Mate Rimac's Dream V10 BMW E30 Is More Than Nostalgia
By Team Dailyrevs June 3, 2025
Mate Rimac has shared plans to build a naturally aspirated V10 BMW E30 as a personal project.
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The move reflects a rare openness from an EV pioneer to embrace combustion without contradiction.
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The project aligns philosophically with Bugatti’s Tourbillon—a V16-hybrid focused on emotion, not just output.
Planning a V10 BMW E30: Rimac’s Return to Emotion Over Efficiency
Mate Rimac, one of the most influential drivers in bringing high-performance cars into the electric sphere, recently stated that he wants to do something that is as far away from his present job. He is considering undertaking a personal restomod project: a BMW E30 with a naturally aspirated V10 engine.
It's not being built yet—there isn't a chassis on a lift or engine on a stand—but the intent is real. And in the industry climate today, where electric vehicle trailblazers go out of their way to distance themselves from anything that combusts, Rimac's honesty is welcome.
There isn't any agenda here. It is merely something he desires to drive.
From Electric Innovation to Mechanical Simplicity
Rimac's initial serious undertaking a decade or so back was an E30 he electrified. That fiddling resulted in record-breaking EV prototypes, then starting Rimac Automobili, and now into helm of Bugatti Rimac. If anyone can claim an abiding commitment to the charge of electrification, it is him.
And still his strategy for this V10 E30 is all analog. No batteries. No hybrid squirt. Purely rev-happy engine and one of the all-time great chassis of the late 20th century. His motivation? Getting back to the roots of driving—sound, throttle feel, sensing—rather than speed or sophistication.
An Honest Divergence, Not a Rebrand
Today, it's not a rare thing for EV CEOs to step a full step away from combustion. There is generally an easy rhetorical dichotomy: EV is great, combustion is out. Rimac's not drinking that Kool-Aid, though. He's not pitching this proposal, and he's not repudiating it either. It's something he simply wants to do—because he still has faith in it.
That level of openness is not usual. It indicates a faith in progress that does not involve disowning the past.
And while the E30 project is purely personal, it does reflect some of the same thinking seen in Bugatti’s new Tourbillon hypercar. That car pairs a naturally aspirated V16 with electric motors. Not for marketing impact, but for emotional depth and performance character. In both cases, it’s about what makes a car feel special—not what makes it easier to spec in a configurator.
A Thoughtful Reminder in a Digitized World
Rimac's testimony about today's hybrid supercars—specifically, those with turbocharged motors and overly complex drivelines—expresses an honest-eyed recognition of what the driving experience stands to lose. His vision for the E30 is not meant to reject progress, but to preserve something that's worthy of preservation.
If he does succeed, it'll likely not be Nürburgring-lap-time-tuned. It won't be lightest-in-sector, or digitally programmable. But it will be a car that speaks to him. And maybe that's the message.
In an age that appears to be wrapped up in messaging, algorithms, and packaging, Rimac's plans to build a V10 BMW E30 aren't groundbreaking. They're real. And sometimes, being real is the most stimulating thing of all.
