MANHART'S LATEST RESTOMOD IS THE ICONIC E30 M3 IN THE FORM OF THE MH3 3.5 TURBO - AND IT'S AWESOME!
You can tell that the chaps at MANHART are thoroughbred automotive fanatics thanks to the amazing MANHART Classic Cars project. The world-famous German aftermarket tuner usually fiddles with the latest and greatest sportscars and supercars, but a side hustle sees the company turning its extensive expertise to select classic cars to create something special. These cars aren’t for sale, so we assume that MANHART is building up these cars in a collection of its own, and we can’t fault them for that. Just the other day we previewed the Lancia Delta Integrale that received the full MANHART treatment, and to accompany the classic Italian, the company set its sights on the OG of M cars, the wide-bodied E30 M3. This is the second E30 the company has played with, a while back we saw a different E30 in the form of the BMW ALPINA B6S Turbo. While that car was special in its own right, the E30 M3 is just that much rarer and cooler. The car was chosen because it was the most successful touring car of all time, winning a world championship title, two European championship titles, over 60 state championships – including two titles in the German Touring Car Championship – and well over 1 000 overall victories in national and international car races and rallies. This thing is the Holy Grail to many automotive fanatics. The one you see here as a completed project hasn’t had many exterior modifications, it’s not easy to improve on perfection, but some cool things were carried out using modern materials. We now find a carbon fibre front spoiler blade, a rear spoiler with carbon wings, a matt green foil coating, black taillights and indicators, and 19-inch MANHART Concave One wheels.
Inside is the original leather interior in Cardinal Red, a 3-spoke Momo steering wheel, a classic wooden gear knob with the MANHART logo, a data display integrated into the left of the middle air vent and an old-school manual boost controller that can be turned to increase or decrease boost. The E30 M3 used to have that legendary 2.3-litre, 4-cylinder powerplant, but that was chucked in favour of a turbocharged 6-cylinder sourced from an ALPINA B7 S Turbo. This setup is usually rated at 246 kW with 500 Nm of torque, but some choice mods see that power rise to 302 kW with a very healthy 650 Nm of torque. That’s a far cry from the 150 kW and 240 Nm that the original 4-banger pushed out. The car racked up all those wins with the 4-cylinder lump, so you can only imagine how well this restomod can perform in the right hands. All that new power is transmitted to the rear wheels via a 5-speed manual transmission and a Drexler differential with a 25 % is there to aid traction while that recognisable BMW 6-pot soundtrack is emphasised with a MANHART custom exhaust system. Braking comes from drilled 330 mm discs and 4-pot Brembo callipers front, and to aid handling there’s a MANHART monotube coilover suspension kit by H&R. The finished project, dubbed the MH3 3.5 Turbo, is a stunning restomod that will surely have the world’s collectors trying to buy the car to add to special collections.
Take a look at the YouTube video from the chaps at DPCcars that shows off the awesomeness that is the restomodded BMW E30 M3 as part of the MANHART Classic Cars project that aims to rework and improve iconic classic cars from days gone by. The E30 M3 follows on from the recently previewed Lancia Delta Integrale, which itself was absolutely amazing to see. We can't wait to see which classic car receives the full MANHART treatment next, until then, click through: MANHART MH3 3 5 TURBO Based on BMW E30 M3 | DPCcars
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