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BMW E30 Dragster Hides a Huge Secret Behind That Big Intercooler

There are some BMW 3 Series E30s out there that barely see any sunlight, with their owners keeping them under wraps, hoping that they will go up in value, and there are others that have been massively modified.
BMW 3 Series E30 Dragster 9 photos
Photo: Screenshot Youtube | M5Phenomenon
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This specific E30 falls in the latter category, as it has been tuned for pure, unaltered, straight-line fun. Due to that big intercooler below the small kidneys, it’s not exactly a wolf in sheep’s clothing, as everyone knows it means business.

So what’s hidden behind it? That would be a 2JZ engine sourced from a Toyota Supra, which is understood to have been extensively tweaked in order to pump out a very impressive 1,000 horsepower, or about as much as the original Bugatti Veyron.

Besides the power unit that started life in the Land of the Rising Sun, this classic BMW 3 Series features other tuned parts, and has a pair of extremely fat rear slicks for enhanced traction off-the-line, which required some body chopping in order to fit under the arches. The mandatory roll cage and bucket seats with racing harnesses are present too.

The bad 3 Series E30, which makes not only the original M3, but also the modern one, feel like tamed machines, was filmed in action in Romania, during a drag racing event. The car took on an even more serious dragster, and went down the quarter mile on its own a few times, setting a personal record for the driver by completing the run in 9.795 seconds.

That’s hardly jaw-dropping by modern standards, considering that we now have stock cars that are far quicker, like the Tesla Model S Plaid that did a 9.08 recently, at over 154 mph (248 kph), but keep in mind that this Bimmer came out sometime between 1982 and 1994, so it is an old timer.

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About the author: Cristian Gnaticov
Cristian Gnaticov profile photo

After a series of unfortunate events put an end to Cristian's dream of entering a custom built & tuned old-school Dacia into a rally competition, he moved on to drive press cars and write for a living. He's worked for several automotive online journals and now he's back at autoevolution after his first tour in the mid-2000s.
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