Parts

BMW E30 Exhausts Parts Page

The E30 BMW 3 Series was always destined to have a rich motorsport heritage. Following on from the famous E21 3 series which evolved into various successful racing saloons culminating in the fire breathing Grp 5 320i turbo. A change of rules to the new Grp A formula saw BMW switch to using the 635csi to spearhead its production based international racing programme.

A new challenger was being prepared in the form of the M3 which was designed from the outset as a formidable competition car. It was around this time that BTB made their first competition exhausts for the E30, when Prodrive, as a precursor to their M3 rally programme, prepared some 325ix saloons as Grp N rally cars. BTB also started to make silencers for the full Grp A M3 cars for the French Championships. These were tiny add on's to the twin side exit system which was designed to maximise ground clearance on the low slung tarmac rally cars. The sounds that echoed around the French mountains from these cars on full song were enough to stir the soul of any motorsport enthusiast. The French encouraged loud exhausts as a safety feature because they felt it helped spectators of the impending arrival of the cars.

The Belgians were not so forgiving and longer silencers had to be made by BTB for the famous Ypres tarmac event. Fortunately the relocation of the standard fuel tank to the boot allowed space for a cut down, bigger bore version of the 325ix silencer to be fitted upside down in the side exit system. Later the cars were entered for the 1000 Lakes Rally in Finland where noise restrictions were even more severe than Belgium and BTB came up with a heavily skidded system incorporating an additional longitudal silencer under the propshaft which fed the Belgium spec side exit silencer. Lack of space to go through the rear suspension above the rear beam, meant that any rear exit system would have to go under it, which was deemed unsuitable for a rally car. The Grp A cars also had an oil cooler for the diff fitted just where a rear silencer would go.

Prodrive were also persuaded to prepare some British Touring Car specification M3's for Frank Sytner and Radio 1 DJ Mike Smith. Initially these ran gloriously loud side exit open megaphones, but soon BTB had to make up some silenced systems to help them comply with circuit noise regulations. The team won the championship outright by their crushing superiority in the class B into which the 2-3 litre engined cars had entered. Group A was abandoned in favour of a new 2 litre formula for the BTCC. Even in 2 litre form the M3 was still competitive and BTB supplied a number of other independent teams with systems.

Most competitive of these was Vic Lee Motorsport whose Peter Hass built engines breathing through BTB silencers which were faired into a smooth under tray to exploit the undercar aerodynamics to the full. Will Hoy's VLM prepared M3 won the BTCC with what was to be the swansong of the E30 before introduction of the E36.

It wasn't just in the BTCC and International Rallying that BTB were involved with the E30. At a more mundane but no less competitive level BTB supplied exhausts manifolds and systems to R & D Motorsport who built a very quick 335i which mated the big six cylinder engine from the 635 into the much lighter 3 series shell. Entered as a 333i (a model specifically available in South Africa) the team were regular Modified Production Saloon Car winners.

BTB also supplied many BMW car club racers with E30 exhausts including Colin "Awesome" Wells with his unbeatable M3 and many 325i's.