Quote:
Originally posted by dd74
Great thread, but I know absolutely NOTHING about BMWs: so can someone educate me a little...
I like the first generation M3 - what "E" is that car? I really don't like the newest M3s; they seem to have taken the direction Porsche did with the 911 when it became the 996.
Which, in anyone's opinion do you like more? The middle generation M3 (which is "E" what?) or the first generation M3 ("E" what)?
And can a standard E series BMW be modified up to a level of an M3?
"Stuffing an E36 engine into an E30 chassis?" Can someone elaborate on that process?
Sorry about all the questions, but I think it's time I learn something about another car other than the 911.
Thanks.
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Someone's going to yell at us for talking BMWs on a Porsche forum.
BMW numbers all its chassis E-something. In the case of the 3-Series, it goes:
E21 - 1977-1983
E30 - 1984-1991
E36 - 1992-1998
E46 - 1999-2005
E90 - 2006-
The first generation M3 is the E30 - it was a homologation special with a 192hp 4cyl engine and fairly serious (for the time) suspension and brakes.
The next, E36, M3, had a 3.0 or 3.2, 240hp six. A lot of people like them better because they're more refined, more powerful, etc - but some people feel they're too big, too heavy, too refined; clearly the emphasis was more on street and less on track. The E36 M3 is still a great performer, though. For me personally, the E30 M3 is my absolute hands-down single favorite car of all time, bar none.
Asking whether a standard E30 can be turned into an M3 is a lot like asking if you can take a 911SC and turn it into a 930 - yeah, it's possible, but... As for tweaking up to similar performance, of course anything's possible, but you lose the wonderful, integrated, "factory" feeling of the M car. This is less true with the E36 M3, which is really just a (very well) souped-up stock E36 and not a built-from-the-ground-up M car. IIRC, all the E36 M3 parts will bolt onto a regular E36 car, whereas the same is not true of the E30.
As for stuffing in an E36 engine... The most powerful engine that BMW ever put in an E30 was that 192hp four in the M3. But the E36-series cars mostly used a 24v six (M50, M52, S50) that was based upon the E30's older M20 engine and had similar dimensions. It's a little bit of a squeeze, but an M50-series engine can be bolted in, giving 180-240 stock horsepower with a minimal weight penalty. Since the E30 chassis weighs like 2700 lbs, a chipped S50 making 260ish hp with tractor-like torque is pretty awesome in there.