Tow vehicle

[alleykat]

I've been lurking here for a while and am intrigued by the notion of a M30 swap. I own an e36 325i and an e46 for the wife. I also have a Miata I use for track events. I have always wanted to go ahead and strip it and cage the mazda, but I don't want to have to own a tow vehicle.

Do you think a e30 with an M30 could tow 2500 lbs for 150 miles at a time?

[86espowa]

my eta towed my friend quite a distance.

just get a good towing/hitch system, and i think the M30 will have the grunt to get that thing moving.

[Cooper]

Do you think a e30 with an M30 could tow 2500 lbs for 150 miles at a time?

NO,

An e30/m30 is only capable of towing 2500 lbs for 149 miles at a time:drink:

[euroshark]

Lots of guys tow with E28s and E34s, I bet the E30 would do alright.

[alleykat]

2 birds 1 stone

That's awesome. I now have plans for a tow vehicle that doesn't suck.

[thebmwM]

[thebmwM]

I read an article way back of a guy doing an e30 truck conversion but the one above is an e32 which I thought was pretty unique

[Jean]

Wait, e34 can tow?! How safe is it and how much can it really tow ? A small open trailer is what, 1000lbs by itself + weight of a track car is another 2000+ lbs.

[alleykat]

I was thinking along the lines of car dolly with 1990 base Miata (2200 lb) on it. I figured the dolly would be the easiest on tongue weight as well as the lightest way to tow.
If I balled it up so bad I couldn't pull on a dolly, I'd have to figure another way to get it home.

[More&Faster]

my jetta TDI (90hp) towed our golf diesel(2000lb) from san francisco to cleveland

so ya you got nothing to worry about.

[browntown]

buy an old gm diesel truck

[alleykat]

Too many cars already

buy an old gm diesel truck

I just don't want the clutter and expense of insuring another vehicle. My primary reason for doing the swap is to have the e30 I want to drive everyday. The fact that it can tow is icing on the cake.

[Cooper]

I towed my itb gti with a diesel vw p/u for a few seasons with a tow dolly, got crossed up a time or two under braking.

Look into a dolly with electric brakes!

[More&Faster]

the only thing that really matters in a tow car is its weight and its brakes. mainly its weight. what matters above all is that you know how to handle the rig. just drive it in a safe manner and you could tow a racecar with just about anything. i towed a 1600 pound boat/trailer with a 2000 pound, 52 hp car for 3 years. no problems at all.

[doucy2]

the m30 def has enough torque to tow, like stated above just invest in a good hitch and make sure it is installed properly.

ideally it would just be better to buy a few hundred $$ beater truck with a crap body and decent engine, put liability on it, and get a real trailer.