Mate Rimac, the CEO of Bugatti and Rimac, may run one of the world’s most exciting hypercar companies, but at heart, he’s still a pure car guy with a serious soft spot for BMWs. In an interview published in June 2025, Mate revealed that his ultimate dream car is a BMW E30 with a V10 engine swapped into it. And why not? After all, the E30 was known for its driving and handling capabilities, and the M3’s immense success in motorsport clearly proved just how capable this platform was.
Mate Finally Gets To See His Dream BMW E30
Interestingly, Mate Rimac finally gets to see what he’s dreamt. And yes, even he seemed genuinely surprised to see a V10 stuffed under the hood of an E30. If you’re already wondering about the swap, the original powerplant was traded for a 5.0-litre S85 V10 from a BMW E60 M5. Taking a closer look under the hood of the car owned by Jim Amelinckx aka jimgummy on Instagram, Mate simply said, “Fits perfectly.” What’s also spotted under the hood is the custom air intake with a conical air filter. Inside, it was fitted with a roll cage for rollover protection.
Rimac’s Converted All-electric BMW E30
Rimac
Long before Rimac became synonymous with electric hypercars, he was busy turning a humble BMW E30 3 Series into something seriously quick, dubbed e-M3. As per reports, it made a whopping 600 horsepower and 664 lb-ft of torque. It could rocket from nought to 62 mph in 3.3 seconds, while the top speed was rated at 174 mph. This e-M3 set five Guinness and FIA World Records as the fastest accelerating electric car.
Mate Rimac’s BMW Garage And His Dream
BMW
Mate Rimac’s heart still belongs to BMW. His personal collection includes the E30 M3, E46 M3, E90 M3, E39 M5, F90 M5 Competition, and E86 Z4 M Coupe, with the F90 M5 serving as his daily driver. And while Rimac is yet to add a V10-swapped E30 to its own garage, this build could be a serious contender for one of the most powerful custom BMW E30s ever built.
