So almost a year ago, Chris Castro received a call from our customer Alex, wanting to swap in an s50 or s52 into his '88 M3, which had been sitting in storage for 7 years. As usual we were up for the task, seeing that we had done a dozen 24 valve e30 swaps prior to taking on this project. Chris Castro spoke with Alex a few more times to iron out all the details of the project and his budget. Next, we scheduled a date to head up to Santa Barbara, meet with Alex in person, and tow his car back to the shop. 
Alex had purchased this car out of high school and enjoyed it for almost 3 years before having an overheating incident, which put the car out of commission. Knowing full well that the E30 M3 was getting harder to find due to its rarity, Alex made the smart decision to store the car at a relatives’ until he could put it back on the road. After looking at the cost of an s14 rebuild, Alex decided to go a different route. He wanted more power then what the M3’s original had to offer, along with a more reliable motor, with low cost maintenance. Well he definitely made the right choice, as the s50 and s52 motors are pretty bullet proof and offer a nice power-band for the lighter E30 chassis.
When Chris and I met up with Alex, and pulled the car out of his aunt’s garage, we saw yet another M3 in need of a rescue! The original s14 was missing some parts after Alex's brother took it apart in an attempt to fix it. The motor had seized and was in need of a full rebuild. All the bushings and brake lines were in need of replacement. The paint was a bit dull and needed a polish. Needless to say this car was the perfect candidate for the project Alex had in mind!
So the car made it's way down to our shop in North Hollywood, for an Extreme Makeover – Castro style! :woowoo:
Specs on the car:
Motor -
Low mileage, s50b30 engine swap from a '95 M3
Castro Motorsport Short Ram intake + Airbox
s52 tubular exhaust manifolds
Custom dual 2.25" mandrel bent exhaust built by Castro Motorsport
Custom dyno tune for the listed modifications
Drivetrain-
Matching ZF310 5 speed transmission
2.93:1 LSD
F1 Racing Stage 1 clutch
F1 Racing lightweight flywheel
Ralco short shifter
Suspension & Steering-
Custom coil-overs - 650# (F) / 800# (R)
Koni top adjustable shocks front and rear
Ground Control Camber-Caster plates
Ireland Engineering 22mm front/ 19mm rear swaybars
Ireland Engineering polyurethane rear trailing arm bushings
Ireland Engineering polyurethane rear sub-frame bushings - race compound
Racing Dynamics front strut brace
95 M3 Steering Rack
Ireland Engineering polyurethane steering coupler
New OE M3 offset control arm bushings
New OE M3 sway bar links - front & rear
Wheels & Tires-
Staggered offset 17x8.5 BBS CH: et38 front with 20mm spacer, et15 rear no spacer
235/40/17 Federal 595RS
Brakes-
Factory brakes
New Pagid pads
New Brembo blank rotors
Ireland Engineering stainless steel braided brake lines
Ate Superblue performance brake fluid
On to the pics: (sorry for the poor quality)
How she came
Alex had purchased this car out of high school and enjoyed it for almost 3 years before having an overheating incident, which put the car out of commission. Knowing full well that the E30 M3 was getting harder to find due to its rarity, Alex made the smart decision to store the car at a relatives’ until he could put it back on the road. After looking at the cost of an s14 rebuild, Alex decided to go a different route. He wanted more power then what the M3’s original had to offer, along with a more reliable motor, with low cost maintenance. Well he definitely made the right choice, as the s50 and s52 motors are pretty bullet proof and offer a nice power-band for the lighter E30 chassis.
When Chris and I met up with Alex, and pulled the car out of his aunt’s garage, we saw yet another M3 in need of a rescue! The original s14 was missing some parts after Alex's brother took it apart in an attempt to fix it. The motor had seized and was in need of a full rebuild. All the bushings and brake lines were in need of replacement. The paint was a bit dull and needed a polish. Needless to say this car was the perfect candidate for the project Alex had in mind!
So the car made it's way down to our shop in North Hollywood, for an Extreme Makeover – Castro style! :woowoo:
Specs on the car:
Motor -
Low mileage, s50b30 engine swap from a '95 M3
Castro Motorsport Short Ram intake + Airbox
s52 tubular exhaust manifolds
Custom dual 2.25" mandrel bent exhaust built by Castro Motorsport
Custom dyno tune for the listed modifications
Drivetrain-
Matching ZF310 5 speed transmission
2.93:1 LSD
F1 Racing Stage 1 clutch
F1 Racing lightweight flywheel
Ralco short shifter
Suspension & Steering-
Custom coil-overs - 650# (F) / 800# (R)
Koni top adjustable shocks front and rear
Ground Control Camber-Caster plates
Ireland Engineering 22mm front/ 19mm rear swaybars
Ireland Engineering polyurethane rear trailing arm bushings
Ireland Engineering polyurethane rear sub-frame bushings - race compound
Racing Dynamics front strut brace
95 M3 Steering Rack
Ireland Engineering polyurethane steering coupler
New OE M3 offset control arm bushings
New OE M3 sway bar links - front & rear
Wheels & Tires-
Staggered offset 17x8.5 BBS CH: et38 front with 20mm spacer, et15 rear no spacer
235/40/17 Federal 595RS
Brakes-
Factory brakes
New Pagid pads
New Brembo blank rotors
Ireland Engineering stainless steel braided brake lines
Ate Superblue performance brake fluid
On to the pics: (sorry for the poor quality)
How she came
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