Yet Another E30 Project Car---Unlike Any Other E30 Project Car---The M-Touring.
Introduction:
There have been thousands of E30 project cars around the world: every magazine has modified their 318i or 325i or M3 in some way and called it a project car. None of them has had a project like this one.
We will be starting with a 1989 3-series Touring, one of only three known E30 Tourings in the United States. We will be converting it from a suburban grocery getter station wagon to a serious performance MACHINE. Nothing novel or new will be needed for this change since the BMW Motorsports Division made all the pieces we need and assembled them in the form of the M3. We will simply be analyzing the E30M3 to see what makes it great and then we'll take the best of the M3 for our Touring.
Part 1. Suspension
The E30 M3 Suspension is justifiably famous. Five bolt wheels and hubs with bigger wheel bearings are stronger and more reliable than lesser
E30s. Optional aluminum lower control arms are lighter and offset lower control arm bushings allow more positive caster for greater high speed
stability with a bit more tire clearance. M3 springs lower the car about an
inch; larger sway bars allow flatter cornering.
Read about the M3 touring suspension project
Part 2. Steering
The E30 M3 steering rack has about 10% faster response than other E30 cars and the leather M3 steering wheel make it more fun to do it.
Leather sport seats keep the driver in place during all that steering.
Read about the M3 touring steering project
Part 3. Brakes
Big changes here---both front and rear rotors are about an inch and a half bigger in diameter; bigger calipers allow the use of bigger pads. A
bigger master cylinder makes it all work.
Read about the M3 touring brakes project
Part 4. Bodywork
Front air dam with inlets for oil cooler and brake ducts, side skirts and special rear bumper, of course, puffy fenders for intimidation----what would
an M3 be without those puffy fenders? Is it true those fenders are airfoils
that create and maintain laminar air flow down the side of the car?
Well that's the basic plan. With a few detail twists here and there, those are the changes we're planning for our Touring. And great changes they are. Oh yeah---one more: an M engine. Gotta have an M engine. A six cylinder M engine. Yeah, that's the ticket.