There
is hardly anything better than a 1988-91 E30 M3. It does what
you want, when you want it. It is like the best kind of faithful
friend: always right there when you need it, predictable and
really fun. But can it be better? Of course it can; we can
modify it to be even better. Dave and Heidi Elliot had a really
nice E30 M3 that he bought because he wanted a good car for
driver schools. Good choice. But let him tell the story:
After both of us were bitten
by the "track day" virus, my wife Heidi and I decided it
was probably a good idea to look for a third car rather
than having a track setup on our daily drivers (Heidi's
97 M3 and my highly modified 2000 Audi A4 turbo). Plus,
the thought of both of us risking $50K worth of beautiful
cars on the same weekend is not conducive to a pre-track-day
good nights' sleep.
So, my initial thought was to look for a $10-12K car that
would be very capable on the track and that we could also
use for weekend blasts through the hill country. The left
brain said "buy a 325is for $6K and modify it. Its cheap,
reliable, and fun." Plus, I have owned several E30s and
can wrench on them fairly well. The right brain said "to
heck with that, we've always wanted an E30 M3 and the 325
doesn't have those cool flared fenders".... Score -- Right
Brain: 1, Left Brain: 0
So I began the search. I immediately located several in
TX and drove all over the state looking at them. Each one
sounded like the perfect car when I heard the description.
Upon inspection, though, each had major issues. The mechanically
sound one had a $400 paint job covering who knows what.
The perfect cosmetic one had a very rough drivetrain. The
one that I won on ebay was a total fraud and wouldn't run
at all but "did I still want to buy it?" I continued searching
for another 3 months. I investigated every car that popped
up during my daily searches of at least 6 online classifieds
sites. I was losing hope.
But then, I received a call from a guy in Florida. I had
emailed him about his car a few weeks prior but decided
his asking price was too high. Well, he was in a bind. His
new car was arriving in a few days and he either had to
sell the E30 M3 or take a bath on the trade-in. I explained
that I could fly out on short notice but it would have to
be a heck of a deal. His price came down $2500. Hmm.....
The car passed a local inspection, so I flew out and drove
it back to Austin (1200 miles) in 18 hrs straight.
The
car ran great for the trip home. But I noticed a few things
I wanted to fix and upgrade. So I picked up the phone ..."Hey
Terry, I've got this E30 M3....."
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The
Life Changing E30 M3 Suspension Upgrade