My 1990 E30 ///M3 Story
I became enchanted with the E30 M3 sometime during my early years of high school. Although the looks of the car was a selling point all its own, I admired the cars performance, particularly on the track. Of course, being a high school student working as a cashier at a local drugstore meant I couldn't really afford to own one. Instead, I put time and money into a '70 Chevelle which I bought in running condition for $500.
I spent many years thereafter driving and modifying muscle cars. My last muscle car project was a '67 Firebird that I had installed a '96 Corvette LT1 motor into. That car also got among other things, a 5-speed Tremec transmission, a Ford/Moser 9" differential, and a Global West full suspension, which really transformed the car into a track worthy machine. Unfortunately, just as I was getting ready to start a repaint of the car, I got my first ride in an E30 M3 from a friend. His car made such an impression on me that I forgot all about the Firebird and start looking for an ///M of my own.
After searching for several months, I came across this car in Autotrader. The car was only about 90 miles away, and within the week I had her home in the driveway.
For the most part, everything on the car was in great shape considering the 116k on the clock. The car although never wrecked, had a cheap repaint done on the hood and fenders, which was the only real gripe I had. Everything was also nearly 100% stock with the exception of a Turner/JC chip and a Supersprint muffler, which really left me a clean slate for modification without worrying about past work quality.
Over the years, I have added many things to the car. Nearly all the work has been done by myself (and friends lending a hand of course), with the exception of the transmission rebuild. This was done recently when the transmission died on me due to a rapidly leaking tranny seal on a roadtrip. Rather than getting the old unit rebuilt, I had a dogleg shipped over from Europe, had it rebuilt locally, and installed it with a Sachs sport clutch/pressure plate, and an 8-lb flywheel.
My other mods include the following:
Interior
Exterior
Engine
Drivetrain
Suspension
Brakes
Below are some links to more pictures of the car at various stages:
My ///M3 as delivered by the previous owner
The ///M3 in its current state
M3 Links:
S14.net, the best E30 M3 resource around!
Various other car pictures: