Matt's BMW E30 M3
Photography & Words By Wynn
1988 BMW M3
The E30 M3 is a car that carries a special aura. This aura is hard to put a finger on, but manages to gather the attention and smiles of those who find themselves around it. This special aura may be due to the iconic body style or the legendary S14 engine that beats inside. It could also be due to the historic racing pedigree the M3 has, a pedigree that has not only helped BMW's developing process for their future cars, but has also improved the branding of the company as well.
"I remember I saw it once..my father always used to buy BMW magazines" Matt begins, as he discussed how this M3 came into his life. Sometimes things are meant to be and by the age of 15, Matt became aware of a distant family member that was trying to get rid of one due to it just sitting around.
After various trips back and forth to Ottawa, Matt was finally the owner of this E30 M3. He couldn't believe his luck, at that time Matt didn't even have his G1 license yet. With the car purchased and waiting for him to get his license, Matt had time on his hands to start educating himself about the things he would have to get fixed and changed. "I knew it wouldn't be a turn key car.." Matt said, so he got to work.
The first thing on the list was to get the basic maintenance work out of the way. Luckily the car didn't need too much work to get it back to it's impressive standards. After all that was sorted, Matt decided to replace the entire cooling system for peace of mind. Matt has done a fantastic job in keeping his E30 looking OEM+, with slight changes such as the tinted windows and a full Alpine Sound System inside. Outside Matt is running Broadway Static 500s series coilovers and has given the E30 a slight drop and a tiny bit of camber on a beautiful set of Ronal wheels wrapped in chunky Yokohama RS3's. Matt also added a custom muffler to get the M3 sounding proper and I can personally say without a doubt, it sounds perfect!
Looking into the future, Matt has one simple plan for the M3; an engine swap. Now at the moment, he's not too sure which engine to go with. The options he's looking at right now include the BMW S54 or the Nissan 2JZ. Regardless of which direction he decides to go with, I'm sure the results will be just as impressive as this entire package. Matt has accomplished keeping this M3 looking period correct. He's someone that thoroughly thinks and takes his time with every decision for the car and this leaves his M3 to really demand the attention it already deserves.
