I've been thinking about getting an E30 as a snappy little runabout. A lowered little racer with a nice highflow sport exhaust and wide tires.
I have been thinking between an E30 M3, which I could tweak a tad, or a 325i that I could teak a little bit more. It's primarily a question of which engine has the most potential for combining an adrenaline blast with the best handling. The already hot M 4-cylinder, or the 6 pot in the 325.
What do you all suggest ?
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" I've been to the edge. And there I stood and looked down. You know I've lost a lot of friends there baby. I got no time to mess around ..." - VanHalen
depends how much you want to do. The heads in the six pot are SOHC 2V/Cyl, flow is mediocre at best, and none of them have much for top end. If you wanted to spend to get the 4V performance heads for the six, you'd have a hell of an engine.
The 2.3L Straight 4 in the M3 is a screamer though. They're already fast, the M3 is lower, stiffer, geared more aggressive. I drove one, they scream sporty. My 318i's engine has a lot in common with the one in M3 (like everything but the displacement more or less), so it's been my dream to tune up to the lofty specific output of the M engine.
I'd go for the M3.
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"The car is the closest we will ever come to creating something that is truly alive"
A 325E with 2.7L with a bit of head work etc etc is good and ive seen some local versions with 270hp NA which is more than you get with an alpina C2 & B3 or 2.3/2.5 M3. Make sure its got a LSD or you won't be driving in the wet for long Youd probably need or want to change some other stuff to match though eg some suspension components etc
I had an 325e. Stock they make 127hp and redline at 4,750rpms.
They have extremely soft bearings (the 325 E had the Eta engine, built for fuel economy), which don't handle pressure well, and also, the compress from the factory only 8:1.
The heads are SOHC and only 2V/cyl. they are also small valves.
The M3 is the performer of the group, a hardened performance vehicle, the 325is is a jack of all trades and a great tuning car.
325e was built for gas mileage.
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"The car is the closest we will ever come to creating something that is truly alive"
Yeah, I was leaning more towards the M3. It's already hot, and would only take a double barrelled exhaust, and some wider sporty wheels to give it the look I want. I don't want to have to work with the engine too much.
So, a black E30 M3 is deffinately on my list .
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" I've been to the edge. And there I stood and looked down. You know I've lost a lot of friends there baby. I got no time to mess around ..." - VanHalen
For the 2.7 eta block you'll need new valve springs,325i cam, port the heads new exhaust it is expensive i,ve talked to a local guy who modifies bmw and says thats its a good start.
The m3 is a four cylinder so not as smooth(one of main reasons why you'd buy a e30is because they are silky smooth) as the sixes the 2.5 m3 evo would be better even though its still a 4 cylinder, the e30 m3's in my area are almost nil so are expensive.
Alpina stroke the 2.5 out to 2.7 so get a 325is which as already said is a great car with tuning capabilities. So i suggest finding one with a good body and then you have an excuse to do some engine work if its not running all that great.
i'm no expert but in their H26 hartge used a 323i crankshaft to give 2.6L and 323i L-Jetronic fuel injection system with the previous mods i posted to get 190hp back in the 80's.
From what i can gather the 325e still same number of bearings as the other sixes and the bearing shells could be replaced. The compression ratio for the standard 325e from what i found is 9:1 which is still less than 9.7:1 in 325i to change this the head is milled to increase compression ratio to 9.8.
Which E30 Do You All Suggest?... 
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