The ’80s was a decade best remembered for The Cosby Show, shoulder pads, yuppies, Pac-man, the birth of the CD and let’s not forget the mobile phone.
It was during that time as well that a new beast was being born in Germany — one which would dominate the sports coupe market for more than 20 years.
In 1986, BMW’s Motorsport division was champing at the bit to take its E30 3 Series racing in the world touring car championship, which was open principally to stock production cars. At that time the popular German and European touring car championships were held under the Group A regulations, which stated that a car could only be homologated if at least 5000 examples had been built within a 12—month period. This meant BMW not only had to build a new racing car, but also a homologation special for the street. And while the rules dictated that race cars had to be designed as street-legal as possible, the M Division developed and unleashed a legitimate track monster — the original E30 BMW M3.
Most car manufacturers during that period entered cars that had been heavily modified for competitions, while some built completely new vehicles from scratch to represent a particular make and model.
The challenge then was for manufacturers such as BMW, Ford (Europe) and Lancia to find buyers for the 5000 high performance specials.
Motoring Icon
The German engineers stripped the standard E30 3 Series body to its foundation and set about creating a motoring icon. The E30 M3 differed from the rest of the E30 line-up in many ways. For a start, both front and rear track were widened to give the car better handling, the body shell was stiffened and made more aerodynamic, featuring those famous box-flares. Larger brakes borrowed from the 5 Series replaced the standard 3 Series items.
Under the bonnet, the M3 was initially fitted with the S14, 2.3-litre four-cylinder engine — chosen as a derivative of BMW’s then current Formula One racing engine.
Designed in just two weeks, it’s not surprising that the S14 was basically a combination of engine components assembled from the BMW parts bin. It was simply the M1 3.5-litre six-pot engine with two cylinders cut off. The block was derived from the 2.0-litre engine found in the 320 model, equipped with a dohc, 16-valve head and Bosch fuel injection. Sharing its bore and stroke with the bigger six cylinder engine, the new S14 displaced just over 2.3 litres. In stock form it produced a respectable 149kW, with the competition spec engine putting out a healthy 223kW at 8000rpm.
While the power figures aren’t exorbitant in today’s world of fire-breathing monsters, the lightweight and track-focused E30 BMW M3 soared to touring car success, winning over 50 international racing championships, and it remains the most successful touring car of all time.
With the five-speed Getrag gearbox coupled to the new S14 2.3-litre powerplant, the M3 was a real autobahn stormer rather than a mild mannered cruiser, and it showed in no uncertain terms.
Stripped down with racing in mind, the M3 performance machine weighed in at just 1200kg. Steering was power-assisted but tuned for high speed while the high-compression, race-bred powerplant sounded ready for action at anything above the 3500rpm mark, begging to be pushed beyond this point, relishing the upper rev limits.
Standard features of the M3 included a premium stereo system, air conditioning, leather sports seats and a trip computer, and given this combination of superb performance and on-road behaviour, blending everyday usability and uncompromised driving composure, it is regarded by many as one of the ultimate road cars.
Rex and the Bug
Rex Alder started racing his Vauxhall Magnum back in the late ’70s before stepping up to a more competitive 2.3-litre Vauxhall Chevette, which he gravel-rallied for about six years. At about this time Rex chose to take a break from the rigours of rallying, and he went boating as he figured that fishing was a far more relaxing and cheaper exercise than motor sport.
But they say that once you’ve been bitten by the racing bug it stays with you forever, and clearly that applied to Rex as a few short years later he was behind the wheel of his restored lime green Grinnall TR7V8, which was affectionately known as ‘Kermit’ due to its gruesome shade of green. Rex circuit raced the TR7V8 competitively for about three years and, when new regulations were introduced for the installation of roll-cages, he decided the car was too good to be hacking up the interior, so the Triumph was sold.
Rex then decided to race a Toyota AE86, which he had developed with the help of Malcolm Clark of By’Gone Auto Services. Rex campaigned the Toyota in many rally and Targa events for a couple of years.
Circuit racing in classic car events is also one of Rex’s passions, and as he believed the Toyota wasn’t really acceptable to the classic racing fraternity he decided to make another change.
M Power
Eighteen months ago Rex purchased a Japanese imported, European-spec E30 BMW M3. The European version was chosen for its additional power over the US models, which were hamstrung by the modifications required to reduced their emissions. The European cars also had better gearbox ratios for increased performance. The BMW was soon with Malcolm Clark for a complete make-over.
Malcolm, a well-known identity amongst the motor racing fraternity, has been racing cars longer than he cares to remember, having started By’Gone Auto Services 20 ago. Since then, he has built dozens of successful race cars and has personally competed in 11 Targa NZ events. Currently, his bright orange Rover P6 is a common sight around the country. He also races a BMW 320 in the BMW E30 Series events and, like Rex, is also looking forward to competing in the Tourist Trophy next year.
As Rex also had the urge to compete in circuit and BMW Open Class events, the first thing for Malcolm and team to handle was the fabrication and installation of a homologated roll-cage.
The M3’s standard 2.3-litre engine received forged pistons, a Schrick cam set, larger valves and a Group A exhaust manifold. The fuel system was left standard, but plans are afoot for a Group A carbon fibre air-box and mass air flow meter. For extra safety, an aluminium fuel tank was fitted — this also provided additional fuel capacity. As well as the roll-cage, the interior was fitted with Racetech seats along with full rally and auxiliary instrumentation.
Due to an illness in 2007, Rex was not able to compete in the BMW until this year’s Targa Rotorua, and he’s looking forward to clocking up some hours behind the wheel this season.
Rex is looking forward to the Tourist Trophy because not many events head North and, as far as Rex is concerned, fresh roads can only mean a new, exciting and challenging experience — not to mention three days of camaraderie within a large group of rev-head motor sport enthusiasts.
Words: Ashley Webb Photos: Dan Wakelin
