One of the things we love here at BangShift are parts-bin specials, or cars built from factory parts that didn’t come that way when they rolled off the assembly line. Whether it’s a one-of-none Pontiac Super Duty 455 station wagon, or a early 70’s Dodge Power Wagon that sports a later Cummins diesel tuned to move mountains, there’s something cool about taking the time to build a vehicle that uses the best components a particular manufacturer has to offer. This BMW is one of those cars. While we remember most of the E30-chassis 3-series cars to be the chariots of many an early cell phone-toting yuppie, this one might change that image in your head a bit. This one was built to absolutely obliterate apexes with V8 power!
Let’s back up a bit and talk about the E30-chassis 3-series. Debuting in the US market in 1984 with just over 100hp from it’s 1.8L four, the car was glorified fashion accessory for the folks at the country club and wannabe Gordon Gekkos. That said, the chassis was willing, and it quickly became a favorite for the road racing and autocross crowds. The E30’s popularity in motorsports even spawned the first M3, a performance model that continues on to this day. This car, built by the folks over at the Bimmer Performance Center in Raleigh NC, was built with one question in mind: What if BMW got infected with “Musclecar Fever” and put a V8 in the E30? The car, a free shell that they were given that started out it’s life as a 1984 318i, was not exactly exciting when it left the factory. Since the Bimmer Performance Center (BPC for short) are a full service BMW tuning shop with a bit of experience in making these cars move, they utilized all their knowledge in putting together a complete package that would allow for the car to absolutely terrorize track days across the land.
Here’s what the guys at BPC started with. It was a free rolling chassis that a buddy gave them, and being a 1984 318i, it’s the lowliest of the low when it comes to the E30 chassis BMW’s. Just like a straight six-powered 1970 Nova, while there was nothing exciting about it, the sky was the limit when it came to modifications.
The centerpiece for this build was factory V8 power. While we’ve seen a lot of V8 BMW builds culminate around swapping in the Gen-III+ Chevy “LS” V8’s, the BPC crew kept it in the family with a built S62 V8 harvested from the legendary E39 M5 sports sedan. To put that engine choice in perspective: when the E39 M5 debuted in the late 1990’s, most journalists were pitting the sports sedan against supercars in comparison tests. This one has been warmed over a bit, and now puts down 420 horsepower to the rear wheels. Since this thing was built for road course duty rather than loafing around the yacht club parking lot, combining that amount of power in a small, 2850 lb chassis makes for an awesome combination.
Not only is the car fast; it looks great with it’s wide body kit, big meats on all corners, and the blue paint is absolutely beautiful.
If you want to learn more about this one-of-none BMW, head over to our friends at Grassroots Motorsports Magazine for some additional info on this Bavarian muscle machine!
You can check out some video of the M5-powered E30 attacking Virginia International Raceway below!
You see this is what happens when somebody who actually has a brain and the imagination to use it performs a like for like V8 swap and there is not an LS in sight. When you think that Audi, Mercedes Benz, Toyota, to name but a few all produce fine V8 motors, why do these mouth breathing LS dorks continue to ignore this fact and pollute whatever models of cars from these manufacturers with that hated motor!
Well done and thanks for showing some intelligence!
Geordie, Geordie, Geordie. People do LSX swaps because its cheap! Yea a BMW V8 could be swapped in, but how many people know how to tune one of these and at what cost. Throw a carb on an LS and call it a day. How many V8 BMW’s are in the junkyard these days. I’m sure not many.
Now I want to swap an LS into a E30 3-series just to piss CHMG off. 400+ hp would be cheap, easy and way more reliable with an LS too. I had a 735i that broke more than a Hyundai when I was stationed in Germany. 32 freaking oil pan bolts on that piece of junk!