turbo my e30 or just get a e36 m3?

[driftmonkey]

I love my 89' 325i se 4 door, but it just doesnt have enough power to put a smile on my face anymore.
I fitted Koni adjustables, stainless exhaust and an airfilter, and it hadles ok and sounds ok but want it to be faster, so started collecting bits for the turbo conversion, egay turbo kit, plug and play megasquirt, wideband controller and display, lsd, 12.9 headbolts, loads of various ally pipes and silicone tube and was going to see if A tech would do the conversion for me, but been talking to a good friend and hes keeps saying i should sell all the bits and the e30 and just get a M3 e36.

At the moment its just a road car but was planning on doing track days in the e30, its not my only car, ive got a r5 gt turbo, and a e34 525i. The e34 is what im driving round over in italy and the other 2 are back in the uk for when i'm home.

Ive never been in or driven a m3 or turbo e30 and the 325 is the most powerfull car ive driven to date.

I think its going to be about another £2000 to get the e30 turbo'd, but you can get m3 for £4000, any suggestions people?

[steve_k]

turbo it!!

go on you know you want to.

or if you feel so inclined get the e36 m3 rip the engine out turbo that & drop that into the e30 engine bay.

[ImysE30]

The E36 M3 is a cheap car now, difficult choice.

Turbo the E30 and boost it so it can beat a E36 M3

[jaistanley]

I do love E30's and have spent a fortune S50'ing mine, but I say get an M3.... Very nice cars, good price and more modern. That said I am a retro car nut. Take a DAMN good look at your E30. If there's NO rust it might be worth it.

[Jon_Bmw]

I would say that trying to get an ebay turbo kit to be reliable when it is taking an absolute hounding around a track is not a great idea. Linear power is what you want for a track car if you want to have some controllability and be fast. Massive torque low down(turbo 325) in the rev range just means wheelspin, which whilst fun, not particularly practical.

An e36 m3 engine is built to rev fairly hard(for a 6 cylinder) so will put up with track abuse a lot better. Loosing the fairly large(in comparison to an e30) amount of weight is the key to making one fast I reckon. At least that bit is free if time consuming. Then compliment it with the usual track additions.

Trying to get an engine that was not turbocharged from the factory to be reliable and fast AND cheap just doesn't work IMO.

Good luck with what you decide to do.

[Daf318is]

I have been contemplating an E36 M3 too, but my plan was to use it for 12 months then strip the engine out of it and pu it in my E30. You get the best of both worlds then, assuming you have somewhere to store the E30 whilst you use the E36.

[blingsta]

my turbo'd e30 which was only 225bhp and 300lb of torque use to leave e36 m3 drivers red faced !!! and mine wasnt the fastest turbo conversion !... they are great fun to drive... do it

[madaboutthe30]

If you are going to get an e36 m3, make sure you get a good one as for 4k, even if they are cheap, may well be a bit of a dog.

[Bob_S]

e36 m3 bugger it.

Dafs why endure an e36?

[DRIFTBOY]

My E30 turbo is a lesson in abject misery.

I wish I had a feckin' E36 M3!

[richard-the-nutter]

what about a supercharger instead (a rotary one inparticular), more friendly power delivery possibly easier to fit?

[Rickz]

Just put the m3 engine into your e30

[Jhonno]

E36 M3 imo..

[blingsta]

at least if the e30 engine goes bang, you can pick another one up for £200, thats nowhere near the price of a vanos !!!!!!!

[driftmonkey]

my e30 has abit off bubbling on rear arches, but the rest of it is pretty solid, tye battery tray area went but had that sorted. Its a more door so isnt worth as much asd a 2 door, but if you cost it all up, car £1300-£1500, lsd £200-£250, egay kit £700-£1000, megasquirt £400-£600, wideband £50-£80, pipework £100-£250, other bits and bobs £100 thaTS £265O-£3530 PLUS maybe £1500ish to turbo so your looking at 4-5k.

supercharger conv is what, £4000?

As much as it pains me to sell up when ive got all the bits together, and the e30 is the best car(except the mk1 mr2 with d2 coilovers) ive ever had, looks like im selling up for an m3.

[e30bmlover]

i keep thinking about buying an estoril blue evo... but im fussy and i doubt any good ones are left
something like this... http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/943210.htm

[Jhonno]

at least if the e30 engine goes bang, you can pick another one up for £200, thats nowhere near the price of a vanos !!!!!!!

Vanos issue is VERY overblown

[e30bmlover]

at least if the e30 engine goes bang, you can pick another one up for £200, thats nowhere near the price of a vanos !!!!!!!

Vanos issue is VERY overblown

blingsta £200??? try £600 without ancillaries!!! bloody joker he is!

[blingsta]

£600 .. dude, you need to move over my sides then... so many e30 parts available... cheap as cheaps

[Reflex]

get an m3

[driftmonkey]

sod it, i'm going turbo!
Going to get an M3 aswell! Wont be looking for an M3 til june July time, going to contact Ant and see when he can fit me in for the turbo conversion.

[Benho]

tbh the e36 is a newer car so therefore will require less work than an e30. but on the scale of 1-10 of gayness it scores a 6. a lot of bang for your buck thats for sure!

i would just shift to the m3 but at the end of the day its your choice fella.

[billgatese30]

insurance is stupid for an e36 m3 though i have been thinking about one recently as a car for the summer seeing as they are cheap as chips at the moment, but i can get cheaper (and by cheaper I am talking £1K + savings) if i try and insure an e30 with an engine swap with an S50 motor in it

[driftmonkey]

well the m3 will only be used as a track car, I've already had the 'you want to be an estate agent' comments about getting an m3 later in the summer!

Just booked the my first trackday of the year, and only the second one ive ever done, but doing it in my r5 gt turbo, i'm trusting my mate to prep the car for me as i'm not back in the uk til the day before the trackday. Just need to find a good place to buy a bolt in rollcage for the 5.
Going to try and kill the engine as getting it rebuilt, can see me winding up the boost!