Everyone Loves E30s and This Triumvirate Must Rate As Three of The
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040-048 BMWCAR 0314 07/02/2014 15:22 Page 40 Everyone loves E30s and this o finally the day has come where we can In the right corner the reigning world champion, measure up these legendary box-shaped the E30 M3, is painted in Lachs silver and weighs in triumvirate must rate as three beauties. This has to be one of the BMW (from new) at 1200kg and develops 200hp (140kW) showdowns of the century and who at 6750rpm and has a maximum torque of 177lb ft of the most desirable of the would have thought it would happen (238Nm) at 4750rpm. breed. The iconic M3 goes under African skies? Today is going to be a brawler; we are out in the In the left corner we have the two contenders, the west of the province of Gauteng approximately 40 head-to-head with the E30 333i and the E30 325iS Evolution. The 333i is kilometres outside of Johannesburg at the Delportan painted in Aero silver and weighs in at 1256kg. It Hill in Krugersdorp which has been a popular hillclimb South African-only 333i develops 197hp (145kW) at 5500rpm and has a venue since the ‘60s. We are in ‘Cradle’ country not and 325iS Evolution maximum torque of 210lb ft (285Nm) at 4300rpm. too far off from here are the Sterkfontein Caves – a The 325iS is painted in Ice white and weighs1147kg. World Heritage Site where ‘Mrs Ples’, a 2.1-million- Words: Johann Venter It develops 210hp (155kW) at 5920rpm, and has a year-old skull, and ‘Little Foot’, an almost complete Photography: Oliver Hirtenfelder maximum torque of 195lb ft (265Nm) at 4040rpm. skeleton that’s three-million-years-old were found. 40 BMWcar 040-048 BMWCAR 0314 07/02/2014 14:56 Page 41 E30 M3 vs 333i vs 325iS According to some it’s the birth place of humanity, is firmly rooted into the E30 3 Series. Sadly, though, that were sold in South Africa between 1985 and giving rise to the name Cradle of Humankind, but the 2002 was never manufactured in South Africa 1987, a total of 210 were produced including enough of that, let’s get back to the job at hand. and imported in rather small numbers. Worse still is prototypes and test mules. It cost R41,300 (£16,312) To appreciate the significance of the E30 3 Series the fact that the E21 was never officially imported. when new in 1985. in South Africa we need to take a step back and South Africans were therefore starved of a compact This car is no stranger to BMW Car’s pages and understand the relevance of this model in South sporting BMW saloon until 1982 when the Rosslyn was featured in the January 2013 edition – complied African car culture. plant starting producing the E30 3 Series, which has by the then deputy editor Sebastian de Latour who The E30 with its three-box outline can trace its resulted in an absolute cult following of the model was fortunate enough to pilot this rarity with me in DNA back directly to the 2002 which was an integral this far south of the equator. tow. This car is in fact part of a prodigious BMW part of the Neue Klasse, which followed the Bauhaus This immaculate Aero silver example of the 333i, collection that was also featured in BMW Car in the design philosophy that lasted for 40 years within with just 90,000km on the clock, happens to be the August 2013 edition. BMW; with a distinguished sculpted shoulder-line, airy nicest of the four colours in which they were offered. Vic Doolan and Bernd Pischetsrieder (of BMW glass-house cabin, slender roof-lines and minimalistic The other colours included Diamond black, Henna South Africa at the time) are credited for the cockpit. This was carried over to the E21 3 Series and red and Ice white. This is number 103 of the 204 innovation of the 333i. The original intent was to MARCH 2014 41 040-048 BMWCAR 0314 07/02/2014 14:57 Page 42 compete in Group One racing but this was never to gearing and noise levels were achieved. temperatures, the engine oil pressure and manifold be as Group One racing was summarily cancelled at Alpina played a crucial role in the development of vacuum readings. The instrument cluster is also the end of the 1985 season – remember the M1 the 333i providing the specially developed inlet and provided by Alpina with a speedo reading of up to suffered a similar fate. exhaust manifolds and plenum chamber, heavy-duty 270km/h, with red needles normally reserved for M The concept was pretty straightforward: find one of copper cored radiator and various other cast alloy bits. cars. The interior is rounded off with Sport leather the biggest engines in the BMW arsenal and cram it The Bosch L-Jetronic fuel management system was seats, leather-covered Sport steering and a gear lever into the smallest, lightest body. The engine came revised accordingly, all of which resulted in a marked with the M tricolour stripe. from the E23 733i, which was partially chosen for its substantially altered torque curve, boosting it The exterior is rather attractive in that ‘80s kind of free-revving characteristics (3.2-litre, in-line, six- substantially in the lower rev range. Alpina also way, with integrated aero appendages which include cylinder, 12-valve) – producing a maximum power provided the 296mm vented, grooved discs upfront, a deep front spoiler, side skirts, a sweeping lip at the output of 197hp (145kW) at 5500rpm and the suspension was fitted with Bilstein gas dampers rear, and a black boot spoiler finishing it off. maximum torque of 210lb ft (285Nm) at 4300rpm. with slightly stiffer springs, and it rolled on 16-inch Owners had a choice between air-con and power- The development of the 333i was a collaboration 20-spoke Alpina alloys. The 333i was fitted with a steering but could not have both as there wasn’t between BMW SA, BMW Motorsport and Alpina. Just dog-leg close-ratio Getrag ‘box and 25 per cent ZF sufficient room under the bonnet. Telling them apart like with the E23 745i (which was also unique to limited-slip diff. is easy: on air-conditioned cars the foglamps are South Africa, see BMW Car May 2013 edition) an On the inside the most distinguishing Alpina absent, creating apertures that feed air to the extensive development and testing programme was component is the digital display pod mounted on the condenser unit. embarked upon to ensure that the optimum cooling, right central vent. It shows engine and rear diff oil Just as South Africans were getting used to the 42 BMWcar 040-048 BMWCAR 0314 07/02/2014 14:57 Page 43 E30 M3 vs 333i vs 325iS idea of having fast compact Bavarian saloons around we were dealt a blow – the E30 M3 would not be coming our way as it was only produced in left-hand drive. That did not mean that the local motorsport scene would cease to exist. On the contrary and if BMW SA wanted to remain competitive it would have to develop its own track specials. So let’s try to get behind the myth that is the 325iS in order to decipher the legend. The year 1985 saw the introduction of one of the most fiercely contested race series in South Africa, Group N for production cars. To remain competitive in 1986 BMW introduced the 325iS (Sport), more commonly known as the Shadowline among racing enthusiasts. To increase power from the standard 325i the compression ratio was upped to 9.8:1 thus increasing power output from 163hp (120kW) to 171hp (126kW). In this initial version the M Technik MARCH 2014 43 040-048 BMWCAR 0314 07/02/2014 15:10 Page 44 aero kit was definitely absent and not even an option – however, more importantly, Tony Viana won the championship that year and the following two years in his 325iS. In 1989 BMW offered the 325iS at a price of R60,080 (£13,735) with the option of the M Technik aero kit at R4095 (£936) – which included the front and rear spoiler, rear apron and side skirts. The more significant changes to the car came in 1990 as BMW was struggling to keep up with the Opel (Vauxhall) Kadett which had also gone through various iterations in Group N racing, from Boss to BigBoss to SuperBoss. The SuperBoss was, as you can imagine, the daddy of the bunch, in essence a Kadett 200 GSi 16v uniquely designed for South African racing, pushing out 170hp (125kW). These cars were devastating track weapons especially with Mike Briggs behind the wheel and has a cult following second only to that of the E30. The 1990 325iS sold at a price of R92,720 (£18,870) and came standard with the M Technik aero kit which is the first significant difference. The more fundamental changes happened underneath the skin with an uprated 2.7-litre engine and cylinder head, care of Alpina, increasing power output by 26hp (19kW) to 197hp (145kW) at 5800rpm reaching a maximum torque figure of 195lb ft (265Nm) at 4000rpm. With serious intentions of reducing weight the bonnet, wings and doors were made from aluminium. In order to better transfer the increased power to the road the E30 M3’s suspension was put into use, including the 15-inch cross-spoke BBS alloys running on 205/60 15-inch VR Goodyear rubber. In this iteration locals refer to it as the Evo 1 although that was never the official name that BMW assigned to it.