When I first saw this listing, I thought “here we go again,” yet another over-done, over the top M3. While the performance mods are certainly on the wilder end of the spectrum, further inspection showed an M3 that has tasteful aesthetics hiding a monster of an engine build. The builder seems to know his Bimmers with some previous features in Performance BMW magazine, so this engine-swap and turbo scares me a lot less than most.
document.write(”);1988 BMW M3 with turbo’d M52 for sale on eBay
The rundown:
The car is an 88 E30 M3 Alpine/Black with 139k on it. I got the car last year and since then have done some extensive modifications to the car.
Engine:
M52 with Arp’s and .140MLS, the head has been ported/polished with a 3 angle valve job S52 cams. Precision Billet PT76GTS turbo, custom top-mount tubular manifold, Precision wastegate, 3″ intercooler, Walbro 255 in-tank feeding a Bosch 044, 3″ Downpipe to 4″exhaust. The car is running on Megasquirt 2V3 and gets 20+MPG on the highway and made 450WHP on a mustang dyno.Trans:
1996 ZF with Clutchmasters FX800 twin disc clutch with UUC Red mounts.Suspension/Brakes:
The whole suspension has been redone with new aluminum control arms, poly trailing arm/subframe bushings, Suspension Techniques swaybars, Ground Control coilovers with Bilstein shocks- spring rates are 650F 550R. Brakes are cross drilled with Hawk pads and stainless lines.Wheels:
Fikse FM10 17×8 front and 17×9.5 rear with 265’s in back and wheel studs.Interior:
Sport Evo suede steering wheel, UUC weighted shift knob, Pioneer cd player that controls and charges your Iphone.Body:
The car has a respray with minor chipping on the wheel wells from rolling the fenders, I would rate the paint 7/10. When the engine swap was done the engine bay was slightly shaved and repainted. The car has smoked ellipsoids with candy red tail-lights.Overall it is a turnkey 450hp turn-key car that i would not hesitate to daily drive. If I decided to keep the car a new paint job would make the car 100%.
This is one of many BMW’s I have built, with my last being featured in Performance BMW magazine. That car was an E30 M3 with turbo E34 M5 engine that made 600WHP and was daily driven.
I love 80s BMWs in white on black wheels, and these Fikses look great. The buy-it-now of $25k seems about right for a premium, well-sorted E30 conversion, getting in it around $20k would be a great deal. Any engine swap in an E30 M3 is sacrilege to many, but at least it’s been done right and the beautiful lines have been left to do their thing without garish colors, giant wheels, or an overzealous wing. I dig it.
-NR
