of this thing it doesn't look that well setup, adjustables and super lows, no camber correction, but holy hell it handles, a very small, predictable and controllable amount of over steer when i really give it the jandal.

[BreakMyWindow 1874]

S62 in between the strut towers.

That's all.

[_ethrty-Andy_ 2132]

hate to be the guy at the end of the party that says home time.....

but make sure you get the rust in the firewall thoroughly cut out and repaired correctly on that car before the pipe dreams really set in

E30 coupes and Sedans are very fun, drive them like you stole them and never hit the middle pedal putting it into a corner. Cabbys are quite floppy and don't corner half as well as the coupes and sedans. Not sure about the tourings as the only ones I have driven i haven't owned, and you can't drive a car you don't own like one you do!!

Im not sure what the suspension state is of that car (I/we never drove it), but get that all refreshed and sorted before you go crazy on the engine!

[LemonHunter 583]

#euroratrod

[str8_6 275]

First BMW I owned was a pre-facelift e30 325i Motorsport coupe. I still miss that thing, it was one of those cars you found excuses for just to go drive it. It just did everything right.

[kiwi535 538]

400 nm you will end up with a 540 type experience unless you go for turbo power

[LemonHunter 583]

Ran cables for a sub... passenger footwell full of water, totally absorbed by a surprising amount of foam rubber though.

Looks like rust was repaired but they didn't unblock the drains, so it's filled back up with water that's rusted out the repairs welding and leaking through to the cabin...

First inclination was to pretend I didn't see it and flick it on to someone else... but karma would give me the beat down for being that jerk. Evidently it's not too uncommon for E30 to do this, at least if i repair it in mine I don't have to worry about it.

Tonights web time will be devoted to finding long term fixes to presumably the air inlets drain holes blocking.

[KwS 2421]

Ah, its this car. didnt even click. From what ive heard, i hope you have a good mates whos a panel beater.

[LemonHunter 583]

Ah, its this car. didnt even click. From what ive heard, i hope you have a good mates whos a panel beater.

Well my neighbors a kick ass welder...

Would your suggestions be to abandon ship or just fix it properly?

[LemonHunter 583]

Okay... damn... this doesn't look good.

[e30ftw 410]

Yeah I went and had a look at this, There's a heck of a lot of rust on it, You haven't seen the start of it if you only just noticed this!

Why else did ya think no one local bought it

[LemonHunter 583]

Yeah I went and had a look at this, There's a heck of a lot of rust on it, You haven't seen the start of it if you only just noticed this!

Why else did ya think no one local bought it

Well... it's my problem now.

I don't think I'd feel right knowingly making this someone elses problem... 'think' being the operative word here.

Could probably recover most or all of my money parting it out, seats etc are mint.

[LemonHunter 583]

not worth repairing?

Right on the edge of the strut tower part, plus the old repair on the firewall, plus under every guard lip, every panel needs resprayed, the starter motor just shat itself, stem seals all leak terribly, few other things, I'm going to get it up on a mates hoist and go rust hunting to properly assess where it's at.

I'm going to attack the rust i can find with a grinder, make sure it's mostly metal under it. Might learn a few things, mostly about buying a 30yo car unseen against advice from at least one forum member, but also what's involved in making a neglected E30 good.

Edited October 3, 2015 by Charlie F.

[aja540i 1906]

It looks like the kind of project i usually end up with!!

Probably only worth tackling if you can cut out sheetmetal and replace it yourself, not economical to pay someone to do it.

[LemonHunter 583]

It looks like the kind of project i usually end up with!!

Probably only worth tackling if you can cut out sheetmetal and replace it yourself, not economical to pay someone to do it.

I've always wanted to learn how to weld ;-)

[Allanw 1071]

I've always wanted to learn how to weld ;-)

Opportunity is knocking

I think E30's are getting to the great divide of the good, and the bad. The good ones are probably going to stay expensive, and the bad ones are going to be cheap (until you spend double what a good one costs, making a bad one into a good one ), and probably get cheaper.

Maybe re-shell time? There's still good shells around - there were a LOT of E30's imported, and some are looked after, but not super desirable (320i auto), so aren't too expensive (see note above )