Minty E30 M3 Evo

[MaaasterBates]

i aint into throwing 10k away i

john

Yeah, that's a lot of dollar to spunk away on a 316i!

As you say it's generally the guys who don't have the money who can spend it the best............

[c76jon]

The M3 wasnt designed as Track Car?

t was an Homologation car designed for Motorsport. Which in my experience tends to take place on Track.

It was evolved from a Standard E30 shell into the car we see today. So at what point were BMW not thinking about track work

Honestly, some of the crap I read on this site at times.....

the point being that the e30 m3 we own is a road going version of a car that bmw raced

the one joe public owned was created so bmw under the rules could create a racing car

that racing car differs immensley from the one we own.

oh and the crap you go on about is coming from two guys that know more about bmws let alone e30s than we can ever hope of knowing.
you dont have to agree.....but whats been said isnt crap

john

[MaaasterBates]

which the experts would say are best left in a display case for future generations (!)

Someone else apart from Jon with an intelligent point of view! Nobody (myself included) is saying that cars like the E30 M3 should be locked away and never used. That would be a pity. But track days? Not when I'm about - my Sport Evo will be at home and I'll be on the circuit with a car I really don't give a flying f*ck about. I crashed into the back of you? Sorry and all that, but that's life.

The other side of the coin is the almost priceless sixtioes racing Ferrari or a Porsche 917. Spank one of those and you've got a big bill but because they're worth so mush they will ALWAYS be repaired. A Ԛ£15'000 Sport Evo whose shell is twisted after being hit up the arse at 80 mph by an F reg 325i will be scrapped.

It's funny you know - I've had this argument time and time again with two other owners of Sport Evos - and oddly enough both cars are now dead whilst mine is still very much in one piece..............

[Slarty_Bartfast]

To some extent I agree with both sides, if I get an M3, I wonÔš't be strapping in a roll cage, I already have a track car, but I will take it on track every now and again.
You donÔš't have to drive a car any harder on a track than you do on the roads but to do it at a controlled and safe environment is far better than ragging it round your local B roads!!

In my opinion a car can be used and still be kept mint, if it is well maintained and cared for.

Would I buy a Ԛ£25 k E30 and use it on track, YES.

[ShepsEvo3]

Rich, I can't remember saying anything about "worth" or "value"? If I was worried about that, I would have held out untill that red SE came up and bought that instead of spending thousands, and thousands on my black se, and still not finished yet. I will never see my money back - and as I am never going to sell the SE unless finances dictates, so re-sale value in years to come is pretty much irrelivent to me.

Nobody likes to loose too much money when they try to sell thier cars, or anything else for that matter, but, kept as is, that red SE will always be worth a premium over others.

If I was to buy an M3 specifically to use on the track, than it would be a standard, non evo or limited edition 215 bhp version. Like you said, there were 18k odd made, so use one of them and not a limited addition.

My track or V8 powered project is an SE, but as I bought it as a Cat D repairable shell, and as it is damaged, it has been spoilt. But it has no sunroof, no elec windows, had no stereo, etc, etc and is perfect for the track or to do something different with. It will be arround in the future, not recycled into brake discs or whatever.

As to Picasso, nah, not into that. Now thats a whole different subject

[Cava]

Sorry guys, I should clarify the track day statement!

If it is a genuinly good example of a car or bike, I am talking about a french or spanish track for the day (or british in good weather!) with just a few others. Smooth road surface, no pot holes or traffic coming the other way. Potentially a lot safer than taking it out for a sunday drive on local roads that you might know well but have plenty of tourists / sheep / 4 x 4's (a common problem on south wales roads) .

[Rich_W]

As for you comment "but I wouldnt feel that I'd let the future M Power owners down in any way"..........well that just says everything I need to know about you.

Yeah? It says Im not a museum curator, and Im not a member of the BMW Car Club. It does however say that I think items should be used fo their intended purpose. And that is drive the car to your limits. If you want to pootle about, then you brought the wrong car. I want to enjoy my car using its superior handling to the 325 to make me smile, when I (eventually) go round Turn 1 at Silverstone faster. My enjoyment comes from pushing myself to learn more to be better. I want to get out of the car at the end of a session with a huge grin. Not get out thinkng, well I hope thats not done it any depreciation problems.

that its easy to say oh id drive it id drive it to its full potential(brave man that says he could do this imho!!)

Probably why I said "your limit" not "the cars limit"

but until you have spunked the 25k up and bought the car and then thrashed it to within an inch of its life and lost the 10k then i dont see how you can comment

Why? I bought a car, and according to the posts here, if I fit a cage, and bigger brakes and God knows what else I'll loose the same 60% of the value of my car. But its a balance to me. I will happily write that off in exchange for a bigger grin, when driving the thing.

As you say it's generally the guys who don't have the money who can spend it the best............

Nice elitism there. If I was a multi millionaire, with a McLaren F1 in the Garage, Id still cane it. And I wouldn't cry if I stuffed it. Whether a car costs Ԛ£1 or Ԛ£1M its still "just a car" Just a tool to me. When I was a lowly apprentiuce with an XR2. That car cost most of my annual wages. But I still gave it death. Because ultimately, it was a Hot Hatch. And that was the entire point of me buying that and not just a regular 1.6 Ghia or whatever. Thats probably why I like Nick Mason and Jay Leno so much. At least they use the cars as they are supposed to be. Regardless of the cost.

the point being that the e30 m3 we own is a road going version of a car that bmw raced

the one joe public owned was created so bmw under the rules could create a racing car

that racing car differs immensley from the one we own.

oh and the crap you go on about is coming from two guys that know more about bmws let alone e30s than we can ever hope of knowing.
you dont have to agree.....but whats been said isnt crap

john

That exact point came up on another post on BMWCC with regards to Daryls (Zimm) car. Basically, when the car is standard and unmodified its a DTM car in disguise. As soon as you want to change anything to a more specific setup (track) then the calls come that in actual fact its just the "road going equivilent, Its not a racing car you know"

You can't have it both ways! I'll assume you err towards the former point as you want to preserve the car due to its heritage. Well as you say, the car you, or I, or whoever own is "just" the road going version. If you want to have something that has REAL pedigree. Then buy the 1989 DTM winning M3 and stick it in a glass case. Thats a car that even to me, has trancended from tool, to a historical monument.

It's funny you know - I've had this argument time and time again with two other owners of Sport Evos - and oddly enough both cars are now dead whilst mine is still very much in one piece..............

But whose had the most fun using the thing as it was intended to be? Theres always something deeply odd, about the concours fans in ANY car club. As a rule they like to keep things 100% as they came out, until they decide they want to change something for the better. (I'll bet your car isnt on the same make/tread tyres it came from Munich with) And then thats OK. Hypocracy in the extreme IMHO. Like I said in relation to the point above, you can't have it both ways.

[MaaasterBates]

Who says I'm a member of the BMW Car Club? I certainly am not, nor am I a member of any car club. I'm not interested in committees or shitty monthly mags about how the Worcester region went ten pin bowling before a spot of Bum Love in the coach park. I hate car clubs with a passion.

As for 'who had more fun'? Well not the bloke who stuffed it into the barrier and hobbled away from a wrecked Sport Evo. The guy who had the most fun was the one who drove and enjoyed the car before selling it at a healthy profit to buy a CSL. Hmmm, that'll be................me. Am I elitist? Yes, I certainly am. But I'll do a track day in anything - give me an Austin Ambassador and I'll rag the Tits off it.

And here it is, my old SpEvo:
http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/4804/4rear9dd.jpg


Anyone who bolts a cage into this and takes it on the track is a fucking idiot. If all you want is 'a tool for a job', go and buy a Ԛ£4000 D reg crapper. If you're any good as a driver, you'll be just as quick. I know I would be!

[m3ben05]

Anyone who thinks that the road going E30 M3 is a race car of any description is wrong, plain and simple.

I would advise anyone who thinks this to drive, see or be a passenger in a real race e30 M3, they are worlds apart in every way.

[c76jon]

You can't have it both ways! I'll assume you err towards the former point as you want to preserve the car due to its heritage. Well as you say, the car you, or I, or whoever own is "just" the road going version. If you want to have something that has REAL pedigree. Then buy the 1989 DTM winning M3 and stick it in a glass case. Thats a car that even to me, has trancended from tool, to a historical monument.


so i suggest you cough your 40k and buy an ex dtm car and track a proper track car!!!

its not all about the preservation of heritage.i dont want to own a shatty ,wanky m3 thats fuckered
the reason i have the car i have is because its the closest i will ever get to owning the 1989 winning car and the example i want to own is not one that has been crucified
you still miss the point.just because a car is not used every minute of every day doesnt mean its not used to its capabilities or enjoyed any less than yours tho you seem to think that it is.

as far as your sums go then id have a rethink
iam saying come up with your 25k in the first place and then throw 10k of it away that you neednt have thrown
how that equates to 60% of whatever is beyond me

if you were a millionaire you would do this and that......

yes but you are not one by your own admission and therefore you are again spending what you dont have
as said before its the easiest money to spend is it not???

no one in their right mind and non galactic means would purposely throw 10k of a cars worth away if they knew they could have achieved the same in a different 7k car and probably not lost a penny...... would they???

[c76jon]

Anyone who thinks that the road going E30 M3 is a race car of any description is wrong, plain and simple.

I would advise anyone who thinks this to drive, see or be a passenger in a real race e30 M3, they are worlds apart in every way.

and you own both and therefore qualified to comment.

john

[Chris-W]

I was surprised by how dull dull my bog standard non-evo felt on track & by how much it pushed the front end out.

Back on the road and it felt as sharp as ever.

[herman]

Each to their own, I bought a M3 for 8k, I'll take it to Le mans, the ring, track days, enjoy the way I enjoy it. The same as I did with the e type, 911, 328i.
There is nothing like the buzz of tracking a car, and yes I have seen Escourts lapping 911 turbo's.

The point is enjoy the car as you see it and if you want polish it thats ok

A Ԛ£2 million D type, genuine Le mans car still costs 100k to re-build, so if your a millionaire, small change.

So you could re-build a evo2 for 30k (guess)

[pacerpete]

Structurally a road going M3 shell is identical to run of the mill 316 !, no additional bracing ,no continuos runs of seam welding, same rust , same weakpoints. If you want to accelerate these weaknesses put some rock hard coilovers and big brakes on it and do lots of hard trackdays.
Ask ShepsM3, he has the receipts for trying to repair ten years of hard track use !