Discussion
Anyone got any experience (good or bad) of tracking E30 M3's? I'm considering getting one next Spring - it will be a third car, but I'd like to use it for commuting a couple of times a week. I've never done track days before, but have heard this is one of the best balanced cars and great to learn in - true or hype?
Thanks for these replies - Fergus, what was the Delta EVO like? I was considering that as well, but thought the M3 would be 'stronger'. I appreciate the M3 could probably use more power, but I'm prepared to sacrifice some top end speed if it really is a car you can learn to "drive" in, as has been suggested in some articles I've read
To run an integrale properly, you are looking at very large service bills. The engines are relatively fragile so need to be maintained accordingly. Had the best steering of any car I've ever driven though.
Also be aware, that although the E30 M3s are cheap now, they too need knowledgable servicing to keep them on top form. Balancing the throttle bodies is a fairly involved job, but pays dividends in the pick up of the engine.
Oh yes, you also need to cane the engine to get it to move, but assuming you have let everything warm up properly you should be fine. A good mod is to fit the hydaulic cam chanin tensioner off the E36/E46 M3. Don't let anyone tell you horror stories re the cam chain cnapping. If you speak to any of the guys who build E30 S14 race engines, surprisingly, they've never heard of one going....
The evo III / Sport evo exhaust cam is a good mod, or a pair of Schrick cams (with 284 degree duration) are also useful. Car also reponds well to junking the entire airbox/AFR flap type thing and going with a full 3D mapped ECU such as MoTEC. Emerald will do the same job at about 1/3 of the price of the MoTEC though.
I'm leaving work now, but will back online tomorrow if you have any specific questions.
Also be aware, that although the E30 M3s are cheap now, they too need knowledgable servicing to keep them on top form. Balancing the throttle bodies is a fairly involved job, but pays dividends in the pick up of the engine.
Oh yes, you also need to cane the engine to get it to move, but assuming you have let everything warm up properly you should be fine. A good mod is to fit the hydaulic cam chanin tensioner off the E36/E46 M3. Don't let anyone tell you horror stories re the cam chain cnapping. If you speak to any of the guys who build E30 S14 race engines, surprisingly, they've never heard of one going....
The evo III / Sport evo exhaust cam is a good mod, or a pair of Schrick cams (with 284 degree duration) are also useful. Car also reponds well to junking the entire airbox/AFR flap type thing and going with a full 3D mapped ECU such as MoTEC. Emerald will do the same job at about 1/3 of the price of the MoTEC though.
I'm leaving work now, but will back online tomorrow if you have any specific questions.
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That looks STUNNING! Is that Brands Hatch you're on?Yeah thats the Ring, the car is on HR coilovers it was my car in Performance mag and yes it did have different wheels then and a standard engine. I bought these wheels and had the centres sprayed black.
The original engine went bang at Oulton Park
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So I eneded up spending a fortune on a group A with handmade exhaust to suit Evo 3 manifold and lower diff from the States. The red grill is a copy of the racing version Warsteiner cars.
The spec is quite extensive but this winter I am taking the car back to a bare shell seam welding it sandblasting underneath and painting in a brilliant white. I have already taken out the sunroof and replaced with a fixed carbon one. Full welded cage will be fitted carbon dash new instruments pedal box fibreglass bonnet bumpers and wings etc etc. Will post pics of work in progress this winter.
The original engine went bang at Oulton Park
So I eneded up spending a fortune on a group A with handmade exhaust to suit Evo 3 manifold and lower diff from the States. The red grill is a copy of the racing version Warsteiner cars.
The spec is quite extensive but this winter I am taking the car back to a bare shell seam welding it sandblasting underneath and painting in a brilliant white. I have already taken out the sunroof and replaced with a fixed carbon one. Full welded cage will be fitted carbon dash new instruments pedal box fibreglass bonnet bumpers and wings etc etc. Will post pics of work in progress this winter.
I had an E30 M3 about 5 years ago now and used it on countless trackdays, and also as a weekend run about, they are brilliant briliant fun. As has alrady been said they are a little underpowered once you get used to them but because the handling is so good you can carry the speed through the corners, so on a full lap your quick. I had bilstien suspension on mine, just normal struts not coil overs. I used H&R springs, with the bmw front 0.5deg negative top mounts to help turn in. This configuration seemd to work very well on the road and track as it wasnt too hard, just slightly stiffer than standard. For track days i used the std 15" wheels on worn tyres.
Also worth taking the fog lights out fitting proper ducts from nigel mosley and taking the back plates from the disks and getting some proper cooling made up to the center of the disk. I used GSF OE spec disks with pagid pads and ATE super blue, never ever had any probs with fade or warping and I'm hard on brakes.
One thing to remember though, these are race cars converted to road cars (hence why they are so good on the track) but that also means they can take alot of maintenance if used reguarly, plus they are old cars now. Just silly things like HT leads to cure a misfire or a distributor cap or rotor arm can be expensive, then the manifold blocks wear out once a year and allow in un-metered air, the electric fan wiring from the switch to the fan will have bad connections and be toasted and brittle. They are fairly heavy cars to at about 1200 KG and if used on track a lot will be fairly hard on tyres and brakes
If i didnt have a race car to maintain I'd have another tomorrow for sure though.
just dont get too fed up with losers that think its a LHD 316 with a body kit and that the first M3 is an E36.
regards
Pikey
Piture of my old one on my profile.
Also worth taking the fog lights out fitting proper ducts from nigel mosley and taking the back plates from the disks and getting some proper cooling made up to the center of the disk. I used GSF OE spec disks with pagid pads and ATE super blue, never ever had any probs with fade or warping and I'm hard on brakes.
One thing to remember though, these are race cars converted to road cars (hence why they are so good on the track) but that also means they can take alot of maintenance if used reguarly, plus they are old cars now. Just silly things like HT leads to cure a misfire or a distributor cap or rotor arm can be expensive, then the manifold blocks wear out once a year and allow in un-metered air, the electric fan wiring from the switch to the fan will have bad connections and be toasted and brittle. They are fairly heavy cars to at about 1200 KG and if used on track a lot will be fairly hard on tyres and brakes
If i didnt have a race car to maintain I'd have another tomorrow for sure though.
just dont get too fed up with losers that think its a LHD 316 with a body kit and that the first M3 is an E36.
regards
Pikey
Piture of my old one on my profile.
Another E30 M3 fan here. One of the best road and track cars ever made in my humble opinion.
Here is a photo of mine at the Ring last week. The eagle eyed amongst you will spot Sabine in the passenger seat telling me to "stop driving like a lady boy and give it the beans" !!!
Thanks to Jochen at Frozenspeed for the picture.
Here is a photo of mine at the Ring last week. The eagle eyed amongst you will spot Sabine in the passenger seat telling me to "stop driving like a lady boy and give it the beans" !!!
Thanks to Jochen at Frozenspeed for the picture.
GuyS. said:
Another E30 M3 fan here. One of the best road and track cars ever made in my humble opinion.
Here is a photo of mine at the Ring last week. The eagle eyed amongst you will spot Sabine in the passenger seat telling me to "stop driving like a lady boy and give it the beans" !!!
Thanks to Jochen at Frozenspeed for the picture.
Here is a photo of mine at the Ring last week. The eagle eyed amongst you will spot Sabine in the passenger seat telling me to "stop driving like a lady boy and give it the beans" !!!
Thanks to Jochen at Frozenspeed for the picture.
Lovely car.
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