First Drive: BMW E30 M3 Enhanced and Evolved by Redux Review

Restomods have become quite the thing over the last few years. Take a classic car and modern-ify it in some way. From Singer’s fiddling of 911s to Eagle creating bespoke E-types, there are a lot of them around.

But the majority are classics, the kind of cars that most of us couldn’t really have thought about owning in the first place never mind today. There are very few people making alterations to the more down-to-earth everyday heroes that we all aspired to own once.

More and more are appearing though, and this is one of them. Redux is a new company to the world of restomods, but it’s “Enhanced and Evolved” BMW E30 M3 has been in the pipeline for a good few years now, ever since CEO Simon Lord set his mind on it in the mid-2010s. The results is, Redux say, the next version of the E30 on from the Sport Evo. So think of this as a sort of E30 M3 CSL made a bit more modern. The question here isn’t whether they can do it, but more whether they should have.

The E30 was a homologation special to allow BMW to compete in the DTM against Mercedes. So the original design for the road car sings 1980s DTM – all boxy and squared off. But as far as Redux were concerned, it seems not quite DTM-ey enough, and also with some annoying issues.

The first noticeable changes, other than the new modern lights, are the more boxy arches. They aren’t much bigger, only around 10mm, but it gives the car a more DTM look. The arches themselves are now rounded, which allows the 18-inch BBS wheels to fit without needing some serious camber. The rest of the changes are subtle, but make a difference. The rear wing now has an adjustable section and has been raised slightly at the rear to flatten it off. It also means the gap below now matches the top of the boot lid, a more pleasing look for the rear.

At the side the sills look bigger than before, but actually aren’t. The change has just been to flatten them, removing the original curve, which gives them the appearance of increased size. At the front little has changed other than the addition of a new carbon-fibre splitter. Overall it is a truly stunning piece of work, cleaning up what was a pleasing design already.

There are few properly official numbers to work with, given this is the very first customer car. So, while we know the weight has dropped and power has been upped, there are no 0-62mph or kerb weight figures to go on. But it’s safe to say that with the almost completely rebuilt S14 engine now pushing out around 300PS (220kW) and 280Nm (207lb ft) we’re ahead of the original car’s c7.0-second figure.

With practically the entire body changed (all the panels weigh around 46kg in total) the Redux has dropped over 50kg. The suspension now has Bilstein dampers as standard (with some more racey ones as an option) and has been retuned to suit the new owner and the car runs on much more modern rubber. But the purpose of this overhaul is not to create something ultra-modern, the Redux dream (if we can call it that) is just to make incremental improvements to the original while remaining faithful. So the car doesn’t feel like anything on sale today.

That, is a very good thing. The extra power doesn’t feel particularly special, but now makes sure the E30 doesn’t feel weedy compared to a modern hot hatch. The drop in mass helps this feeling too and revving to 8,000rpm while the E30 breathes through a new carbon airbox means it’s always dramatic to put your foot down. Being naturally aspirated – the very first chassis caused some controversy by being blown, but that was a new owner preference, not Redux  – the throttle is eager to pick up, sending power through a dogleg five-speed gearbox to the rears only. The clutch isn’t a full racing setup, but is heavy, and takes a couple of goes to get used to.

Once you’re there with the clutch, the Redux feels like a boisterous puppy. The steering, now with a faster rack than before, is pin sharp and full of zip. This E30 feels on its very tiptoes constantly, the wheels skipping across the tarmac like a ballerina. In fact the whole drive is somewhat balletic. There is definite understeer as you turn in, but the throttle’s quick response means that is sorted with the slightest of lifts, from then on a balance of gentle push from the rear and just enough grip from the front can be found. Each corner becomes the most grin-inducing of dances – stick the Redux in Strictly and I’m pretty sure it’d reach Blackpool.

If there is anything of the drive to criticise it is that that airbox never calms down, the engine rasps all the time, which is wildly pleasant while you push on but a bit less comfortable at cruise. The gearstick, fitted with a factory BMW golf ball top also left my right hand black, but the satisfying joy of its third to fourth across-the-gate change was more than enough to completely write that from my cares.

More changes have happened inside the E30 too. It’s another case of a clean-up rather than a total change. Although there is the option of an electronic display in front of you that would be to spoil what has been achieved by Simon and team. The analogue dials remain, with the row of warning lights and other notifications now removed and tidied up from below, allowing a small, almost imperceptible Redux logo to be drilled in.

In the centre there is no need for an ashtray in 2021, so all the button controls that once festooned the middle of the dash have been hidden where used cigarettes were once flicked, disappearing beneath a billet aluminium cover.

There aren’t many features, or rather, there isn’t much that wouldn’t have been there originally in this homologation car. The radio remains a Blaupunkt unit, and one in keeping with the surrounds. It is modern, but to all intents it isn’t. The buttons are clicky and feel like ‘80s plastic, and there’s a tape deck, although lift that lid and you’ll find an SD card reader and USB slot instead.

Perhaps the only real nod to the modern is a small info display situated in the roof just behind the windscreen and the USB-C sockets in another piece of billet aluminium that’s replaced the rear ashtray. The new screen can display important things like oil temperature and revs, or can just show the Redux logo, whatever you choose.

It’s a very, very tricky thing creating any restomod. Pretty much whatever you do is going to be disliked by someone. So taking something as iconic and beloved as the E30 and giving it a modern flavour is bold. Thankfully what Simon and his team at Redux have done showcases not just their talents for engineering, but their passion for the original car. The Redux E30 is better in almost every way than the original car, but not by too much, never to the detriment of the original’s ethos.

While £350,000 might sound steep for an E30, it is a car that feels like it manages to justify its price tag, the kind of car you remember long after you turned it off and handed they keys back – especially when you see the price of some E30s today. The balance of handling is something that is rarely found in either modern or classic cars, and the ease at which it can be extracted without any kind of electronic aid or modern all-wheel-drive system shows that you don’t need all the high-tech in the world to create a brilliant machine.

OK, so there’s some things that aren’t ideal. The wheel doesn’t adjust, the noise in the cabin is strong even when you’re just pootling around and the idle can best be described as lumpy and at worst alarming. But rev it out to the red line, slot through that brilliant gearbox and slide through an apex and you will struggle to remember any other cars.