Hi im going to buy an e30 m3 evo soon but would like it conveted to rhd (ive read the pros and cons).
I am aware that Bird's done a few but if im rite none of these were evo models?
Does anyone know who currently does rhd conversions?
Cheers
Who can do a Rhd conversion for M3 Evo?
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daimlerman
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Not quite the same thing,but I am just starting a LHD to RHD conversion on a touring,any advice is welcome.
Youth is wasted on the young.
Why not , Guy who was local to me converted a few m3s and one was up for sale on pistonheads around xmas .
Most joe public dont know what a m3 is , People saw my sport and said nice m3
Its only the enthusiasts who will know and ok its a special edition but why not .
Id buy a right hand drive m3 and tbh would prefer it over a left hand drive and would find it more desirable .
Have driven lhd cars in the uk and its just a pain especially when overtaking .
Do it , If half the people on here had the money im sure they would
Most joe public dont know what a m3 is , People saw my sport and said nice m3
Its only the enthusiasts who will know and ok its a special edition but why not .
Id buy a right hand drive m3 and tbh would prefer it over a left hand drive and would find it more desirable .
Have driven lhd cars in the uk and its just a pain especially when overtaking .
Do it , If half the people on here had the money im sure they would
Giggety Giggety Goo!!!
I had a Lancia Integrale that had be subjected to a RHD conversion years ago. An 'approved' Lancia conversion by a respected specialist. Absolutely terrible compared to a LHD one, but it was £2500 cheaper because of it. So I spent just under half of that putting it back to LHD. Worth every penny.
The RHD conversion had cost around £6000, money well and truly wasted.
Don't convert an M3 to RHD. They're not meant to be RHD. Especially not an Evo.
Then there's the resale point. An M3 Evo is becoming a very collectable car, collectors don't tend to like their cars to be 'wrong' so you'll be sitting there watching the value of LHD ones go up, while yours becomes harder and harder to sell.
I wouldn't buy a RHD E30 Evo unless it was 50% cheaper than a LHD one and had all the parts with it to convert it back to LHD.
The RHD conversion had cost around £6000, money well and truly wasted.
Don't convert an M3 to RHD. They're not meant to be RHD. Especially not an Evo.
Then there's the resale point. An M3 Evo is becoming a very collectable car, collectors don't tend to like their cars to be 'wrong' so you'll be sitting there watching the value of LHD ones go up, while yours becomes harder and harder to sell.
I wouldn't buy a RHD E30 Evo unless it was 50% cheaper than a LHD one and had all the parts with it to convert it back to LHD.
I think Im fairly representative of M3 owners when it comes to this. I wanted a good one. I didn't even bother looking at RHD cars.
Sure its your money, your choice. But you will have a real nightmare trying to shift it to an enthusiast later on. I would also point out that there are hundreds if not thousands of LHD cars on our roads every single day. Ive never had a problem with it other than at Car park barriers. And thats not impossible wither, just reqs a little foresight. The thing I had a problem with when I first got it was the dog leg, not sitting on the other side. After all its not like LHD makes a car 50% wider than a RHD
Go for it if you want. But I dont think you're looking long term at the hassle/costs involved in it.
Sure its your money, your choice. But you will have a real nightmare trying to shift it to an enthusiast later on. I would also point out that there are hundreds if not thousands of LHD cars on our roads every single day. Ive never had a problem with it other than at Car park barriers. And thats not impossible wither, just reqs a little foresight. The thing I had a problem with when I first got it was the dog leg, not sitting on the other side. After all its not like LHD makes a car 50% wider than a RHD
Go for it if you want. But I dont think you're looking long term at the hassle/costs involved in it.
Last edited by Rich_W on Mon Sep 08, 2008 7:10 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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jaistanley
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It was to do with economics. The volume they required to produce to meet homologation meant they didn't intend to sell enough to warant the development costs of summounting the above problems. If somebody did it properly a RHD one would be fine. The problem lies in that unless you want to get seriously balls deep into doing it properly, compromises have to be made.
Just get a LHD. You get used to it.
Just get a LHD. You get used to it.
Steve-E30 wrote: Most joe public dont know what a m3 is , People saw my sport and said nice m3
Its only the enthusiasts who will know and ok its a special edition but why not .
Id buy a right hand drive m3 and tbh would prefer it over a left hand drive and would find it more desirable .
If it was converted correctly and not bodged i cant see it being a lot cheaper than a lhd
Why are they supposed to be lhd as most cars on the road are produced in lhd and rhd flavours
Most joe public aren't in the market for an M3, at resale time it's enthusiasts you're trying to appeal to. The whole point is they cannot be converted 'correctly' as the parts required to do so do not exist. Why spend a huge heap of money, and it would be huge, making a car less capable and ultimately less valuable in order to avoid spending a few early trips getting used to sitting the other side.
Bluntly, if you can't put up with LHD, you can't put up with an M3. Of course it's totally up to the OP to do as he sees fit, but he'll struggle to find someone who can be recommended to do the work as so few have done it, and there are many reasons why that is the case.
"doughnuts - power braking in circles" Peterborough Evening Telegraph
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StuBeeDoo
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Middle and both ends of it is.....
If the car is being bought as a possible investment, or with any thoughts of moving it on at a later date, then it needs to stay LHD.
If it's going to be a definite keeper, then do whatever you want with it and f*** what anyone else thinks.
If the car is being bought as a possible investment, or with any thoughts of moving it on at a later date, then it needs to stay LHD.
If it's going to be a definite keeper, then do whatever you want with it and f*** what anyone else thinks.
This is why I no longer drive an E30......
I would have a RHD converted E30 M3 no problem but i would prefer to do the work myself so i know it hasn't been bodged by some idiot. I would only do it to a standard model though and nothing special thats for sure. I can understand that whole kudos thing when it comes to it being LHD but i just prefer RHD.
Oh and the whole "not being as good" thing is crap as,
the quicker steering rack issue can be sorted with an E36/Z3 item.
the brake linkage problem will always be there but since when have RHD E30 brakes been woefully bad because of this? Ok the pedal feel wont be identical but lets be honest, it aint bad, far from it!
The manifold problem. Demlot's RHD S14 powered 318iS makes 237bhp with only cams and alpha N but uses a Birds/Hartge modified item so to say converting would rob the S14 of power is crap. Whats to say this manifold cant be replicated?
Do it but not to an Evo.
Oh and the whole "not being as good" thing is crap as,
the quicker steering rack issue can be sorted with an E36/Z3 item.
the brake linkage problem will always be there but since when have RHD E30 brakes been woefully bad because of this? Ok the pedal feel wont be identical but lets be honest, it aint bad, far from it!
The manifold problem. Demlot's RHD S14 powered 318iS makes 237bhp with only cams and alpha N but uses a Birds/Hartge modified item so to say converting would rob the S14 of power is crap. Whats to say this manifold cant be replicated?
Do it but not to an Evo.
Exactlybss325i wrote:I would have a RHD converted E30 M3 no problem but i would prefer to do the work myself so i know it hasn't been bodged by some idiot. I would only do it to a standard model though and nothing special thats for sure. I can understand that whole kudos thing when it comes to it being LHD but i just prefer RHD.
Oh and the whole "not being as good" thing is crap as,
the quicker steering rack issue can be sorted with an E36/Z3 item.
the brake linkage problem will always be there but since when have RHD E30 brakes been woefully bad because of this? Ok the pedal feel wont be identical but lets be honest, it aint bad, far from it!
The manifold problem. Demlot's RHD S14 powered 318iS makes 237bhp with only cams and alpha N but uses a Birds/Hartge modified item so to say converting would rob the S14 of power is crap. Whats to say this manifold cant be replicated?
.
Nail on the head.bss325i wrote:I would have a RHD converted E30 M3 no problem but i would prefer to do the work myself so i know it hasn't been bodged by some idiot. I would only do it to a standard model though and nothing special thats for sure. I can understand that whole kudos thing when it comes to it being LHD but i just prefer RHD.
Oh and the whole "not being as good" thing is crap as,
the quicker steering rack issue can be sorted with an E36/Z3 item.
the brake linkage problem will always be there but since when have RHD E30 brakes been woefully bad because of this? Ok the pedal feel wont be identical but lets be honest, it aint bad, far from it!
The manifold problem. Demlot's RHD S14 powered 318iS makes 237bhp with only cams and alpha N but uses a Birds/Hartge modified item so to say converting would rob the S14 of power is crap. Whats to say this manifold cant be replicated?
Do it but not to an Evo.
I did hear a rumuor that you had another and have had ideas of a RHD S14 of sorts.pacerpete wrote:I have a genuine Birds RHD S14 manifold in my morsel stash if anyone is sick enough to commit this unspeakable crime !
Pm me a figure please.
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cecotto_singh
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if you cant drive a lhd then you aint good enough to drive an e30 m3!
youl drop the value of your car easily 3 grand and probably cost you 2 to do it!
you gona loose 5 g straight away!!
youl drop the value of your car easily 3 grand and probably cost you 2 to do it!
you gona loose 5 g straight away!!
There IS a market for RHD converted M3's all be it a small one. Some people dont like the idea of LHD but would love an E30 M3. It wouldn't cost £2k to do it if you did the work yourself but it could potentialy reduce the value of the car but to say £3k is just to random a figure.cecotto_singh wrote:if you cant drive a lhd then you aint good enough to drive an e30 m3!
youl drop the value of your car easily 3 grand and probably cost you 2 to do it!
you gona loose 5 g straight away!!
Oh and to say if you cant drive LHD then you aint good enough is crap!
Was it you who fitted a Cosworth YB to an E30 M3? That i would say, along with many others on here i'm sure is alot worse molestation of an E30 M3 than converting to RHD and would definately devalue it worse than a RHD conversion!
TBH they're both bad ideas.bss325i wrote: Was it you who fitted a Cosworth YB to an E30 M3? That i would say, along with many others on here i'm sure is alot worse molestation of an E30 M3 than converting to RHD and would definately devalue it worse than a RHD conversion!
oh and when you say there is a amrket for RHD. Why then do all the RHD cars take ages to shift (if they do at all)
Seriously. LHD is NOT a massive problem in the UK.
Plus your closer to the honeys on the pavement 
Stu has got it bang on. If the car is to be a brief flirtation then sold on... don't do it.
If it is to be a keeper, do what you want. Its your car. Bollocks to anyone on here, me included!!!
If it is to be a keeper, do what you want. Its your car. Bollocks to anyone on here, me included!!!
Be a man for once in your life and sh!t in that boot!- Wilfred.
+1bss325i wrote:
Oh and to say if you cant drive LHD then you aint good enough is crap!
Was it you who fitted a Cosworth YB to an E30 M3? That i would say, along with many others on here i'm sure is alot worse molestation of an E30 M3 than converting to RHD and would definately devalue it worse than a RHD conversion!
an e30 m3 converted to RHD can be done "correctly" and be made to drive like a LHD, manifold only has nil to minimal impact on perofrmance, steering can be corrected with an e36 rack and brakes, well you need to drive it on the limit to really notice it, but again that can be sorted with a few alterations
however, to do it right, you need to do every thing and i mean every thing including the loom so even your mirrors are funtioning correctly, wipers and even ands grips in the roof lining and make sure every light on the dash and central locking works as it should, these are the small details that are often missed out on
keeping LHD is for the originality and ultimately the resale value and as it is an evo this should be taken into considereation , but at the end of the day its your money and your car.
however originality wise, most of the M3's on the road today have been "tweeked" be it wheels suspension etc, all thinkgs that can be easily "corrected" so to speak, but its only done because OE replacement parts can be silly money and uprated parts which improove the drive are more cost efftcive option, so in effect you kill 2 birds with one stone.
in some peoples view converting the car to RHD also does that for the UK market, but any one serioulsy interested will be picking at the car to make sure the job is done right and even then they could still have doubts over the car
personaly i would not do it, i have no issue my self driving LHD in the uk, keeping LHD it ads some Kudos to what is already a very special car.
however, to do it right, you need to do every thing and i mean every thing including the loom so even your mirrors are funtioning correctly, wipers and even ands grips in the roof lining and make sure every light on the dash and central locking works as it should, these are the small details that are often missed out on
keeping LHD is for the originality and ultimately the resale value and as it is an evo this should be taken into considereation , but at the end of the day its your money and your car.
however originality wise, most of the M3's on the road today have been "tweeked" be it wheels suspension etc, all thinkgs that can be easily "corrected" so to speak, but its only done because OE replacement parts can be silly money and uprated parts which improove the drive are more cost efftcive option, so in effect you kill 2 birds with one stone.
in some peoples view converting the car to RHD also does that for the UK market, but any one serioulsy interested will be picking at the car to make sure the job is done right and even then they could still have doubts over the car
personaly i would not do it, i have no issue my self driving LHD in the uk, keeping LHD it ads some Kudos to what is already a very special car.
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Fushion_Julz
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Originally BMW were only intending to make the 5000 road shells necessary for Group A homologation.Steve-E30 wrote:Jhonno , What reason were they all lhd though ??
For that, they reasoned, they would all sell in mainland europe and there was no need to make RHD cars.
That allowed them to utilise the S14 motor canted over to fit underneath a standard profile bonnet and to be able to design the optimum exhaust manifold for power and torque purposes and so that group N cars wouldn't be compromised (they had to use standard manifolds).
When they started to fly off the dealers' showroom floors, it was too late to redesign and retool for RHD mass production.
UK sales were (officially) less than 100 cars (around 72 IIRC) and the only other RHD market was Japan
1987 Henna Rot M3 (was 195bhp CAT..now more and no cat)
2001 E46 330i SE Touring (manual)
2001 E46 330i SE Touring (manual)
I would say, its your car and your money so do what ever you want with it...
Like some ppl say in here, do it 100% and do not take any short cuts because you see a problem, because this is a very very good driving machine. I dont know the market in the UK for E30 M3s apart from what I see on eBay. I know both the Lancia Delta Integrale and Fiat Barchetta have been converted to RHD from some specialist so maybe you should search for them and give them a call. (its a bit safer to send away a car to some one who have done this plenty of times before)
I wish you good luck with your project! (U will need it)
Like some ppl say in here, do it 100% and do not take any short cuts because you see a problem, because this is a very very good driving machine. I dont know the market in the UK for E30 M3s apart from what I see on eBay. I know both the Lancia Delta Integrale and Fiat Barchetta have been converted to RHD from some specialist so maybe you should search for them and give them a call. (its a bit safer to send away a car to some one who have done this plenty of times before)
I wish you good luck with your project!
(U will need it)