For some people, the collaboration between BMW and Toyota seems like a novelty. But the truth is that fans of both brands have been mixing them together for decades. And that’s because Toyota also knows a thing or two about straight six engines. While BMW is somewhat defined by this engine architecture, Toyota models haven’t been too far, at least back in the ’80s and ’90s.
That’s when the 1JZ and 2JZ engines were unveiled and they wreaked havoc on unknowing, innocent bystanders. Turbochargers made them incredibly potent and the performance they brought was out of this world. That’s something that can still be said as the video below proves. That’s where you’ll find a car that originally entered this world with just a bit over 100 HP under its hood, only to become a true monster today.
At its core, this car was a BMW E30 316i, the entry-level E30 back when these cars were on sale. Today, it houses a 1JZ Toyota straight six with a huge turbo attached to it. A couple more changes were done to the engine, as the turbo grew in size and other parts had to keep up. The internals are stock though, which is not a big surprise as the 1JZ is known to withstand big turbo pressure figures. Oh, and did I mention the meth kit?
The gearbox had to be changed though, to keep up with the considerably bigger numbers, and an E36 5-speed was considered the right choice. All in all, the car makes over 400 HP now and almost 500 Nm (369 lb-ft) of torque. Since the E30 weighs basically nothing, you can imagine just how fast this car is. As a matter of fact, you don’t have to picture it in your head, you can just watch the video below.