RE: BMW E30 track project

[Jacobyte]

Dale Lomas said:

Want to know something even cooler than that 2007 article? It's now seven years later, and I was STILL racing against him in VLN on Saturday!

Haha, I remember VLNing against him in 2004; I've got in-car video of me following him in the 2005 24hr, he wasn't hanging about. then either.

[Munter]

Steven_RW said:

I don't understand. Isn't a turbo the exact opposite of NA? I appreciate I may be missing something :-).

NA is the chassis code for the MK1 MX5.
NB is the MK2
And...you guessed it.
NC is the MK3

[militantmandy]

That man can drive! Looks a great car.

[motorhole]

LaurasOtherHalf said:

Isn't the e30 m3 steering rack a relatively easy swap in these to reduce the arm twirling?!

For a left hand drive car like this, yes - but expensive and rare and would mean a move to power steering which I get the impression Dale is trying to avoid. E46 rack is faster (and cheaper) than the E30 M3 rack if the move to power steering can be stomached!

Otherwise it's a case of running a power rack with all the gubbins removed - okay for a track car, but problems come MOT time. OR getting a custom manual fast rack cut, which = ££££

[s m]

Jacobyte said:

Dale Lomas said:

Want to know something even cooler than that 2007 article? It's now seven years later, and I was STILL racing against him in VLN on Saturday!

Haha, I remember VLNing against him in 2004; I've got in-car video of me following him in the 2005 24hr, he wasn't hanging about. then either.

Does it in 8:20 on the standard power according to the article

[scarble]

Steven_RW said:

I don't understand. Isn't a turbo the exact opposite of NA? I appreciate I may be missing something :-).

Welcome to PistonHeads

[Maldini35]

Lovely little car.

Cheap(ish)to buy
RWD
Handles well
Sounds great
Looks great
An appreciating asset

The perfect PH choice.

Now imagine a whole grid of 35+ cheap, race prepped E30's (320's not 318is') on the best race tracks in Britain...

The result - The Production BMW Championship.

Buy a race winning car for £5k or a midfield runner with potential for £3k and have some fun.

[vsonix]

Aaaah, finally some love for the 4-cyl engine. I really miss the light feel of the M44 in my 318ti - yes, the M52B28 is so much better for smoothness, power and torque and the car still drives well, but there is no doubt in my mind that the 4-banger cars are better in the twisties by far.

[Renovation]

I obviously missed an article - what happened to the E36 ?

[longintheleg]

Love the giggling and talking to yourself throughout the video, brilliant.

There's always been a soft spot in my heart for E30's since owning a 325i Touring with an M-Tec kit on it, what a noise.

Great write up and video. Thanks for sharing.

[anonymous-user]

Wow, that had me chuckling out loud - love the overtakes, bet you caused some driver envy as you blipped past the more expensive motors...nice!

[sprocketman01]

I've got an e30 318is,Love it,never kept any car more than 6 or 7 months without being bored,had my "is" for just shy of 8 years now... I too fell in love... Never wanted an e30 certainley not a 4 pot one..
Just keeps getting better and better every time I drive it.

As mentioned by previous posters steering rack is your next mod of choice,personally I have fitted Z3 1.9 rack (2.7 turns) to both my "is" and my previous 325 e30's... sharpens up responses and improves grin factor no end... but I would plumb in PAS system for just a touch of comfort..... May you have many many more slide-y adventures with your new love....

[daytona365]

I drive an e30 but I'm sorry, I've lost all interest now. All I want to know is http://youtu.be/Cu_0h2GZXJQ Yup, who killed Bambi. The e36 or the e30 ?

[timothymcn]

Dale Lomas said:

Want to know something even cooler than that 2007 article? It's now seven years later, and I was STILL racing against him in VLN on Saturday!

Anyone have a link to said 2007 article? I'm having a hard time tracking it down on google. Would love to read it...

[s m]

timothymcn said:

Dale Lomas said:

Want to know something even cooler than that 2007 article? It's now seven years later, and I was STILL racing against him in VLN on Saturday!

Anyone have a link to said 2007 article? I'm having a hard time tracking it down on google. Would love to read it...

It was removed

[405dogvan]

When I was younger, I preferred older women but younger cars.

Now I'm older I've reversed my preferences - older cars are the new 'younger women' (in fairness - they're the same cars, by and large - but probably the original women's daughters!!)

[Bacchus]

What do they weight in original trim? 1200, 1250kg?
I can't imagine that it can be under 1000kg now?

[buggalugs]

Bacchus said:

What do they weight in original trim? 1200, 1250kg?
I can't imagine that it can be under 1000kg now?

They're not easy to get under 1000kg but it can be done. Sounds like this car has gone pretty far with the plastic windows etc. Ulimately that's why I sold mine, you put all that time and money in and you've still got a 1 ton+ saloon car at the end of the day. Fun yes, but compromised. Imagine if you started with say an MX5 and put the same time & money into it, or just bought an Elise or whatever. But if you're doing it for fun and you like E30's then why not, there are worse ways to spend a Sunday!

[Kawasicki]

Bacchus said:

What do they weight in original trim? 1200, 1250kg?
I can't imagine that it can be under 1000kg now?

About 1120kg as standard. 50kg of that is not difficult to remove...seats swap, lightweight battery, lose the spare and tools.

[Ray Smoodiver]

That is a stunning colour, article states it started as Atlantis Blue, but it looks closer to Lagoon Green or similar?