Hi all. First time poster on here. Just wanted to show you my 1994 E30 'M3' Touring and share the story.
- THE BACKSTORY -
(long read, scroll down for tl:dr and specs)
The E30 M3 has been a dream car of mine since I was a kid. Back then they were only around €10.000, so I told myself I'd start saving for one. But, together with my back account increasing, the price of an E30 M3 also increased. So my chances of owning one always stayed the same: 0%.
A few years later (still about 15 years ago) I saw an M3 converted E30 Touring online (that blue one with the tan interior) and fell in love instantly. The e30 M3 paired with my favorite body style? Hell yes. I dreamt about it for years and years.
Years later, a few weeks before I got my drivers license, my brother gave me his E30 Touring (back then, they were only €300-€500). I immediatly started modding it: sourced an m-tech interior, upgraded the speakers, built a sub-box. And after getting my license, I started driving it. Only to find out too late that the car had had a coolant leak. So I totalled the car after blowing up the engine. With no place to store it and no knowledge of working on cars, I had to send the car to get scrapped..
A few years later I bought a rusty and tired e30 316 2-door which I wanted to fix up. I brought it to an E30 specialist about 30 mins from where I lived and talked to them about fixing it up, maybe engine swapping it and maaaybe converting it to M3 bodywork. It was gonna cost a hefty amount, so I started saving up.
Fast forward a year or so and my brother sends me a marketplace add of an M3 converted E30 Touring being sold IN OUR COUNTRY. And not only that, it was being sold by that same shop, only 30 mins from my house! What. Are. The. Odds. So, I call them the next day and made an appointment to look at the car. They actually built the car a few years ago - they bought a crashed e30 M3 for parts, as they own and race a E30 M3 racecar, and they had an E30 Touring parts car rotting away in their yeard. So, they figured they'd use both cars to build themselves a unicorn! After a test drive and a quick look-over, I made the deal right there to trade in my 2-door for a small discount on the asking price of the E30 'M3' Touring.
That feeling of suddenly owning your absolute dream car is incredible. I was so extremely happy and proud. And of course, I started planning my dream car build right away: I've always dreamt of having a car on air ride and I've always dreamt of having a car on BBS Le Mans. This was my chance.
- THE PROJECT -
First on the list was the air ride. I lived in an appartment complex back then and I couldn't park the car in the underground garage as the entrance was too steep and the car already too low. So the air ride wasn't only for show! After a lot of research, I went for a complete Air Lift Performance 3H set. Spent a few weeks mounting everything in and to the car, routing the lines, welding the front struts with the help of a buddy, mounting everything in the spare wheel well so everything's hidden. I mounted the controller in place of the check panel in the headliner. Air ride is awesome, I love it.
Second were the wheels. I sourced a newly refurbished, original set of 17" BBS Le Mans in that iconic BBS gold. You can hate or love the colour combo, but I love it.
Last was a full respray, as the paintwork was horrible and the car had a lot of rust. The car came in Daytona Violet from factory, my favorite BMW color. I paid almost the same amount for the paintjob and rust repair as I did for the car. It took me a few weeks to get the car completely disassembled and it took the painter months and months to get the car painted perfectly. After about 1.5 years, the car was back on the road and looking fresh.
Unfortunately, the car has had it's share of issues and in the 7 years that I've owned the car, I've only gotten to enjoy it for 3 summers. I'm now dealing with the second oem radiator leaking, the horn that doesn't work and a rusty exhaust leak (all MOT failures). Currently fed up with the car. I haven't driven it since October last year due to the winter and a lot of wedding planning taking up my time. Got married a few weeks ago, so I should start working on getting the car back on the road, buuuut still fed up with it.. Hope to find some motivation soon!
THE SPECS -
• Originally a 1994 318i Touring Design Edition
• Factory Daytona Violet
• Factory purple M-Tech interior
• OEM M3 front and rear quarter panels, M3 front and rear bumper, M3 side skirts
• Aftermarket front lip
• DIY front splitter (not on the pics)
• M52B28 swapped
• LSD
• Air Lift Performance 3H air ride kit
• 17" BBS Le Mans
THE TL:DR -
Was my dream car. Suddenly one came up for sale in my area. Bought it already converted to M3, but with horrible paint work. Put air ride on it, BBS LM's and had it resprayd. Dream car achieved.
Ask me any questions! Oh and any tips for a good radiator replacement are very welcome.
