Jim Cameron
E30 BMW 335i (M30 conversion)
Year: 1991
Mileage: 85,000
Current Mods: M30 3.5-litre 'big six' conversion, stripped interior, uprated suspension and brakes
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That’s the thing with buying a track car already prepared – instant gratification! The first serious outing for the 335 came just three days into the ownership experience. PT had a stand at Castle Combe for the Performance Car Action Day, and so despite having no tracktime booked, a speculative bit of hanging around the paddock office soon yielded tickets to an unwanted 20 minute session. Not knowing the circuit, I enlist some local knowledge and PT editor Matt Robinson wastes no time in grabbing a helmet and I start grilling him as we queue in the pitlane. The session starts, the cars file out onto the circuit and with Matt giving pace notes (very rough pace notes, I might add – Ed.) I try to find myself some space, to get to know the Beemer.
I’ve got this half baked idea about taking it easy, but there’s a cheeky Clio hounding me. Balls to him, I’m off! Foot down, the 335 pulls well, there’s no doubt about that. Out on the track the long gearing makes itself immediately apparent, but there’s certainly a lot of torque relative to its light weight. The net result is deceptively quick, the Clio has disappeared from my mirrors and I’m finding myself lining up other cars out of the slower corners in the very long second gear. The cage and bracing really contribute to the rigidity of the shell - it feels tight, although there is some tyre rubbing into the arches in longer bends. There’s a lot of grip available from the 205/50/15 Bridgestone Potenza 040s, but on track it feels somewhat underdamped. With adjustable yellow Koni shock absorbers all round, the front dampers are quickly stiffened for a second outing, which improves matters somewhat.
I’m not the only E30 owner at Combe. There’s a queue of them lining up for power runs on the new DASTEK rolling road run by Paul Shepherd. Only 100 metres from the track entrance, Circuit Motors has long had an interest in race and performance engineering, and a big investment in a very sophisticated dynamometer reflects this.
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The handling had worked well at Combe, but unusually for a British summer the BMW had only been run thus far in the dry. The spell of glorious weather ended in torrential fashion just in time for a quick excursion onto track before the 2CV 24hr race at Snetterton. Snetts was my local track for some time, and despite the rain I confess I got bored tootling round at the back of a train of cars, being led on the initial slow sighting laps. Approaching the Esses, I decide to have a bit of fun by backing off from the group and dropping it into second to provoke a slide. Whoops. In the blink of an eye I’m facing back the way I came, in the path of an approaching Britcar M3. The back end went round so quickly that I was totally caught out. Recovering, I quickly caught up with the group, trying to look as nonchalant as is possible in a viper-striped E30 covered in grass cuttings...
Rear-wheel-drive, no weight on the back end, and a hell of a lot of peaky torque makes the 335 a handful in the wet. Not helped by a painfully slow steering rack, slides can be caught but with a fair amount of twirling and fancy hand work. Weight saving and packaging issues deleted the power steering from the big six block during the build, and led to the need for the longer geared rack. The RingBeemer’s got M3 front wishbones permitting aggressive caster, but this also contributes towards making low speed steering an effort. Thankfully the brakes are feelsome and the front end proves surprisingly resistant to understeer. Trying third through the Esses doesn’t cure the slide, it prolongs it. I’m starting to enjoy myself, although it does occur to me that I don’t want to be playing silly buggers like that in Germany, or I’ll be purchasing lots of Armco.
I’m pretty chuffed, to be honest. Spanner checks reveal that everything has been screwed together well; and despite being a stripped out racer with a transplanted engine the 335 feels solid, like, erm... like a BMW. The RingBeemer’s big test is still yet to come, however. Back home, I’ve got four days to check the levels and pack some spares. The ferry is booked, the ‘Ring awaits. JC
