BMW E30 Perfection Is Here And The Internet Is Done For The Day
You’re looking at a 1990 BMW M3 modified by Bulgarian aftermarket specialists Vilner, and we might need to have a little sit down.
Gosh, it looks good in that red. Stunningly good, in fact. The deep cherry Imola Red II shade, slightly darker than the more common red option, accents a fairly unmolested body – the front bumper in these pics is aftermarket but has since been replaced with one from an M3 Evo. The E30 M3’s body never needed a scrap of alteration anyway.
The flat-topped wheel arches are still as fresh and exciting as they were three decades ago, the boot spoiler is pure German car pornography and the front-hinged bonnet hides an immaculate engine bay containing the 3.2-litre straight-six from an E36 M3. Naturally it’s tuned, so the car is good for 317bhp and 258lb ft and it’ll rev to 9000rpm. Someone fetch us cushions!
Weighing just 1200kg, maintaining rear-wheel drive and a five-speed manual gearbox, and with that kind of power, this hybrid M3 should be a total riot both on the road and the track.
The inside is no less breathtaking. Vilner has cut a stunning checked cloth for the Sparco bucket seats, door cards, glove box lid, parcel shelf, head lining, sun visors and gear lever gaiter. Some of it is even quilted. It’s deeply, deeply lovely throughout, and apparently doesn’t get too hot in summer.
Wheel duties are filled by a set of lightweight 18-inch BBS Rks attached to KW coilovers. The headlights are from Hella and come slightly tinted and with retro wipers. Speaking about the unfathomably beautiful end result, company boss Atanas Vilner said:
“The philosophy here was the same one followed by Singer Vehicle Design - ‘Everything is important’. From the materials used, through their configuration and the final finish.”
We approve and applaud, Mr Vilner. Can we have a go, please?
Comments
This is similar to the one on a magazine I have wow just wow😍
when people are discussing tasteful mods and the owner of this car shows up
I’m so proud that Vilner gets so much attention. They seriously deserve it. The effort that they put into the builds is astonishing and they are on world level of quality. I’m proud of the bulgarian car community, thanks Matt for making the car and the studio more famous. I highly recommend you to check out the onther cars that are making. Cheers!
WOW
What a beautiful machine. It’s rare that you see aftermarket look so tasteful and elegant.
Dream car for most of us. great Job vilner.!!
OwO
This is SO good. I would have picked a EU-Spec engine, maybe from a E46 or Z4M, and possibly Recaros instead of Sparcos. Top notch work. I saw the white one with the S55 engine at Sema this year, but I prefer the NA approach.
It is an EU spec engine - S50B32. Look it up. It’s not like we really have US spec engines in Europe.
When reading the article the amount of superlatives and over-hyping made me expect something more than in the pictures. The car doesn’t seem to be an M3. Look at the battery placement, lack of check panel, the center seatbelt holder on the parcel shelf and the fact that the windshield is not glued. I was interested in the egnine bay so I looked for some photos of it and it is a bit of a let down. There are clear flaws right on top of the engine where the #5 runner is missing a stud and the throttle cable is only held by one nylock nut. Flat black also seems a understatement in a car where even the floor mats are painted with high gloss. Don’t get me wrong, the worksmanship seems to be top notch but the car is still in want of some finishing work and it’s definitely not the end-all E30 that was promised.
Compared to their previous “work”, this Vilner creation is quite decent. No way near Singer level of cool engineering, but not too bad either. Of course people will overhype it tho.
That is literally the perfect bmw change my mind