The Taisan BMW returns to racing.

Following a comprehensive restoration by Kingsbury Racing Shop, the 1988 BMW E30 M3 returned to competition at this weekend's Silverstone Festival, competing in the Adrian Flux Trophy for Historic Touring Cars.

1988 BMW E30 M3 DTM - Schnitzer chassis 073

This particular E30 has a unique story. Chassis 073 was completed in June 1988 as part of the Schnitzer 3-car team. It made its debut at round 10 of the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft at the Salzburgring.

Driven by Roberto Ravaglia, the car qualified on pole for the two races, which ultimately only lasted a handful of laps between them, due to poor weather and even poorer driving standards. The meeting was cancelled, with Roberto gifted the race wins.

Whilst the car's DTM days didn’t last long, it was sold to Yasutsune “Ricky” Chiba to race in the 1989 All-Japan Touring Car Championship (JTCC) under the famous Team Taisan banner. 073 was an instant success in Japan, winning the 1989 Class 2 championship. The car was developed with Schnitzer-supplied parts and raced continuously with many more podiums and class wins up until its retirement in 1995.

When 073 arrived in our workshop, it was clear that the main objective had to be keeping the patina and as many of the original components whilst ensuring maximum performance and reliability were achieved. An updated fuel cell, new wiring loom including Motec ECU hardware, re-manufactured brake components and a host of other works were completed.

With the car finished ahead of the Silverstone Festival, we arrived on Wednesday with a testing programme designed to ensure we learnt as much as possible in the available track time. The car performed faultlessly, and our entry was confirmed for qualifying on the Friday.

Qualifying at Silverstone.

Qualifying proved we had produced a competitive car with an incredible P3 in class and P9 overall in the 45-car grid. Qualifying only half a second slower than a 4x BTCC champion in a similar car.

Showtime for The Taisan BMW.

The Taisan BMW returns to racing at Silverstone. The race on Sunday was set to be a battle of endurance in the late morning sun. With a solid start, Lewis settled into a rhythm running 3rd in class. A perfectly executed pit stop allowed him to gain on the cars ahead, and with reliability issues throughout the field, he finished a brilliant 2nd in class and 5th overall.

---

We are perfectly placed to help you achieve your goals with any racing project. With an emphasis on solid engineering principles and a keen eye for period-correct details, whatever the car, we would be happy to discuss your project.