BMW E30 316i Coupe (M52 Swapped)
Up for sale is my project that I was never planning on selling. I bought this car as a bit of a “barn find” in the lower Waikato in 2021 where it had been sat up since early 2010. Over the years there had been a few attempts to get in back on the road the latest being is 2019 but due to years of sitting it needed a bit of love. During my ownership I have stripped the car back to the bare chassis removing every single nut and bolt to completely restore this car back to what I was trying to achieve as the perfect E30 street car. Over the years I’ve owned a lot of E30’s and all were purchased with “no rust”, in my experience unless you’ve removed the whole driveline and interior then they all have a bit of rust somewhere. This car is a true zero rust car with the photos of every inch to prove it.
The whole body including engine bay has been stripped back and resprayed in factory “Sterlingsilber Metallic”. The car has been re-powered with a M52B28 out of a 172,XXX km E36 328i, Before installation the engine was completely gone over and every seal and gasket was replaced, this includes the whole cooling system. The rear end was removed and swapped with a refreshed E30 325i to remove the drum brakes and replace them with the disc brake rear end and a LSD out of a Z3 was installed. There is a lot of little unique parts that I’ve collected over the years installed on the car that i will list below such as the full IS body kit but to really see everything i would recommend viewing the vehicle in person.
PROS:
- WOF, Reg & Certified
- Nut & bolt gone over
- Desirable coupe body
- Zero rust
- Paint is in very good condition
- IS body kit
- All replaceable parts are new
- Original glass with rego etched
CONS:
- Front seats could do with a tidy up.
PARTS LIST:
Engine & Gearbox:
- M52B28 (172,XXXkms)
- E34 front sump/pick up
- Modified M52 headers
- Full stainless steel exhaust system
- Completely resealed
- New cooling system (hoses, thermostat 88deg, water pump, radiator, cooling fan)
- Custom cold air box
- M20 lightened flywheel
- M20 stage 2 organic clutch
- Getrag 240 gearbox (New seals)
Suspension & Steering:
- Bilstein shocks all round
- 51mm Front struts
- 325i rear end
- Lowering springs
- E46 purple tag steering rack
- New lower control arms
- New steering rack ends & tie rods
- New offset lower control arm bushings
Brakes:
- Rebuilt calipers front & rear
- New brake rotors front & rear
- New brake pads front & rear
- Stainless steel braided brake lines front & rear
Body:
- Genuine IS front lip
- Genuine IS side skirts
- Genuine IS rear spoiler
- “Smiley” E30 headlights
- Basket weave wheels (new Yokohama tires)
- European rear license plate frame
- Option pop out rear quarter windows
Interior:
- VDO Headunit (bluetooth, aux, handsfree)
- Rockford Fosgate front & rear speakers
- VDO Voltage Gauge
- VDO Water Temp Gauge
- VDO Oil Temp Gauge
Txt me if you’d like all the photos from throughout the rebuild or anything in particular you’d like to see. We have also filmed a lot of the rebuild and documented it on youtube. If you’d like to have a look please see the link below.
No test pilots without proof of funds. Not in a rush to sell but am open to reasonable offers. Happy to have inspections at buyers expense, alternatively I have a hoist that it can be viewed on with prior arrangement.