Editors Note: ***I've been wanting to feature Stans car for quite some time now, and I think we can all agree it was worth the wait. The timing almost worked out perfectly but I dont think any of you will care that we're a few days late. The story behind the car is my favorite. I should've done the same with my wife, but with 5 years done already I will have to ask in 2026 for a 10th anniversary gift haha... Back to this car. Is this not what we all dream of when given the option of a build your dream E30!?... It certainly would be mine. Congrats Staszek, you're the August 2021 Car of the Month for R3V!***
Car as delivered:
Engine modifications:
Differential:
Exterior modifications:
So this story goes way back, I am not officially an OG on the site although I have been on here since 2006 planning forever to get back into the E30 world with a new project, it wasn’t until 2015 that I got around to actually making this project a reality.
Started with a joke that I made with my then fiancé now wife about an engagement gift. Supposedly the new thing is since men spend so much on an engagement ring the female buys the guy a engagement gift to balance it out. A friend of ours did It and bought her husband a watch. I jokingly told my fiancé if you are going to get me something buy me an E30.
She was like ok, find one, I almost fell on the floor, so the search began. I always wanted an alpine white MT2, really hard to find at the time, we didn’t want to spend more than $3000 which seems like nothing these days, but it was a lot for a broken down E30 in 2015.
I did a ton of searching on boards, ebay, autotrader and finally found one on craigslist, a 1990 Alpine White II 325is. Knowing what I know now maybe I would have restored the IS back to original status it would be worth more, but I don’t regret my project.
The car was in Lafayette Indiana, it looked in ok shape from the pics and it ran and drove. When I got down there it was not quite in the same shape as the pics. It did drive and didn’t have any major visible rust so it was good enough for me since I planned on gutting it anyway.
I made the drive from Indiana to Chicago, a bit over 100 miles of which I couldn’t go much over 55 because the car shook awfully. The car fell apart almost immediately, the next day I went to start it and a gas line ruptured spilling fuel all over the place. That was just the beginning, the car was full of surprises from rear brakes pins missing, coolant in the oil and weird wiring issues.
When I first bought the car I figured I would clean it up a bit and do an S52 swap and call it a day. Well as I kept reading threads and getting ideas of what I wanted to do I ended up going full tilt on a restomod.
Out was the S52 in with an S54. Instead of cleaning up the interior full rebuilt. There basically isn’t a bolt I haven’t touched on this car. My end state goal became building an E30 that was as close to showroom as I could with a lot more power, I guess you could call it OEM+.
So after a wedding, 3 moves a baby and 6 years later I finally have my Alpine White Mtech II E30. Longer than I wanted it to take but I am super excited with the output and looking forward to putting some miles on this finished project and I am honored to have the COTM!
Cars build thread is here
The good ol days!
And now the madness!
Car as delivered:
Engine modifications:
- E46 M3 S54 Swap.
- Arc Asylum Pan and Subframe
- Andrew S54 harness
- Engine was fully refreshed
- Z3M radiator
- E30 M3 Coolant tank
- E46 M3 AC Compressor and converted R134a coolant
- 2 Electric pusher and puller fans
- New M20 oil cooler and E36 trans cooler
- E28 5 series Engine mounts
- Status Gruppe Headers
- E46 M3 Section 1- Dual 2.25 with N54 Cats
- Magnaflow Xpipe after cats
- E36 M3 Exhaust
Differential:
- 3.46 LSD
- New OE Half Shafts
- H&R Sport Springs
- Koni Adjustable shocks
- E30 M3 front swaybar
- E30 Convertible Rear Sway Bar
- Garagistic Reinforced rear subframe and trailing arms
- E46 ZHP Steering Rack E36 Tie Rods
- All new OE bushings throughout including subframe
- Wilwood front and rear 310mm kit
- 944 Booster
- E30 Master
Exterior modifications:
- Full Alpine White II repaint doors off and window out with OE Mtech II kit and rear spoiler installed, any rust removed and repaired.
- Euro Grills
- OE Hella Smiley Headlights with LED bulbs
- Refurbish OE Fogs with new Glass and Seals
- M3 Antenna added to roof and OE antenna removed and sealed off
- Taillights refinished red and slight tint
- Euro rear plate filler
- New mirror glass
- All new seals and badges
Interior modifications: Full restoration.
- OE new material dash
- OE new black carpet
- OE M3 Front and Rear Seats refurbished with new Schwartz leather and contrast red stitching and new shocks
- Door Panels and center console refurbished with new Schwartz leather and contrast red stitching.
- Gauge cluster completely refurbed, upgraded lighting installed, 8k Tach added as well as stealth oil temp and voltmeter.
- Restored all wiring back to stock to remove old aftermarket stereo equipment and alarm.
- CM5908 radio with Cantaloupe Bluetooth board and OE Amp.
- Brand-new premium speakers and sail tweeters
- Added 10” powered sub in trunk to round out OE system.
- Alarm added for remote unlocking
- OE Mtech Door Sills
- Removed Airbag wheel and all airbag equipment replace with Mtech 2 370mm Steering wheel.
- New OBD 13 button installed with LED lighting replaced
- All buttons replaced with new OE version
So this story goes way back, I am not officially an OG on the site although I have been on here since 2006 planning forever to get back into the E30 world with a new project, it wasn’t until 2015 that I got around to actually making this project a reality.
Started with a joke that I made with my then fiancé now wife about an engagement gift. Supposedly the new thing is since men spend so much on an engagement ring the female buys the guy a engagement gift to balance it out. A friend of ours did It and bought her husband a watch. I jokingly told my fiancé if you are going to get me something buy me an E30.
She was like ok, find one, I almost fell on the floor, so the search began. I always wanted an alpine white MT2, really hard to find at the time, we didn’t want to spend more than $3000 which seems like nothing these days, but it was a lot for a broken down E30 in 2015.
I did a ton of searching on boards, ebay, autotrader and finally found one on craigslist, a 1990 Alpine White II 325is. Knowing what I know now maybe I would have restored the IS back to original status it would be worth more, but I don’t regret my project.
The car was in Lafayette Indiana, it looked in ok shape from the pics and it ran and drove. When I got down there it was not quite in the same shape as the pics. It did drive and didn’t have any major visible rust so it was good enough for me since I planned on gutting it anyway.
I made the drive from Indiana to Chicago, a bit over 100 miles of which I couldn’t go much over 55 because the car shook awfully. The car fell apart almost immediately, the next day I went to start it and a gas line ruptured spilling fuel all over the place. That was just the beginning, the car was full of surprises from rear brakes pins missing, coolant in the oil and weird wiring issues.
When I first bought the car I figured I would clean it up a bit and do an S52 swap and call it a day. Well as I kept reading threads and getting ideas of what I wanted to do I ended up going full tilt on a restomod.
Out was the S52 in with an S54. Instead of cleaning up the interior full rebuilt. There basically isn’t a bolt I haven’t touched on this car. My end state goal became building an E30 that was as close to showroom as I could with a lot more power, I guess you could call it OEM+.
So after a wedding, 3 moves a baby and 6 years later I finally have my Alpine White Mtech II E30. Longer than I wanted it to take but I am super excited with the output and looking forward to putting some miles on this finished project and I am honored to have the COTM!
Cars build thread is here
The good ol days!
And now the madness!
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