The BMW E30 M3 is one of the most beloved cars ever to come out of Munich and it has the price figures to prove it. Try buying one these days and you might realize that even though it’s 30 years old, you still can’t afford it. There are plenty of reasons why the E30 M3 is considered one of the greats but its compact, lightweight construction of the car being one of the bigger ones. Since the engine didn’t break any world record for power output, a light construction was needed in the first place.
But what happens when you add a different engine in that bay? The video below shows a heavily modified BMW E30 M3 with an engine swap but this isn’t your run of the mill engine swap. Instead of the 2.3 liter four-cylinder from the standard M3, this is a heavily tuned car with an S65 engine under the hood, including the gearbox.
The S65 is a 4.0 liter naturally-aspirated V8 with 414 horsepower and is the only V8 ever fitted to an M3, a powerplant derived from the iconic S85 5.0 liter V10. With a redline over 8,000 RPM, this 4.0 liter mill screams up until you hit the limiter with a specific sound you can’t miss. It’s a heavy engine though and the dual-clutch gearbox it comes with on this particular build doesn’t help, either. This means the natural balance of the E30 M3 has been ruined with this sengine swap but aren’t you glad it exists?
The video shows just how difficult but also how fun it is to control such a setup, even in the wet. Nevertheless, towards the end, we get to see this E30 M3 playing with a 911 GT3 RS, the weapon of choice for many enthusiasts when it comes to hardcore track days.
