E30 Zone

A few pics of my M3. Imported from Ireland and spent recent months working through niggling jobs. Also uprated brakes to Tarox 6 pots & DS2500 pads.

Safety Devices full cage
Ridgard seats / harnesses
ACS carbon fibre mirrors
Bonrath single wiper
DTM air box & Alpha N
Schrick
H&R uprated ARB's
H&R / Bilstein suspension

Originally bought and used as development car for Hamann Motorsport in Germany. It was on their stand in Munich Motorshows in 90 & 91. Just waiting on history file and some old magazines with relevant articles / pics.

Came of BBS splits but bought some Compomotive TH, as prefer the look. Added bonus is they're strong enough to cope with Cornish roads.

Gets driven regularly and used as intended.

love the wheels

michealfromnorthampton wrote:love the wheels

Thanks.

Came on Style 5's but wanted something a bit more unusual and with room for bigger brakes.

love the comps iv got a thing for them right now,mind im struggling to find a set for a reasonel price!!

what size are they?they fill the arches just right

They're 17 x 8's ET13

I approached Compomotive directly and they made them for me. Excellent customer service.

I run quite wide rubber at 235/40 front and 245/40 rear, but my arches were re worked by Hamann Motorsport when they bought the car new in '90. I imagine a stock arch may rub, but can't be certain. I also run a 5mm hubcentric spacer on the rear.

Like the car and the stable mates.

very nice, good to see one being used & not just polished

I know some folk won't like the mods but it gets used most days and I love the thing.

Hoobs wrote:I know some folk won't like the mods but it gets used most days and I love the thing.

That's all that matters, own drive enjoy. Nice car by the way.

Hoobs wrote:I know some folk won't like the mods but it gets used most days and I love the thing.

Mark,

They are adictive when driven as they should.

Mine is in total bits at the moment undergoing a complete rebuild, back to bare metal and seam welding everywhere.
Have changed to a non sunroof roof skin and removed all underseal. Its surprising how many orange spots you find when you remove it all.

Good luck with the car and must let me know when on a TD so can catch a ride.

Regards,

Dave

Hi Dave,

I'd like to be able to give mine a thorough rebuild some day, although Avers Racing fixed the small bit of rust in the corner of the footwell, where all e30 seem to go. It's remarkably solid everywhere else. There is the odd stone chip, but they are being sorted after the New Year. The coilovers are also going back to Bilstein for refurbishment and re valving.

That just leaves new carpet and having the Ridgard seats reupholstered. Oh and some Schrick cams and the manifold and system from Zero exhausts in Kent.

http://zeroexhausts.co.uk/BMW-E30-M3.htm

I've got a lot of saving to do.

Well I have been gradually working my way through a pretty long list of jobs. The most urgent one was removing the cage and then fitting it properly, with appropriate strengthening of the floor. The final bits of rust were also dealt with and it's now totally solid throughout. I am still tempted to re-fit a carpet but meanwhile, the floor is freshly painted. I also had the dash and console flocked, replaced the steering wheel and removed any obsolete wiring. The matching passenger seat is also fitted. It's a much nicer place to be sat now.







The crazed carbonfibre splitter and gurney flap also got some love. I'd considered replacing them but at £500+ I figured we should attempt to repair instead. Careful sanding and a coat of clear has got them looking great again.





The floor is solid and looks so much better now. Added bonus is the cage shouldn't punch through if the worst should happen.







We also replaced the corroded fuel lines.



Added a stud conversion, Tarox 6 pot brakes & DS2500 pads. The brakes are awesome now.









I'd like to have the body wrapped in the Bastos livery after the summer.

Wow, love this M3

Thought this would have got more attention on here - cracking car!

Brilliant. Look forward to updates

Cracking tool vast improvement on the wheels

Thanks.

Decided to lose the aftermarket rear lights, so the hunt is on for some OE replacements that haven't been tinted with a spray can or are cracked etc.

Have also decided to start saving for a full repaint. Ideally I would like to fit a non sunroof roof skin and have it painted white, but it'll depend on cost. It may be an idea to have a full cage done at the same time, as they need to remove the roof skin then anyway. We're a way off that yet anyway, so I'll just continue to enjoy it as is for now.

Sits great on those rims. Awesome motor

It's funny but I half expected to get slated for it not being OE.

Keep it red mark!

Looking good Mark.

Keep it red +1. Its a lot of work to change the whole colour. Glad to hear you are enjoying it. Just need to pull my finger out and put mine back togather. Would be good to get them both out togather.

Cheers
Dave

If I did change the colour I'd strip and soda blast the whole shell anyway. It's all at the day dreaming stage for now, as I've still got my e21 project to finish and the 02 could do with some love. I plan on having the period Bastos livery done soon though and am entering a few sprint events. I think Crystal Palace is the first, in May.

Just want to order a GroupA throttle pedal and Will @ Rally Prep is painting a cam cover for me.

Interesting history what with the Hamman link.

Very purposeful looking car and as you said with mine, good to see it being used as intended!

Absolutely awesome! The comps with the spoiler lip etc give it a real Group A vibe!

The stud conversion is essential too. I'm sick of wheel bolts - after having a few JDM cars recently I forgot how much of a ballache they are!

I've always loved Compomotive TH on E30's and they're really strong, although not that light as a result. Best of all is the amount of clearance they give for brake upgrades. The Tarox 6 pot calipers I run are huge compared to the OE items but they fit with ease.

I'm thinking of replacing the Ridgard bucket seats with Recaro Speed. I like the Ridgard but the drivers seat is getting a little tatty.

Amazing

Had a bit of bad luck today. Took my Mrs to Bristol and as we exited the M5 I was rear ended by a family in a Ford people carrier. They hit me hard enough that I hit the car ahead of me, so damage front and rear. It actually doesn't appear to be too bad at first glance, but it's actually worse than it looks. I've had the car recovered to my home address and it'll probably go to the body shop next week.

Nooooo! Gutted for you, were they insured?

Hope you can repair it, much panel damage?

Yeah and they admitted liability, so should be ok. There's more damage than it first looked like but still repairable. I imagine it'll be quite some bill though and the whole car will need repainting.

Here are a few pics showing some of the most obvious damage. Things like the leading edge of the bonnet (where it has bent over slightly) are more obvious in the metal.























There is also an oil weep, that definitely wasn't there prior to the impact. The exhaust has clearly been hit and so I'm wondering if that is related? Either way, it will need to be looked into.

gutted for you mark

That's bad news. I hope you can get it sorted ok through insurance. Hoping everything is available parts-wise...

The guys insurance company have accepted full liability, so it'll be off to the bodyshop very soon. I just hope there are no nasty surprises, once we start stripping off the bumpers etc.

How's your neck? Looks like it was a good shunt to damage both ends!

Did you knock the bloke out who hit you? I would have been livid!

My Mrs was a bit shaken and stiff the next day but no lasting injury. There's no personal injury claims being made though. Obviously I was gutted the accident happened but the guy had his wife and young kids in the car, so just wasn't any point getting punchy with him. In fact, I think it was my being decent about it that motivated him to ring his insurance and admit full liability. He could have tried to excuse the accident somehow, although I know it's usually pretty cut and dried with rear end shunts.

One added bonus is they're dropping me off a brand new M3 to smoke around in whilst mine gets fixed.