For reasons unknown, my review of the E30 M3 has vanished off this site. I have no idea where it went and there is just no way for me to retrieve it. Which means, i’m going to re-write another review for this Minichamps E30 M3. I guess u guys can treat it as a 2nd opinion.

The E30 M3 was unlike it’s newer, younger siblings, this first generation M3 was a real race-bred homologation car born for the race track. With the race-going cars taking on Mercedes-Benz’s 190E EVO racers. The first E30 M3 had a 4-cylinder with 2.3 liters and 195 hp with a catalytic converter and 200 hp without. It was followed by a variety of Evolution models, highlighted by the Evo III with 2.5 liters and 238 hp in 1990, as well as by some special editions. This particular model by Minichamps is based on the first version of the E30 M3. Autoart also makes a model of the E30 M3, but that one is based on the EVO model. So some slight differences there, but do the differences between the cars make it a worthwhile idea to have both? I can’t answer that for you, but i hope this review will help with your decision should the need arise.

Paint

Minichamps makes this E30 M3 in a variety of colors, most recently released is a car in a nice shade of blue. Other colors include black and the one i have, grey. The paintjob on this car though is pretty good. Paint application is smooth and even with no sign of colors mismatched. The black plastic parts around the windows and windscreen are made of black plastic and look convincing. The black lining along the bumper is done with matt black paint and it is of reasonable quality. Overall, it’s not 100% super, but no faults to complain about.

Exterior

The E30 has always had a nice chunky look to it and i quite like it. (I should know, i drive an E30! Lovin every moment ) The M3 version comes with flared wheelarches, front spoiler, rear spoiler and a nice little antennae on towards the front of the roof. Sometimes when you look at it, you would think the wheels are a tad on the small side, but when looking at pictures of the real cars, the first generation M3s do not have very large rims too.

Lights on the front are attachment stub heaven, all front lights have visible attachment stubs, but those on the headlights are smaller den the ones found on the indicators and fog lamps. I’m do not have that big an issue with attachment stubs but i know there are a number of collectors out there who really do not like to see them. Surprisingly, the rear lights are attachment stub free. Front grille is nicely moulded but is sadly, not perforated. The signature BMW kidney grilles are nicely done and made the transition to 1:18 almost perfectly. One unfortunate fact about this model is that all badges are made of decals. But again, we must all remember that this model is not the newest car out there, this was one of Minichamps older releases so i guess, some might be able to look past the decaled badging.

When the front engine bonnet is lifted, we see the wonderfully replicated engine. Everything here is nicely done in 1:18 scale and it is just lovely to look at. Fantastic effort. The opening movement of the bonnet is realistic but Autoart’s car has a nicer addition of a hinge mechanism on their car. The hinges on the Minichamps are good enough but it need addition hinges along the sides to make it even better.

Moving on towards the cabin area, nice little touches to take note of are the seperate pieces for the door handles and the keyholes. Windows are all in the “down” position which is a real pity. With windows up, the look and feel of a model will surely go up a notch or two. As it is right now, it doesn’t look that bad. But you can’t help feeling that with the windows fully visible, it will look a whole lot better. Panel gaps across the whole car are average for a Minichamps model. Again, you wish they would have put in that little bit more time and effort to make the shutlines just that little bit tighter.

Along the rear of the car, we can see the use of a seperate piece of plastic for the boot release. Nice touch, the rear has the spoiler integrated nicely into the boot but here is where you’ll see the obvious use of decals for both the BMW and M3 badge. The exhaust although black on the inside, is not fully excavated. Lifting the bootlid (which stays open!) we can see the boot which just doesn’t look that great at all. Although the tool tray is replicated below the bootlid, the rest of the boot is ade of hard plastic. Could have done with some carpeting or additional detailing.

Interior

The interior, although it is pretty much made up of the same hard plastic, it does look convincing. The mouldings for the plastics are top-notchand the detailing inside is overall, above average. The plastics used are also not too “plastic-ky” looking. So it’s not all bad. Sunvisors are also replicated into 1:18 scale.

Wheel and Brakes
Summary

The basketweaves on the car are nicely done with fine attention to detail and well moulded. Those rims will be real difficult to clean on a 1:1 car for sure! The BMW badges on the rims are nicely done and are finely detailed. Brakes behind consist of static calipers and brake discs which spin with the wheels. Good Work here! Tyres on the other hand are plain jane rubbers with no branding on them at all. Although the thread pattern is nicely done, having some branding on the rather thick tyres will help the appearance of the car quite a bit. It’ll sure look alot better then these thick black pieces of rubber we have now.

Summary

How do i honestly feel about this car despite writing about all it’s flaws? (Which do seem to be quite a bit) I actually really like the car alot. Why? Because i got it at a great great price. It was on sale at Modellisimo so i took the opportunity to get the car at a really great price. I would say that if you had to pay full retail for it, go for the Autoart version. The EVO version of the E30 M3 does look better and Autoart’s car being newer, has packed in more details. But these Minichamps E30s on “sale” prices represent superb value. They are not bad models, just that they could have been alot better if Minichamps just added in a little bit more time and effort into their production. If you really like the first generation of the M3s, this is the only model out there and for sure, its not a bad model. If it’s on sale though, its well worth the money, so grab one while you can.

Overall: 6.5/10
( A model in this range reflects a slight above average model. Its positves slightly outnumber it’s flaws making it an adequate model. Not the worst, but also not the best. Unless it’s on sale, where the rating will go up to a 7.5/10. )

*Rating system and review was written with reference to DiecastXchange’s review guidelines*

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 20th, 2005 at 12:01 am and is filed under 1:18 Reviews, BMW, Updates. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.