Description
Here is my BMW 325i race car. Not long before buying this car, I had crashed my previous car heavily at Mallory Park, so I bought this to race as a stop-gap while I rebuilt the crashed one. That was 12 years ago. . .
There’s a lot to say about this car, so it’s going to be a long read! I’ll list the spec & the salient points first, then if you want more detail, please do read the text further down after the spec, but I’ll understand if you’ve given up by then! The first photo shows the car as it finished its last event, before the recent refresh.
The spec is as follows:
Engine: original E30 type M20 2. 5 litre six-cylinder. The internal spec I can only advise what was told to me by the previous owner (shown in photos from the ad when I bought the car), as I’ve never needed to take it apart. Suffice to say, it’s a stonking engine, and I have no reason to doubt any of the info given. 258/ 255 BHP (depending on which rolling road you want to believe) is pretty impressive from one of these engines, especially when you consider how reliable it is. Clearly, whoever built it knew what they were doing, so I don’t doubt the claim by the previous owner that it was a guy who had been an F1 engineer.
Fuel system: c. 35 litre alloy foam-filled tank in boot (plus a 10 litre ‘reserve’ tank, with dedicated pump), Facet pump with braided lines from tank to carbs, feeding triple 45 DCOE Webers with Ram Air foam filters.
Exhaust: six-branch manifold with large bore single-box system.
‘Big-winged’ alloy sump – holds an extra litre of oil and helps prevent surge under high cornering loads. 13-row oil cooler, front mounted adjacent to radiator, stainless braided oil lines.
10mm race-spec performance HT leads.
Lightweight steel flywheel with competition clutch and cover/ diaphragm modified & strengthened by CG Motorsport.
Gearbox: Getrag ‘260’ five-speed with quick-shift.
Differential: 3. 64:1 (from memory) with LSD – plated type I believe, from the way it behaves.
Suspension, front: Leda adjustable coil-overs, adjustable top mounts for camber/ caster, purple poly bushes in bottom arms, with eccentric ones at rear for further caster adjustment. Strut brace. ARB.
Suspension, rear: AVO adjustable coil-overs, purple poly-bushed throughout, including diff mounts. No ARB.
Steering: c. 2. 5 turns lock-to-lock quick rack, fitted with electric power steering with adjustable assistance via control on dash. OMP wheel.
Brakes, front: Brembo four-pot alloy calipers with 300mm x 28mm two-piece vented/ grooved discs (about as big as you’ll get behind a 15” rim). I was told they’re from a Formula 3000 car.
Brakes, rear: std E30 325i set-up, but with grooved/ dimpled discs.
Bias braking, with rotary dash adjuster, AP Racing master cylinders & stainless braided brake lines throughout.
Full roll cage with diagonal, door bars and tied into front strut towers.
Recaro lightweight side-mounted race seat (out of date for FIA, fine for UK races).
TRS six-point HANS-specific harness, good for UK races until 2028 (five year MSUK extension).
3. 5 litre FEV FIA-homologated plumbed-in extinguisher system, serviced in-date until April ’26 (happy to discuss options for a fresh service, depending on the buyer’s requirements).
Electrical: lightweight wiring loom. Elliot 8K tacho, Racetech gauges. HUD GPS speedo for pit-lane/ code 60 requirements. Electric cooling fan. Single wiper conversion.
Bodyshell: built from a very late (1991), rust-free 316i (V5 is with the car & matches the VIN on the scuttle). Lightweight, removeable, single-skin fibreglass bonnet & boot-lid with integral ‘M-tec’ style rear lip spoiler. Lightweight fibreglass single-skin front bumper/ apron. Lightweight doors – steel, but completely stripped-out/ lightened. Door glass replaced with polycarbonate. I would guess these doors are little, if any, heavier than full fibreglass items. Lightweight rear bumper (all internal bracing removed). Lightweight door mirrors, driver’s with integral fresh air duct.
Wheels & tyres: three sets total, all OZ 7” x 15”: two sets as those currently on the car, third set a different style. Tyres on the car now are Toyo R888R, 205/ 50, two with good tread remaining, two probably want replacing, might get you through your first event. The other matching set have Kumho V700s fitted, also 205/ 50, some life left in these. The third set has brand new Uniroyal Rainsport 5 195/ 50, to be used for wet weather. These have never been on the car, still have the stickers on. Not raced the car in the wet since.
Car weight is, I believe, circa 920Kg with minimal fuel. First time out with the car, we put it on the scales in the scrutineering bay and got a reading of about 975Kg with a full tank of fuel, so about 950 with minimal fuel. Since then, I’ve taken 30Kg out of it, and I reckon there’s another 20Kg or so to be had before it starts getting tricky. That would make it around 900Kg with minimal fuel - very light for an E30. Recent works (recent, in this context, means in terms of the amount of use it’s had since) include:
Complete external repaint in 2K (race car paint job, not Pebble Beach!).
Brand new laminated windscreen.
Brand new front wings x 2.
Brand new ‘ABS Motorsport’ lightweight fibreglass front bumper.
The car has had little use since the above works, and has not been used at all since the repaint and new windscreen – so it now looks fresh and very presentable (but don’t be expecting a new car), devoid of any battle scars and ready for its next adventure. Various spares available, included at the asking price – read on for details.
I look forward to hearing from anyone seriously interested. The car is on the button. I’d probably change the engine oil and brake fluid, and give the rest of it a once-over before using it in anger, but otherwise it’s good to go – I’d happily jump in it and race it as it sits. Yes, there are cheaper E30 race cars out there, but try finding one with this spec, along with the proven results & reliability, and I doubt it will be any cheaper. As far as race car reliability goes, this one has been spectacular. All of the results can be verified simply on the TSL Timing website.
Right – for those still awake, and eager for more details, read on. The BMW has proved to be such a great car that I kept it far longer than anticipated – and it’s given me some great times and great results in the Classic Sports Car Club’s (CSCC) ‘Future Classics’ series. More on this later, but suffice to say that it’s the most successful E30 in the entire history of the Future Classics series, since its inception in, I think, 2007 (I’ve been racing in Future Classics, in various cars, fairly regularly since 2008). No other E30 (even M3 variants) has had as many class wins & outright podiums as this one, even achieving an outright win at Oulton in 2021. It’s also earned me the ‘Driver of the Day’ award (as nominated by the commentators) three times! Only rarely has any other E30 finished ahead of it.
The car has also proved spectacularly reliable: in all the races I’ve done – around 30 – it’s only ever failed to finish twice. Once due to a clutch issue (stronger one fitted now, never had a problem since) and once due to damage sustained when I couldn’t avoid a car spinning in front of me.
Of course, as with any club racer, there are a few bad points: despite the fresh paintwork, you need to allow for the fact that the front part of the roof is wavy as a result of the sunroof aperture being welded up. You also need to accept that the thin, single skin fibreglass panels are wavy too. And even though the car looks fresh externally after the recent repaint, the rest of it shows the usual signs of years of club racing. It does drop a bit of oil after a track session, seems to be around the back of the engine. I did fit a new rear crank seal when the ‘box was out to repair the clutch, but it didn’t cure it. It looks worse than it is, as it gets flung out of the side of the bellhousing (there are a couple of open sensor holes) and spreads itself along the passenger side floorpan. It doesn’t get on the clutch or other critical items. All of the wheels show the expected signs of racing use, but it’s all purely cosmetic. In my opinion, all of the aforementioned is just typical club race car stuff.
Included in the spares is a Getrag dog-leg close-ratio five-speed ‘box, but the previous owner informed me it had a chipped tooth. This will bolt straight up to the M20 engine & existing clutch. These change hands for a lot of money, so definitely worth looking into getting it repaired. It might be worth a second or two a lap at some circuits, and I always told myself that I’d get it repaired and fit it when the 260 chucked its hand in – but it never has. . .
Other spares include body panels, light units, grille, mirrors, odd tyres, etc, etc – too much to list here (or even remember!).
The only reason for the sale – and it really is the only reason – is that, since 2023 I’ve been racing another car in the ‘Special Saloons & Modsports’ series (also run by the CSCC), and with a couple of other race cars demanding my time, and at almost 63 years of age, I’ve realised that I can’t do everything and something’s gotta give! The BMW has only had a handful of outings since I started with the Modsports car, and I really can’t justify keeping it just for occasional events, even though it does put a big smile on my face every time I drive it!
So, here is an opportunity, and I see no reason why the next owner couldn’t continue the success I’ve had with the car, as well as having some great times along the way. There are plenty of events for which the car would be eligible, and the original type M20 engine makes it eligible for events where cars with modern engine transplants would be ruled out.
Please check the images for the aforementioned details of results - I've reached the character limit!
