E30 M3 dream come true
Discussion
Not usually one to do a build thread so I apologise in advance for my terrible spelling/grammar.
However I feel it the right thing to do after all Marks efforts the car deserves it in this instance.
With a car as special (to me) as this I feel like a custodian rather than an owner so it’s only right it’s story continues to be told.
So how did I come to own such a car?
No idea really! I was perfectly content with my 1 of 15 techno violet E46 M3 - i had just lavished 5 figures into over the previous 12 months maintaining and modifying it for track use.
But having taken some risks and been lucky with work I’ve found myself fortunate enough to be able to buy some cars that even a couple of years ago I could only dream about.
Just the week before the e30 became available i went to view the sensible choice, a very low mileage M2.
It was an approved used manual In LBB at a local dealership.
However upon viewing/testdrive I was rather underwhelmed, the car didn’t feel special to me.
Add to this a pushy salesman who just kept banging on about the Black Friday deal that meant I had to sign on the dotted line today
It just wasn’t to be.
So on to the E30.....
I had always lusted after Marks car,having known of it since he first posted online in 2014, at the time I was driving a £800 e30 318i, so as you can imagine it was the holy grail for me.
So years later when I saw it come up for sale and I had the means you can imagine it took me all of 5mins to go for it.
Had I of gone for the M2 it wouldn’t have been possible so fate had a part to play.
I placed a blind deposit, a bold move given it’s a 30 year old performance car, however marks build thread has told the full story of the car (good and bad) so it was a chance I was willing to take, aswell as mark being a throughly decent bloke.
A couple of days later I found myself on an agonisingly long train journey to Cornwall.
The viewing must have been the shortest in history....as soon as I saw the car It was mine as far as I was concerned!
Had the car a month now and can confirm it’s certainly a case of meet your hero’s, Ive had plenty of quick cars and a lot of e36/e46 M3’s but this certainly feels special, partly due to marks modifications but it’s certainly one of those cars that need to be driven to understand the hype that surrounds them.
I’ve got a few plans for the car in 2019, however no drastic transformations.
Mainly fitting my recaro pole positions , addressing a few bits that are not up to my standards as well as booking it in for a mapping session.
I don’t want any doubts in my head when attempting to take eau rouge flat! all in all I’m a happy chap.
So far I’ve enjoyed a Sunday service and Brooklands with the car
However I’m lucky enough to have a group of Mates that literally do douzens of trackdays a year.....already booked for curborough in July as a shake down
However I feel it the right thing to do after all Marks efforts the car deserves it in this instance.
With a car as special (to me) as this I feel like a custodian rather than an owner so it’s only right it’s story continues to be told.
So how did I come to own such a car?
No idea really! I was perfectly content with my 1 of 15 techno violet E46 M3 - i had just lavished 5 figures into over the previous 12 months maintaining and modifying it for track use.
But having taken some risks and been lucky with work I’ve found myself fortunate enough to be able to buy some cars that even a couple of years ago I could only dream about.
Just the week before the e30 became available i went to view the sensible choice, a very low mileage M2.
It was an approved used manual In LBB at a local dealership.
However upon viewing/testdrive I was rather underwhelmed, the car didn’t feel special to me.
Add to this a pushy salesman who just kept banging on about the Black Friday deal that meant I had to sign on the dotted line today
It just wasn’t to be.
So on to the E30.....
I had always lusted after Marks car,having known of it since he first posted online in 2014, at the time I was driving a £800 e30 318i, so as you can imagine it was the holy grail for me.
So years later when I saw it come up for sale and I had the means you can imagine it took me all of 5mins to go for it.
Had I of gone for the M2 it wouldn’t have been possible so fate had a part to play.
I placed a blind deposit, a bold move given it’s a 30 year old performance car, however marks build thread has told the full story of the car (good and bad) so it was a chance I was willing to take, aswell as mark being a throughly decent bloke.
A couple of days later I found myself on an agonisingly long train journey to Cornwall.
The viewing must have been the shortest in history....as soon as I saw the car It was mine as far as I was concerned!
Had the car a month now and can confirm it’s certainly a case of meet your hero’s, Ive had plenty of quick cars and a lot of e36/e46 M3’s but this certainly feels special, partly due to marks modifications but it’s certainly one of those cars that need to be driven to understand the hype that surrounds them.
I’ve got a few plans for the car in 2019, however no drastic transformations.
Mainly fitting my recaro pole positions , addressing a few bits that are not up to my standards as well as booking it in for a mapping session.
I don’t want any doubts in my head when attempting to take eau rouge flat! all in all I’m a happy chap.
So far I’ve enjoyed a Sunday service and Brooklands with the car
However I’m lucky enough to have a group of Mates that literally do douzens of trackdays a year.....already booked for curborough in July as a shake down
Edited by Cheapstraightsix on Friday 4th January 21:57
Cheers chaps.
daniel-5zjw7 said:
Good to hear you're doing well Lee 
I think you made the right choice.. this car is an asset, the M2 not so much, nevermind I bet its amazing to open the garage to see this!! Have you kept the E46 too? What are the bits your planning on doing to the E30?
Hi Dan, hope the compact suspension is serving its purpose. I think you made the right choice.. this car is an asset, the M2 not so much, nevermind I bet its amazing to open the garage to see this!! Have you kept the E46 too? What are the bits your planning on doing to the E30?I Was planning on keeping the 46, however without even mentioning it as soon as people saw I had the e30 I was approached by 5 people asking if I wanted to sell the e46.
Initially I wasn’t going to, but did the maths and figured it would owe me £30k to get it where I wanted it, mind you I wasn’t far off that figure already.
So I threw a figure out there to the first that enquired and he ripped my arm off!
Il see what happens with the e30, it just needs a good going through on the face of it daft things like missing clips, pipe runs rubbing etc.
Be interesting to see how i get on with it when used in anger.
Hopefully I fare better with reliability than mark, if not it’s getting a S54.
Now it all makes sense! I was telling the security guard on the gate at BMW how Mark drives up from Cornwall for our events, and then you pulled around the corner 5 seconds later. I was a bit baffled and had only assumed he had sent someone else in his place. Stunning car you've got there from a top bloke, congratulations on making a dream come true.
you may have already seen it but there's a YT video of the SS, thought it looked familiar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmii0yFsd30&t=...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmii0yFsd30&t=...
Expensive four pot would probably fit the bill!
I think a few people find it hard to believe mark sold the car. Upon unlocking the car leaving Brooklands I was approached by a fella saying “you must be mark” I assume he hadn’t seen the petrolicious video
I agree they’re an absurd amount of money compared to what they once were,
I justify it by thinking had a bought one for £5k in 1999 (ignoring the face I was 10) I would have cost me £40k+ easily to keep it alive and in good condition for the past 20 years.....that’s my man maths and I’m sticking to it!
Had a bit of time to tinker on Sunday so thought I’d tackle an easy job.
The headlights were well past it, fogged up, chipped, cracked, adjusters broken, they wobbled over bumps and the light output was poor to say the least.
pretty much a full house of everything that can be wrong with a set of headlights
So it was out with the old and in with the new, also reminded me what a joy these are to work on, changed a bulb on my evoque (Mrs choice) last week and still have the scars to prove.
The e30 however - 3 easy to access screws and the entire units come out. Bliss.
Before:
After:
As ever these things are hard to pick up on camera, but in the flesh has taken years off IMO.
Only problem now is they show the grills to be faded.....can see where this is headed.
Also ordered up a proper BMW E30 key blank, I know it’s pathetic but it’s the daft details of a car that complete the package for me.
Currently you’d never believe that this starts such a unicorn of a car.
Also had a result with a spark plug socket(exciting stuff).
Unbeknown to me the S14 requires a special socket to remove the plugs, as with anything E30 M3 related they’re not cheap £120+ second hand.
However a bit of googling and £30 pound on amazon later:
Does the job perfectly, unusual in my book for a cheaper alternative to work out
Currently tucked back in its carcoon awaiting the new garage being built, but will still do bits and bobs and will update as and when I can.
[url]
No idea why the pics have done that.
I think a few people find it hard to believe mark sold the car. Upon unlocking the car leaving Brooklands I was approached by a fella saying “you must be mark” I assume he hadn’t seen the petrolicious video
I agree they’re an absurd amount of money compared to what they once were,
I justify it by thinking had a bought one for £5k in 1999 (ignoring the face I was 10) I would have cost me £40k+ easily to keep it alive and in good condition for the past 20 years.....that’s my man maths and I’m sticking to it!
Had a bit of time to tinker on Sunday so thought I’d tackle an easy job.
The headlights were well past it, fogged up, chipped, cracked, adjusters broken, they wobbled over bumps and the light output was poor to say the least.
pretty much a full house of everything that can be wrong with a set of headlights
So it was out with the old and in with the new, also reminded me what a joy these are to work on, changed a bulb on my evoque (Mrs choice) last week and still have the scars to prove.
The e30 however - 3 easy to access screws and the entire units come out. Bliss.
Before:
After:
As ever these things are hard to pick up on camera, but in the flesh has taken years off IMO.
Only problem now is they show the grills to be faded.....can see where this is headed.
Also ordered up a proper BMW E30 key blank, I know it’s pathetic but it’s the daft details of a car that complete the package for me.
Currently you’d never believe that this starts such a unicorn of a car.
Also had a result with a spark plug socket(exciting stuff).
Unbeknown to me the S14 requires a special socket to remove the plugs, as with anything E30 M3 related they’re not cheap £120+ second hand.
However a bit of googling and £30 pound on amazon later:
Does the job perfectly, unusual in my book for a cheaper alternative to work out
Currently tucked back in its carcoon awaiting the new garage being built, but will still do bits and bobs and will update as and when I can.
[url]
No idea why the pics have done that.
Managed to get my favourite seat fitted today and rather pleased with the result.
Now sits alot lower and is set in the perfect position for me and is on proper mounts.
Next on the list Is to sort the air filter out, no idea how it’s been missed, but no chance it’s been cleaned/replaced in the last 10 years.
Airflow must be almost non existent.
The middle bit of the filter is where I’ve rubbed my finger across and Covered my finger in deep black dirt!
From what I can tell I’m looking at £180 just for a new filter, best try and clean it first.
Now sits alot lower and is set in the perfect position for me and is on proper mounts.
Next on the list Is to sort the air filter out, no idea how it’s been missed, but no chance it’s been cleaned/replaced in the last 10 years.
Airflow must be almost non existent.
The middle bit of the filter is where I’ve rubbed my finger across and Covered my finger in deep black dirt!
From what I can tell I’m looking at £180 just for a new filter
, best try and clean it first.Cheapstraightsix said:
Next on the list Is to sort the air filter out, no idea how it’s been missed, but no chance it’s been cleaned/replaced in the last 10 years.
Airflow must be almost non existent.
The middle bit of the filter is where I’ve rubbed my finger across and Covered my finger in deep black dirt!
From what I can tell I’m looking at £180 just for a new filter, best try and clean it first.
Disappointing for a car thats had multiple engine rebuilds..... Airflow must be almost non existent.
The middle bit of the filter is where I’ve rubbed my finger across and Covered my finger in deep black dirt!
From what I can tell I’m looking at £180 just for a new filter
, best try and clean it first.Seeing my E30 go to someone who clearly loves it as much as I, it helps lessen the sting to know it'll be well looked after and used in equal measure.
In my defence (re air filter) the E30 got used whenever possible, 24/7/365 and the most recent outing prior to selling was a trip up to Mallory Park (in grotty weather conditions) followed by around 30 - 40 laps and ending the day with the drive home. I think that equates to around 600 miles in a day? It was absolutely filthy. As always, I put the car in for an oil and filter change but clearly the air filter was missed. (maybe explains the anomaly re the AFR reading Lee?) I probably being a little over sensitive (so apologies if so) but there is nothing 'claimed' about the time and effort I put into this M3 over the past few years. I'm not a wealthy chap and I worked long and hard to realise a dream, which is partly why I remain so sad at having to sell. Unfortunately poor health means my not being able to work for a while but bills don't stop do they, unfortunately. I still consider myself lucky to have had my 'dream car' though and look forward to seeing it live on in Lee's more than capable hands. I wish I had been able to do the lions share of maintenance etc myself, as opposed to being dependent on third parties but c'est la vie. I'm still lucky enough to have something M powered to keep me out of mischief.
Anyway, am sure we'll catch up soon Lee and I'm sure you'll have a great time. I'm pretty confident you'll fall for the s14 too and I would definitely take it up to Wayne @ Chipwizzards.
In my defence (re air filter) the E30 got used whenever possible, 24/7/365 and the most recent outing prior to selling was a trip up to Mallory Park (in grotty weather conditions) followed by around 30 - 40 laps and ending the day with the drive home. I think that equates to around 600 miles in a day? It was absolutely filthy. As always, I put the car in for an oil and filter change but clearly the air filter was missed. (maybe explains the anomaly re the AFR reading Lee?) I probably being a little over sensitive (so apologies if so) but there is nothing 'claimed' about the time and effort I put into this M3 over the past few years. I'm not a wealthy chap and I worked long and hard to realise a dream, which is partly why I remain so sad at having to sell. Unfortunately poor health means my not being able to work for a while but bills don't stop do they, unfortunately. I still consider myself lucky to have had my 'dream car' though and look forward to seeing it live on in Lee's more than capable hands. I wish I had been able to do the lions share of maintenance etc myself, as opposed to being dependent on third parties but c'est la vie. I'm still lucky enough to have something M powered to keep me out of mischief.
Anyway, am sure we'll catch up soon Lee and I'm sure you'll have a great time. I'm pretty confident you'll fall for the s14 too and I would definitely take it up to Wayne @ Chipwizzards.
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff