Project BMW 318is: Running Against an M3

As promised, when we got our BMW 318is project properly finished, we found ourselves an E30 M3 to run against.

We set the showdown for VIRginia International Speedway—not just any track, but one of the fastest tracks in America.

This epic showdown on both the track and the roads around VIR was driven by none other than BimmerWorld’s James Clay. …

Read the rest of the story

Any plans to get closer to the M3 track times or are you completely content with the end product? 

Tim Suddard said:

Assisting him was one of our editors as well as M3 owner Marc Schatell—a reader and talented driver in his own right.

Hi Marc!  - Travis

Opinionated1 
New Reader

Member since Aug 21, 2019

Forum posts

Opinionated1 has posted 1 times in the forums.

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Petty apt username, I'd say.

I suspect he is a regular poster using a new account. 

I don't agree with everything he said but some of the points are valid.  

It not low buck but it turned out nice. Lord knows I justify my expenditures to make sense, even if in my own mind. 

Opinionated1 said:

I've been a long time grm reader.

Having not read an issue in quite some time I stumbled across your issue with "low buck" e30.

Thanks for wasting mine and many other readers time. I am no longer a grm reader.

Sounds like you may not be the target audience?

Long time reader.

Haven't read an issue in quite some time.

No longer a reader again because of this one set of project articles.

While I agree some of the money spent wasn't necessarily low buck, a well prepped 318is is still a fun car. Personally when I had my 318is, a Metric Mechanic built motor would have been sweet.

captainawesome said:

Opinionated1 said:

I've been a long time grm reader.

Having not read an issue in quite some time I stumbled across your issue with "low buck" e30.

Thanks for wasting mine and many other readers time. I am no longer a grm reader.

Sounds like you may not be the target audience?

Long time reader.

Haven't read an issue in quite some time.

No longer a reader again because of this one set of project articles.

While I agree some of the money spent wasn't necessarily low buck, a well prepped 318is is still a fun car. Personally when I had my 318is, a Metric Mechanic built motor would have been sweet.

 

 

I ran M42s in multiple BMWs for the last decade (including my rally car). So I would say I'm a pretty big fan of the M42 in general.

That said, The MM engine for $8k is maybe similar power to (and less torque than) the virtually-free M50 I swapped into mine. And for all the to-do about "balanced handling from the 4-cylinder" (a line which i myself used a thousand times over the years when talking to 6-cylinder e30 friends), the reality is ....I can hardly tell the handling difference at all with the M50 (with slightly stiffer front springs).  I thought once I swapped I would probably regret it somewhat. But in truth, I don't even remotely regret it - and i'm not someone who is "chasing horsepower" in gemeral with any of my project cars (160hp porsche, lol.....)

Yeah yeah, M50, S52, M20, etc swaps are a dime a dozen in the e30 scene and wouldn't have made for a good GRM article.......... and M/M M42s are extremely rare (there's a reason for that). So I appreciate the details of the build in GRM - while at the same time rolling my eyes at the ridiculous expense to build a car that, in reality, is probably slower on the track than one with a junkyard M50. 

For half the price of the M/M M42, the truth is the real answer to "keeping the stock 4-cylinder handling" is to do and all-aluminum M54 swap that would not only be about the same weight, but also as/more powerful for less than half the cost (with better ZF transmission gearing, to boot). 

All that said, i think we all undesrtand that half the stuff in the GRM build was probably subsidized by GRM advertisers (or, at least, done to make them happy). I'm actually pretty surprised it didn't have weather-tech floormats haha....

And, I'd still rather see this build than another LS-swapped whatever......:D

In reply to irish44j :

M54 for sure, but a small boost ~10-12 psi turbo m42 would be a decent option as well.

captainawesome said:

In reply to irish44j :

M54 for sure, but a small boost ~10-12 psi turbo m42 would be a decent option as well.

yup, I actually priced it out and I could have built a reliable turbo M42 setup for somewhere in the neighborhood of $2000 all-in running 8-10 psi, which is about 190whp. Only reason i didn't is that for rally, adding heat and complexity (and things like vulnerable front intercooler) doesn't usually end well.

Also determined that adding all the turbo-related stuff pretty much made the M42 setup weigh almost as much as the M50 anyhow. 

I think that there's a serious missing of the point here. Sure the project was a fail from a bang-for-the-buck perspective, but it was inspirational, informative, and GRM did stuff few if any of us would have. In other words, they took a bench-racing fantasy and made it reality. That's a cool thing to do, and to me, much more interesting than the bazillionth article on Miatas. There's any number of ways to build a faster car for $20K, but so what?

Opinionated1 comes off as a petulant child, and we are better off without him.

I enjoyed the articles and the updates and it was interesting to see how much power could be extracted from a 4 cylinder BMW, I was always curious about it b/c a friend had 318ti that he wanted to build up, but never did.

I know with my integra  for a non GSR or ITR, I've taken a similar route for it with some of the parts I've bought and it still isn't done. Why? I have no idea, other than to make it my own and enjoy the build/process regardless of expense.

So apparently I struck a major nerve. I have 1 post because i don't frequent forums. Especially grm's. Bench racing nope, falls in the same category. They just end up being fights about people's opinions that never have resolution. If this was before the internet I would have wrote the same letter to the writers. 

Long time reader, yes I was. I like the physical issue as apposed to reading it on the computer. Having a brother 4 years older than I, i have been reading grm since i was roughly 13. I'm now into my 40s. I've sat through the same autocross builds, the countless tire tests, etc. The best part of grm is that they still have a classifieds. This article is the straw that broke the camel's back.

The m3 is a homologated special. Do what you want, say what you want, the standard e30 will never come close to what the m3 is.  Awesome. The standard e30 is a good car, fun to drive, reliable, especially with the m20. I've owned 3 so far. What it is not is a purpose built racecar which the m3 is. So there will never be a comparison. 

So call me petty, a child, not the target audience for this article or what this magazine is. Let me just say I'm a racer, I'm not rich and I build all my cars myself to keep cost down, I'm pretty sure I fall right in grm's wheelhouse. 

I cant wait to see an audi coupe gt build take on a ur quattro.

In reply to Opinionated1 :

I thought you were going to quit reading GRM?

In reply to Opinionated1 :

Many articles magazines write hold little or no interest to me.  This magazine does a far better job than most of writing articles that interest me.  Your opinion may vary. 

In reply to Opinionated1 :

Have you received enough attention yet? 

Opinionated1 said:

I cant wait to see an audi coupe gt build take on a ur quattro.

How about an Audi GT coupe BECOMING a UR Quattro:  https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/classic-cars/audi-ur-quattro-rally-build/121927/page1/  But since you won't be reading the magazine anymore, i guess you will miss this build.  So sad..

I’m just going to put this link right here, all subtle like

I suggest new users read and consider it, and long time users get a refresher

Opinionated.  Hates opinions on forums.  Eponymous much?

Divinizes a hyper-expensive homolgation special then brags about being a cheap bastard.

Irish!  Sacrilege the LS god is not amused!

I would like to see a build of a 190e however.  E30s are like the Honda of the old tuner crowd.

With a BMW engine if that makes everyone happy but LS would be the smart choice because moah powah.

All this reminds me that I need to renew my subscription.

I'm gonna go read some of the back articles because car builds are always cool especially if well detailed.

I'm personally having bad thoughts about putting the MR18DE in the rear of the C11.  Like rear rear.  No midships nonsense.  Like below.