Richard Hammond loves the BMW M3. In a recent Drivetribe YouTube video, the former Top Gear and The Grand Tour host reviewed the latest M3 but admitted to never having owned one of the cars. He’s driven loads of them for TV reviews, but never actually owned an M3.
A new Drivetribe video has seen Hammond put that right. He said that he could have scoured the classifieds for ages, trying to find the right one. But he said he’d probably buy the wrong one, or one that does some things well but others less well. So he has decided to do something a bit different.
Hammond has decided to build his own BMW M3. “A sort of M3 Hammond Edition, or a HAM3,” he said in the video. Naturally, he needed a car to start as the basis for the project, which is where his E90 3 Series 320i comes into the equation.
This car, with its dinky 2.0-liter engine, is going to be the starting point for the project. The car was originally bought for his daughter, Izzy, for her 21st birthday party when she wanted to take it grass-tracking. But she changed her mind, and the car had sat in Hammond’s barn ever since…until now.
How Hammond Will Upgrade the BMW 320I Into an M3
Hammond is using Drivetribe presenter Alex and Isaac from The Smallest Cog to help him brainstorm how to restore the car and turn it into an M3. This is to be Hammond’s vision of an M3, to try and make it as perfect as possible. As they ran through the various generations of M3, Hammond and his team conceded that the cars have been getting heavier. So that is something they want to incorporate into Hammond’s car.
A four-pot engine with a turbocharger is likely to go into the car as well. The interior certainly needs a revamp, because as seen in the video, there is virtually no interior in this 320i. It is “knackered” as Hammond said, and it’s going to take more than the work of a moment to get the car running again. Hammond scanned the car with his Carly scanner, and it deduced the BMW was overall “very bad” with all sorts of coding issues.
The temperature sensor in the radiator, for example, wasn’t sending the temperature to the car, which isn’t ideal. Hammond also had the device scan the car while it was running, and it was clear a sensor in the radiator was broken. Now he knew just what was wrong with the 320i, Hammond could get his team back together and decide what he was going to do with this BMW.
Hammond Has a Game Plan for His Personal M3 Project
“Let’s create something just brilliant,” Hammond said now that the car was scanned. It was clear it needed a lot of work. New wheels, an engine, exhaust, and all sorts of other items would need replacing. Pretty much everything. “Would it be cheaper to buy another car or M3?” asked Isaac jokingly. It probably would be, but that wasn’t in the spirit of the project.
Part one was to take the front-end off the car so they could see how much room they had to play with. It didn’t help that some of the bolts had rusted and were not playing ball. The engine was definitely going as well, and replacing it would shape the entire project. Going for lightness, a four-pot was a good idea, giving it the vibe of an E30. The original M3 was the last time you could get a four-pot in an M3 from the factory. Hammond and his team now have a plan. It’s going to be fun watching it come together.