BMW E30 M3 - S85 DCT [RNGTOY]

BMW E30 M3 - S85 DCT [RNGTOY]

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s62

Original Poster:

514 posts

197 months

Friday 28th December 2007
quotequote all
[WARNING - LONG POST]

Here is a writeup of my E30 M3 - the mods and track experiences so far smile

It all started in the summer of 2006 when I went to the Nurburgring and
got the Ring virus ( http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=...)

It was pretty clear that my M5 was too heavy for serious track use and was
getting a bit too expensive for thrashing around.

So the hunt for a track weapon started. It had to be light, fast and BMW smile

E30's and E36's were an option but I don´t like the looks of the E36 but I
have always liked the E30 M3 and decided to get one. These cars look just
as cool as when they were produced - timeless beauty IMHO smile

So I basically decided to get a white E30 M3 but that also lead to a power
problem. The 4 cylinder S14 while a great engine is not that powerful and
is crazy expensive to get more power out of it. So it was clear that a
swap would be necessary to suit my taste for power.

At the beginning of the year I went with a friend of mine to Germany to
buy the car and also meet with a guy that breaks late model premium cars and
has alot of BMW parts. He had some swap candidates for us to look at.
After that we were going to meet with the guys that would most likely do
the swap - a shop called Auto Tauber - they used to race in the DTM series
in E30 M3's.

Here we are at the car dealership that had some white E30 M3's for sale, my
friend Sveinbjorn trying to decide which one he liked best:


I was originally going to buy the car on the left but it turned out to be
complete rubbish so we started looking at the one in the center. It turned
out to be in pretty good shape - more expensive though and had just been resprayed.
You can see it was originally black:


Mismatched front seats - horrible Recaro drivers seat smile


The car was not registered so we only could drive it on the lot to test:


Felt good and we decided it was a good candidate for a track car.
Finished the deal and since I waved some cash I got it for the same price as
the original car I was looking at thumbup

So we left the car at the dealer and went to meet with the engine guy.
He had several S50´s and then he also had this:


A supercharged S50B32 with only 1000 km on the engine itself and 5000 km on the
SC setup and gearbox. 450-500hp. Very tempting!!!

I told the guy that I would phone him in a few weeks and tell him what motor I
would purchase.

So after this we went to Auto-Tauber. We did not need to spend alot of time with
them before we knew they were the guys to do the swap smile They were extremely
knowledgeable and seemed very nice guys. We discussed different options - both
a stock S50 and then the SC S50. We also got from them a ballpark figure for
the swap.

It was decided that I would ship the car to Iceland to have it registered and
insured in my name and then ship it back to Auto-Tauber. It could not be registered
in Germany because it had been imported into Germany with the condition that it
would either be exported again or used unregistered in motorsport.

We flew back to Iceland and had a friend of ours in Hamburg go and get the M3
from the dealer and put it on a ship heading for Iceland. I registered it and
insured it at the end of January, had some quick fun:


The car was then back on a ship on it´s way to Hamburg 13th of February.

By this time I had decided that I was going for the Supercharged S50 evil

At the beginning of March I flew to Germany and drove the car from Hamburg to
Auto-Tauber. They are located close to Nurnberg (not Nurburg). It was rather
wet on the way:


I always like those signs biggrin


The built in Navi in the E30 is top notch:


Finally at the destination - 100% stock and unmolested smile


Got to see their pride and joy.... a pristine M1:




We put the M3 on a lift and did a pretty thorough check
on the car.

The "todo" list became the following:
- install the SC S50 motor & 6spd gearbox
- Racelogic traction control
- H&R coilovers
- Movit/Porsche brakes, 322mm front, 294mm back
- Brake cooling ducts
- Recaro Profi SPG XL seats
- 5 point harnesses
- Roll cage
- OZ rims, 17" Ultraleggara, 8" wide
- Wideband O2
- new bushings
- fix rust

At the middle of March I got some progress pics - they had already ripped the
"hamster" out and had went and picked up the SC S50 motor, 6spd gearbox, headers
and cooling for the watercooled intake. Here are some pics they sent me:


















Some expensive wrecks yikes

At the beginning of April I got some more progress pics:

More rust than expected biggrin






All would be fixed smile

Engine & gearbox installed:










At the beginning of May I got this update - brakes installed,
engine placed correctly, propshaft being shortened, cooling system
being installed:





























And May 15th I got this video - the little monster was fired up for the first time smile
http://www.rngtoy.com/thordur/M3/gangsetning.wmv

Picture of the seats/harnesses:


Wires been tidied up:


The car was driven for the first time with the new engine on May 17th:
http://www.rngtoy.com/thordur/M3/005/MVI_4575.AVI

The guys were in a bit of a hurry because I was arriving on the 25th to
pick up the car and go to Nurburgring and Spa.

Here are some pics taken just before I arrived - at some BMW gathering:
















On the 25th I arrived at Auto-Tauber with a few friends - we were
on a "Eurotrip" in a few cars. My E39 SC M5, a stock M5 and an AMG SL55.
We picked up the M3 and headed to the Ring. The M3 sounded awesome on
the Autobahn - you could hear it for miles biggrin We had a minor problem
when we were close to the Ring - lost 2nd and 4th gears. It turned
out to be a minor issue that we could fix at the hotel at the Ring
(www.ringhaus.com).

So it was on May 26th I finally got to drive it in anger on the Ring
on Toyo R888 after months of preperation. It was unbelievable!!!!!!!!!! bounce

The grip was just crazy and the Racelogic traction control kept me out
of trouble. Here are a few pictures:














There were some surprised people on track when an old "200hp" E30 overtook their
much more powerful cars smile

On the 29th we went to Spa for a track day - great day smile Excellent track and alot
of fun driving in the M3 - surprised alot of guys at this MLR trackday.

Woke up early to drive to Spa - very wet frown




Did not look good for a track day.... wet wet wet.


Finally at Spa - driving into the paddock area:




Our fleet:


We rented a garage in the pit area:




Our neighbours:


Cleaning the cars before going onto the track:


Imola red ready to go:


When the track started to dry I went out in the M3 - had driven the M5 in the
wet earlier:













Here I am explaining what is under the hood to a Porsche owner (in the blue shoes)
who was not too happy with our speed difference smile


Here we are going for gas at the end of the day - the M3 running on fumes:


This gas station got alot of our money that day!!!!




Everyone filled up and heading back to the Ring:


It´s almost as the rear wheels are gunmetal coloured - alot of brake dust:




The M3 performed flawlessly the whole day:








Finally here is a video from SPA - http://www.rngtoy.com/thordur/almennt/Eurotour2007...

You can hear the Racelogic traction control kicking in smile

After SPA I returned the cars to Auto-Tauber for some minor fixing. Returned
again 2 weeks later for another trip to the Ring - this time I brought my girlfriend
Lena. Here we are picking up the cars at Auto-Tauber:


Lena got to drive the M5 for the first time - straight onto the Autobahn smile
When we stopped there were some interesting comments....




"This car doing 100mph is like a normal car doing 40mph"
"It´s so stable going fast"

At the Ring the car was better than before - the guys had installed stiffer springs
up front. I was still using the Racelogic - here you can hear it in action:
http://www.rngtoy.com/thordur/almennt/Eurotour2007...

Here you can see my girlfriend hold on for dear life!! smile


Some more pics:






Here the guys at Auto-Tauber had arrived for an E30 M3 meet and were checking the front
brake disks that had started to crack.

Here is a lap in RNGTOY - had an Icelandic guy as a passenger so you will not understand
anything we are saying smile
http://www.rngtoy.com/thordur/almennt/Eurotour2007...

The next weekend I met up with a friend of mine that lives in Luxembourg. He had managed
to get us into a track day at Spa - held by the local BMW clubs. That day was very nice,
alot of old BMW machinery smile


A friend of mine was driving his E36 M3 GT and here is a video from his car when I overtake
him - you can hear how loud the E30 M3 is laugh
http://www.rngtoy.com/thordur/almennt/Eurotour2007...

Also - here are some recordings from my car. You can see how it was pretty wet to
start with but dried as the day went along (and got more fun smile )
http://www.rngtoy.com/thordur/almennt/Eurotour2007...

I found that SPA is pretty hard on tires - more so than Nurburgring. My tires were totally
finished at the end of the day.

The next day I went back to the Ring and had alot of fun until the radiator failed.

Here is a video clip:
http://www.rngtoy.com/thordur/almennt/Eurotour2007...

As you can hear in this clip I had stopped using the Racelogic - felt I was competent
enough in the dry on the R888's.

I was lucky to have the M5 on standby when the radiator broke in the M3 so I could continue
having fun:


I left the M3 at Ringhaus that weekend and the guys from Auto-Tauber picked it up the
following weekend. I had by this time decided that I wanted to strip the car and make
it a dedicated track car.

I soon heard from the guys at Auto-Tauber and they had figured out why the engine had
punched a hole in the radiator. One of the engine mounts had broken so the engine could
move.

Here are the pics I got once they got started:












































































































You can see some interesting things there, broken torsion bar mounting,
busted guibo, some rust repairs, etc.

You can also see the extra cooler for the intake. There would be 2 coolers
and the sequence is intake->pump->pipe->cooler at rear axle->pipe->current cooler->intake.
Hopefully this would be enough cooling and I would be able to monitor the chargecooler
water temperature with that gauge.

They would also install a strut brace as well as strut tower braces (a la cabrio) and adjustable camber plates.

The next installment of photos would also reveal why the car felt so loose in the back.
We originally thought it was because of worn bushings but it was far worse yikes






























































As you can see the rear subframe was broken!!!
It was rusted and the Ring & Spa had killed it. New one installed.

There were also some news regarding the brake disks that had cracked.
The guys sent pictures of the disks to Movit. The Movit guys said at
first that his was just normal and were not going to do anything.

The guys at Auto-Tauber then asked them for this in writing and when
they asked why they said they didn´t want me to drive with these disks
and they needed a name to sue if anything went wrong.

A few days later there was an answer from Movit - new disks being sent
free of charge smile

It was finally August 5th when I picked up the car and headed for the
BMW drivers training at the Ring. Here you can see the car in it´s current
state:











The car is pretty awesome. You can hear so much more now all the carpets and
sound proofing is gone smile

Here is a link to my trip report from the drivers training - alot of pictures and videos:
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.ph...

Here are just a few from that thread:








One scary moment at Wippermann eek
http://www.rngtoy.com/thordur/almennt/BMW_Fahrerle...

Also - my fastest lap so far smile
http://www.rngtoy.com/thordur/almennt/BMW_Fahrerle...

Anyways - it´s been one hell of a season with the M3.

The car has performed very well so far - going to do some minor mods and have
the suspension set up for the Ring by a local guru. Shipping the car to them in
January to have it ready for Easter.

Can´t wait biggrin


PS. Hope I haven´t put anyone to sleep with this long post!!






Edited by s62 on Tuesday 7th October 13:27


Edited by s62 on Monday 24th December 09:22


Edited by s62 on Monday 24th December 09:24


Edited by s62 on Monday 24th December 09:26

s62

Original Poster:

514 posts

197 months

Sunday 30th December 2007
quotequote all
Thanks for the comments - glad you enjoyed the post smile

Gold said:
Amazing M collection you've got their, buy that M1 for a perfect garage cloud9
Hehe, that M1 is not for sale. Some Japanese collectors have been begging them
to sell it but they always say no. But a modern "M1" is something I´m interested
in - more on that later.

agent006 said:
Not seen that controller on the Racelogic system before. Is it a standard one?
That is the Digital adjuster - see: http://www.racelogic.co.uk/?show=Traction_Control-...

Gizmo535 said:
'Gott in Himmel' that's a beautiful car. Love the white alloys. Do you know how much power the supercharged engine is putting out - and how much it weighs now it's stripped out?

Great pics and some ace videos too. Looks like the garage did some great work!
The engine is supposed to put out 450-500hp. However I think it´s closer to 400-450hp at the
moment. We will install a CAI and have the engine guy that built the motor in the M5 finetune
it for full power.

The car weighed 1319kg before we stripped it - I´ll have it´s current weight in a few days when
it goes through it´s annual inspection.

The garage did great work - highly recommended!! http://www.auto-tauber.de/

Don1 said:
Superb - that 'oh sh*t' video was posted on here just a few days ago. Nice - good write up! How come ever iceland I meet is a total loon? wink
I have no idea!!! biglaugh

Gold said:
Any chance of a high resolution version of this? thanks smile
Sorry - don´t have the original.

rossi-328i-sport said:
what a superb write up and great vids!,that yellow E36 looked quick at the ring!
Yes that yellow car is well prepared and the driver is very good.





s62

Original Poster:

514 posts

197 months

Thursday 3rd January 2008
quotequote all
Thanks again for the nice comments guys smile

Polynesian said:
Hi Thordur,

this is a mightilty impressive M3, and used in just the right way too driving

My only vehicular experience in Iceland involved superjeeps and driving up ski slopes, heading out to the desert and chasing the northern lights around at night- amazing fun, but tell me, do you manage to enjoy the M5 or even the M3 in Iceland at all? are there roads outside of Reykjavik where you can have some fun?

2 more questions for you:

1) when you said "more later" on the modern M1, are you thinking R8? - I could be way off... you might mean M1 as in thundering competition icon rather than the mid engined road car. I'm intrigued!

2) What's next for this wonderful E30???

Thanks for sharing your obvious passion for your M cars smile
Not too many places for enjoying the toys over here at high speed. We have no racetracks (apart from a very small kart track
that is really only good for drifting). But there are quite a few fun roads around Reykjavik wink

Regarding the questions:

1) What I am thinking is a mid engined sports car with a modern ///M powerplant.
2) It´s getting shipped to Auto-Tauber in a few days for some minor preperation for next "season"


PS. Weighed it yesterday with a full tank of gas -> 1.300 kg.

s62

Original Poster:

514 posts

197 months

Thursday 3rd January 2008
quotequote all
Polynesian said:
Ascari?

Something more of a one off?

Can't wait to hear and see more, Thordur bounce
More of an one off.

More details in 2-3 years smile

Edited by s62 on Friday 4th January 10:52

s62

Original Poster:

514 posts

197 months

Friday 4th January 2008
quotequote all
RobCrezz said:
Thats awesome!

Got any rough figures?

0-60
0-100

?
No idea. I'll do some experiments this spring with a Gtech meter.

s62

Original Poster:

514 posts

197 months

Tuesday 8th January 2008
quotequote all
AlistairOz said:
At first I thought that it may be a shame to modify an original E30 M3, but thinking about it more, and seeing the good use and pleasure you're getting from it, I think its the perfect thing for an M3 - unlike F335s (wink) - M3's are meant to be driven hard and enjoyed!
Amen to that!!!

Took the car to the shipping company today - the ship leaves for Germany
on Thursday.

It is now properly registered and insured as a 3.2liter 331KW car smile

s62

Original Poster:

514 posts

197 months

Sunday 13th January 2008
quotequote all
Beyond Rational said:
Excuse my ignorance, but would modifying a non M 3 series have been possible, giving more choice over the condition of the body shell?
I wanted an M3 so a non M3 was never looked at.

In hindsight it would of course have been better to take more time
to shop around.

However by the time we found the rust the car had already been
registered here in Iceland and import duties been paid.

So we just fixed the rust spots. BTW the pics make the rust look worse than it
really is smile

s62

Original Poster:

514 posts

197 months

Tuesday 29th January 2008
quotequote all
C2HYM said:
Awesome! thats all I can say.

I look forward to seeing it at the Ring - Easter weekend?

you mention your friend with the M3 GT, he doesn't have the reg plate, 'M3 GT' and a CSL with 'M3 CSL' does he?

Edited by C2HYM on Tuesday 29th January 11:18


Just watches this video http://www.onno.is/thordur/almennt/BMW_Fahrerlehrgang/oh_shit.wmv  Thats some mighty fine car control clap I had similar going into the foxhole doing about 130mph in my Cerb, bike in the way had to lift and the back went light luckily not that sideways and through luck not car control I managed to stay on the black stuff.

Edited by C2HYM on Tuesday 29th January 11:32
Easter weekend is already booked wink
Will be staying with a few mates at Ringhaus (http://www.ringhaus.com ).

My friend has the plate GT 3603. He has huge ceramic front brakes (from
a McLaren SLR) and is now installing a twin turbo kit. He will hopefully
also be there at Easter.

The guy you mention that has the M3 CSL plate is another friend of mine,
a norwegian called Thorleif.

Regarding that moment through Wipperman - I am sure my drifting exercises
paid off right there but I was also lucky.

Edited by s62 on Tuesday 29th January 16:08

s62

Original Poster:

514 posts

197 months

Tuesday 29th January 2008
quotequote all
C2HYM said:
We are all booked up too.

I'll look out for you, I will be in a black TVR Cerbera (should be easy to spot) and a completely standard E30 M3 Cecotto.

I'm assuming you know Andrew Mulholland then? CSL driver

Edited by C2HYM on Tuesday 29th January 16:42
Yes I know Andrew - he is quick smile

s62

Original Poster:

514 posts

197 months

Wednesday 6th February 2008
quotequote all
CampDavid said:
Just read all through this, and your M5 thread, thinking "I'm sure I've seen these 2 at the ring, didn't I talk to the owner about it"

Then I scrolled down and found a picture of that exact meeting (I am the tall one in the blue polo shirt)



Really weird that!

Hope to see you at the ring again this year. I rememebr being passed by both the M5 and the M3, both were memorably rapid
Cool - small world smile

The car has arrived at Tauber and they are now working on it.

It was accompanied by my friends E30 cabrio that they are also going to work on.








Asked them to fix some rust spots.... whistle


The Chasecam unit has been moved so it´s easier to load/unload the CF card:


Also had them move the record button/indicator so it´s easier to reach and see:


The "sunroof" had a nasty edge that could be dangerous if something happened
when not wearing a helmet.... so I had them trim it:


And here they are working on fixing a "footprint" that an envious little prick
left on the car:


Some more things to come... they promise it will be ready before Easter.

Edited by s62 on Monday 24th December 09:44

s62

Original Poster:

514 posts

197 months

Saturday 16th February 2008
quotequote all
Some new pics from Tauber-Motorsport:

Some extra gauges:


Adjustable sway-bars:


Some more rust fixing.... whistle






WTF!?!?!?


Ahhhh, now I remember!!! biggrin




Gauges being fitted:


Bracket painted:


Things progressing nicely in Germany.

Edited by s62 on Monday 24th December 09:47

s62

Original Poster:

514 posts

197 months

Tuesday 26th February 2008
quotequote all
Some more progress pics:


















































































s62

Original Poster:

514 posts

197 months

Wednesday 27th February 2008
quotequote all
The plates they put in are the only thing I´m not sure about.

I will see how they work out and change them out if I am not happy
with them. They will of course not stay this shiny and will probably
blend more in with time.

s62

Original Poster:

514 posts

197 months

Friday 29th February 2008
quotequote all
More pics from the shop in Germany.

R2D2 being test-fitted in the trunk:




Cut of switch for electricity:


Some nice CF parts have arrived cool


















All this CF up front + the dry sump system is going to help to
correct the weight distribution in the car biggrin


s62

Original Poster:

514 posts

197 months

Thursday 6th March 2008
quotequote all
Just got an update from Tauber Motorsport.

Test fitting of the splitter prior to painting of the bumper:


Fenders and hood mounted:




R2D2 has been hooked up:


Hoses don´t go underneath the car - go right through:




Spacers installed to make the M3 GT wheels fit:














Had to make a custom crank pulley (left):






"Carbon" airbox installed and now the motor hopefully gets
some cool air to work with:




Edited by s62 on Monday 24th December 09:57

s62

Original Poster:

514 posts

197 months

Friday 7th March 2008
quotequote all
Xenocide said:
That's an amazing machine. May I ask how much you estimate has gone into it? What are you future plans?
I plan to do the same with this car as I did with my M5 - not add up the invoices
and just enjoy the car biggrin

The car is getting very close to what I had planned and it will be my
track car for the Ring and some other tracks like Spa for the next few years.

s62

Original Poster:

514 posts

197 months

Wednesday 12th March 2008
quotequote all
A week until I pick up the car & head for the Ring...... can´t wait!!!

Here are some pics from when they were test fitting the new front bumper -
hope that I will not have to use that tow hook.....




The new bumper has less airflow to the oil cooler and radiator for the
cooled intake. However, this should be enough - from what I have read the
openings have to be at least 25% of the frontal area of the cooler:


Edited by s62 on Monday 24th December 09:59

s62

Original Poster:

514 posts

197 months

Tuesday 18th March 2008
quotequote all
M3jappa said:
absolutly stunning!
what a car!
Thanks smile

Just got an email from Sebastian Tauber:

"We put an middlesilencer from an BMW E46 M3 in your car, you can see it on the picture.
tüv-time was great. your car is officially proofed. ;-) and ready for the nuerburgring.
the tüv-man was very exited, and left us with an big smile on his face.
I get the documents on Wednesday."

Not bad cool

Now there are only some small jobs left and some cleaning.

Here are some pics:









































































Flying to Germany tomorrow to pick up the car and drive it to the Ring..... let´s say
I´m just a little bit excited biggrin

Edited by s62 on Monday 24th December 10:09

s62

Original Poster:

514 posts

197 months

Saturday 22nd March 2008
quotequote all
Picked up the car yesterday..... all good except that it is running too rich
and is not delivering all the power frown Will be fixed after easter - cannot
use the power now anyways, it´s snowing at the Ring.

Here are some pics from when we picked up the cars from Tauber:
















And here is a pic from the Ring - interesting conditions:


Edited by s62 on Tuesday 7th October 13:35

s62

Original Poster:

514 posts

197 months

Wednesday 26th March 2008
quotequote all
Back from the Ring. Interesting trip - lots of snow and bloody cold!!!



Also got to drive the GP track which was very interesting - much nicer track than I
had expected.

Unfortunately my car was having power/boost issues all weekend and finally the
supercharger gave up. So now I will have to get it rebuilt. The good thing is
that now I will get all the power back wink

Edited by s62 on Tuesday 7th October 13:36