Name: Shane McKenzie

What make is your vehicle? BMW

What model is your vehicle? E30 325i

What year is it? 1988

Does it have a nickname? Dirty

What engine does it have? M50 Stroker

What colour is it? BronzirBeige

When did you purchase it? 2003

Where did you purchase it? Castle Motors Adelaide

What attracted you to this particular vehicle? It was my third E30 and I just love the E30 Chassis

How have you modified it since purchasing it?  Yes, see below.

Exterior

• M-Tech II Body Kit
• M-Tech I rear spoiler 
• 2x sets Style 32 Wheels (16x7 ET42 5x120 from E36) 
• Sunroof (has an issue with a broken bracket, so only goes into vent, it does not retract. I can have it repaired as part of the negotiation of sale 

Interior

• E30 Sedan Sports Seats (Alcantara & Leather) custom made 
• Tech II 385mm Steering Wheel & spare Tech I (no leather) and spare E30 sports steering wheel 
• Black carpet, headliner, door cards & parcel shelf 
• Dash Cluster satin chrome gauge rings 
• Garagistic weighted shift knob 
• E30 Int’l replacement under dash cover 
• OBC retro fit (currently has issue with illumination, but works as it should) 
• Dash has a beautiful pattern of cracks, but it is hidden by the dash mat 

Suspension, Brakes & Steering 
Front

• E36 YellowSpeed coil overs with adjustable camber plates 
• E36 323i calipers, EBC OrangeStuff pads (50%) & slotted rotors
• Red powder coated calipers & carriers, rebuilt with brass slider guides
• SRS-Concept Castor bushes 
• E46 Sports steering rack with BM Conversions UK Intermediate shaft & E30/E34 hybrid uni-joints 
• Whiteline 24mm sway bar with poly bushes 
• Garagistic front strut brace 
• Clio Brake Booster
• E32 750i/V12 Master Cylinder 

Rear 

• SRS-Concept caliper adapter 
• E46 325i calipers, EBC OrangeStuff pads (90%) & vented rotors 
• Red powder coated calipers & carriers, rebuilt with brass slider guides 
• Z4 hubs 
• Bilstein B8 Shocks 
• Eibach Sports Springs 
• Whiteline 16mm adjustable rear sway bar with new poly bushes 
• E28 3.46 LSD in excellent condition, no noise, whine etc, locks super nice 
• New output seals 

Subframes & Trailing arms

• Hillside Motorsport trailing arm reinforcement & camber adjustment kits, powder coated 
• Hillside Motorsport / Garagistic reinforced front subframe mounts, powder coated 
• Garagistic diff mount & front/rear sway bar reinforcement & engine mount reinforcement. 
• SuperPro bushes replaced all around, EVERYWHERE 

Engine & Gearbox

M50B25TU (E36 325i single VANOS 2.5L) 

• Iron block M50B25TU with; 
• M52B28 rotating assembly 
• S50B30 cam shafts
• M50B25 intake manifold. 
• M52B28 ‘pinktop’ injectors 
• Aftermarket OBDI high flow fuel rail 
• M52B28 Throttle Body & coolant line delete
• Siemens MS41.0 custom tune ECU with EWS delete, speed sensor delete, 7000rpm redline tuned to circa 245 HP
• R3VShift 95A engine mounts
• Garagistic offset transmission support
• E28 M30 clutch 
• RHD M50 light-weigh chromoly flywheel with E30 325i starter
• Garagistic braided clutch line 
• Garagistic Delrin shift support bushes, rear carrier bush & DSSR
• Z3 2.8L short shift 
• E21 Transmission bushes with alloy cups 
• Twin system, custom exhaust with twin cats and high flow rear muffler
• Davies Craig digital fan switch and 16" pusher thermo fan 
• ABS works as expected but could do with a refurb, thinking the filters are getting blocked up with age and use 
• Custom plumbed oil catch can 
• Walbro 255 fuel pump 
• Brand new tailshaft & flex disk, new(ish) CSB 
• New Clutch Master & Slave cylinders

Do you work on it yourself? Yes

Generally, what do you love about it? I love the way the car feels on the road, in the corners, the acceleration and the sound of the car. It was built to drive and built to withstand anything thrown at it, and it lives up to the build intention!

If you had to pick one piece of it that you just love to look at, hear or touch, what would it be and why? I just love the custom sports seats I have in my car, Standard E30 Sedan sports seats but clad in Alcantara and leather to my taste. Very grippy and comfortable.

Tell us about the best drive you've had in it. The best drive in Dirty would have to be one of the track days at Sandown, I busted a power steering hose in the sighting laps, so I missed the first timed session as I was fixing the high pressure hose. I joined the rest of the cars for the second session and the car ran flawlessly for the rest of the day, I ran my fastest time that day and just loved how reliable and robust the car felt.

What about the worst drive? Why? In October 2019, I took a Friday off work to do a performance driver training day at Sandown. Car was the slowest one there, and I was in a group full of Porsche RS, GT3, Nissan GTR etc and I completely blew my clutch to pieces trying to match these other cars. I ended up snapping the piston of the clutch master cylinder and seized the slave cylinder as well as stripped the clutch disk. The car was towed home to be fixed, sad and expensive day out.

Any improvements/modifications/restorations planned? I am currently trying to sell my car to raise funds for an E31 850i I have found, so no further mods are needed to my car. It really only needs a couple of little things like OBC lights and some paint chip repair, sunroof bracket is broken and and a couple of switches to be replaced.

In two words, how would you describe it? Dirty Thirty

Is there anything else about your car that is of interest (i.e previous celebrity owner, raced, a show winner, limited number in Australia)? Sadly, my car has no exciting history behind it, other than it sat in a garage for about 7 years and wasn't even looked at during that time just prior to my ownership.

Thanks for sharing with us Shane!  If you'd like to share your car (or motorbike!) with us, click here to submit your car or bike for next month!