Tag: Performance BMW

  • GROUP A E30 M3: ROAD AND TRACK

    If you went to all the trouble of building a Group A E30 M3 recreation it’d be no surprise if you then decided it was too good just to use on the track, which is why this incredible Warsteiner-liveried beast is not only fully prepped for racing but also fully road legal.

    Feature first appeared in Performance BMW magazine. Words: Elizabeth de Latour. Photos: Lewis Bennett

    We can think of few more iconic racing machines than the E30 M3 – for starters, those lucky enough to own the road-going version are driving around in something that’s barely any different to the race car as BMW developed the motorsport machine first, and then adapted it for the road, meaning it’s as close to a racing car for the road as you can hope to get. The racing incarnation of the M3, meanwhile, had an incredibly long and illustrious career that spanned everything from rallying to DTM and its numerous famous – and eye-catching – liveries have ensured that it remains a part of BMW culture and in the collective memory of all BMW enthusiasts for all time. When it comes to understanding the various motorsport group definitions under which the M3 raced, it can get a bit confusing but arguably the most prolific of those – and the one we’re interested in today – is Group A. The Group A regulations were introduced in 1982 and remained in use until 1994 and covered cars competing in racing and rallying, both of which were disciplines in which the E30 M3 appeared. A Group A E30 M3, then, is something pretty special so imagine how special it would be to actually own one – Steve Basstoe doesn’t have to use his imagination, because this is his Group A E30 M3.

    Steve is likely a little older than many of you reading this and grew up around cars, which fostered his love for all things automotive from a young age and gave him a taste for Bavaria’s finest in the process. “I have been interested in BMWs for as long as I can remember,” he begins as we chat. “Growing up in my dad’s car breakers, BMWs were almost exotica during the 1970s and following their success on the race track just made them all the more special,” he grins. “The incarnation of the E30 M3 in 1986 as a homologation special and its dominance in touring car racing culminating in it being the most successful touring car of all time – I had to have one!” he exclaims but obviously, he didn’t jump straight into race car ownership and there have been several cars – and BMs – along the way. Steve kicked off his motoring career with a 1974 Mk1 Ford Escort 1300 Sport, which he proceeded to heavily modify, while his first BMW experience was, unsurprisingly perhaps, an E30. “It was a black 1985 E30 318i, with fog lights and a sunroof. It was the perfect base for a 325i Sport lookalike, so I immediately sourced and fitted a 325i Sport interior, body kit, suspension and wheels. It was a sheep in wolf’s clothing, but I could afford to insure it,” he grins, which is always a bonus, and he currently also owns an E46 M3 CSL as well as David Smiterham’s Production BMW racer (also road legal), but what we’re really interested in is the car you’re looking at right here.

    Group A E30 M3

    This might not be one of the original Group A racers but that doesn’t really matter because seeing as its a full ground-up recreation built from a bare shell it is, for all intents and purposes, the same and, best of all, you can use this one out on the road. The car was built by Chris Lowe, a Master Mechanic for BMW GB and now BMW Australia who has been involved with numerous performance BMW builds as both a consultant and engineer, and this E30 M3 was the last car he built in the UK before moving to Oz.

    For this build one of the last E30 M3s produced was chosen, stripped down to a bare shell and fully rotisserie restored before the transformation could begin. The biggest difference between a build like this and your average PBMW feature car is that when you’re recreating a racer it’s all about sticking to the original specs and making sure it ticks all the boxes in terms of both appearance and equipment and this is absolutely a no-expense-spared project. The draw of this car was irresistible; “The car had been the subject of a complete nut and bolt build and covered a mere 50 miles since completion,” says Steve but he had no intention of tucking this M3 away to look at from time to time – it had been built to be driven and that’s exactly what he was planning to do. “My intentions were to use it as a track car and then do a race series in, which it is already compliant for,” he says and nothing makes us happier than a car being used exactly for what it was designed for.

    Group A E30 M3

    First of all, this car looks the absolute business, resplendent in its Warsteiner livery and it is every inch the full-on racing machine. The shell was media blasted back to bare metal, fully seam welded then resprayed in its original Alpine white III, before the Group A roll-cage was fitted, which incorporates front and rear suspension mounting points and the diff. The car wears Sport Evo wings, a thinner slat front grille and the drag-reducing bonnet gap rubber strips, the front and rear bumpers along with the boot lid are made from ABS plastic, and then you’ve got the Group A elements, the carbon front splitter, carbon cold air intakes for the brakes, carbon door mirrors, the driver’s one incorporating an air intake to cool the person at the wheel, a single-wiper conversion and a rear spoiler with adjustable Gurney flap. Other additions include the FIA-approved towing eye, the Armourfend that has been applied to areas vulnerable to stone chips, and the Bosch high-output headlights.

    The interior follows function over form but still manages to look extremely sexy by virtue of being filled with nothing but the best motorsport components and finished to an extremely high standard. There’s a Ramsport heated front screen, a flocked dash incorporating a Group A instrument panel with corresponding 8000rpm tacho, gauges for the engine, gearbox and differential oil temperature, engine water temperature and engine oil pressure along with a fuel gauge. There’s a Spa digital speedo, a Sparco Pro 2000 FIA-approved seat with a Sabelt six-point harness, an OMP Corsica 330mm suede steering wheel, and a Longacre wide-angle rear-view mirror. Meanwhile, an FIA-approved foam-filled fuel cell is mounted in the spare wheel well and connected to a rear-mounted aero filler cap with a fast-fill alloy tube and there’s also a Facet competition fuel pump from Merlin Motorsport. It’s exactly as hardcore as you’d expect, but it’s been executed with absolute attention to detail.

    Undoubtedly one of the most exciting areas of any performance-orientated car, especially a race car, is the engine and here, of course, it is something very special. Sitting in the engine bay of this E30 M3 is, naturally, an S14 but as that massive carbon air box lets you know, this one is rather far removed from stock. The engine has been fully rebuilt and features a Sport Evo flywheel, 48mm throttle bodies and exhaust manifold, a custom stainless race exhaust, along with that aforementioned DTM carbon intake with 18cm primaries and carbon snorkel. The stock viscous cooling fan has been replaced with a Spal electric fan, there’s an uprated Mishimoto alloy radiator, the block has been re-honed and fitted with JE pistons, Schrick 284/276 cams, there are Siemens Deka 630cc injectors and there’s an Emerald K6 ECU with twin map switching. In addition to all of that, it’s also equipped with a larger oil cooler and a baffled sump among other upgrades and the result in one serious S14 making some serious power, along with an epic soundtrack. Naturally, such an engine requires a suitably sturdy transmission to go with it and to be able to cope with the rigours of racing so here the gearbox has been fully rebuilt with a new gear cluster, new bearing and seals, there’s a Group A selector and alloy gear stick, Group N mounts and a Group A oil sensor. There’s also a C3 competition clutch, a balanced propshaft with a new coupling and new mounts, and the diff features a 4.27 final drive with a 25% lock-up inside a finned case for improved cooling.

    Finally, we have to talk about the chassis because it’s such an important part of a race car and there’s a mix of seriously high-quality components on board here. Up front sits a powder coated crossmember, Vorshlag fully adjustable race camber/caster plates, Leda fully adjustable shortened front struts, 2.5” coilover spring perches, Zone Motorsport eccentric rear wishbone racing bushes, Sport Evo aluminium front wishbones, and the power steering has been replaced with a manual quick rack. At the rear you’ll find a powder coated subframe, GAZ fully adjustable shortened rear shocks, there are Eibach springs front and rear, H&R anti-roll bars and Powerflex bushes, which all makes for a seriously hardcore chassis setup that’s perfectly suited for the track and allows for endless adjustment and fine-tuning.

    The brakes, meanwhile, use four-pot Brembo calipers up front, vented discs with aluminium bell housings while at the rear sit Moseley Motorsport-supplied calipers and discs and there are braided hoses all-round, delivering serious stopping power lap after lap. Finally, we come to the wheels and that’s one area where there’s always a bit more flexibility, especially with this being a road-legal build, so Steve explored his options fully. “I always wanted period-correct wheels and considered many options including BBS RSs but finally opted for these wheels after the manufacturer agreed to build them in the size and offset I wanted,” he explains, that being Compomotive and the wheels being the company’s TH design, with these 17s wrapped in Toyo R888R rubber and they are the perfect choice for this motorsport build and suit the E30 so well.

    This is an achingly cool machine in every way – it’s a Warsteiner-liveried road-legal Group A E30 M3 recreation, how does it get any better than that? The work that has gone into this build is incredible, it’s period-perfect in every way that matters but even better where it counts as it’s equipped with more modern equipment that means it’s as finely honed an E30 M3 track machine as you could hope to find. Not one corner has been cut anywhere on this build, but then again it wouldn’t have been because when you’re building a genuine racing machine everything has to be nothing but the absolute best. Steve is one very lucky guy to be able to grab the keys and take it for a spin whenever he’s in the mood, whether that be on the road or track, and we can only imagine the sort of reaction this car gets out in public. As far as E30 M3s go, it doesn’t get much better than this.

    Group A E30 M3

    Tech Spec: Group A E30 M3

    Engine:

    2.3-litre four-cylinder S14B23, Group N engine mounts, Sport Evo 48mm throttle bodies, exhaust manifold and flywheel, DTM carbon fibre intake with 18cm primaries and carbon fibre snorkel, re-honed and balanced block, JE racing pistons, Schrick 284/276 cams, Siemens Deka 630cc injectors, Group A gasket set, Spal electric fan, Mishimoto alloy radiator, larger oil cooler, baffled sump, modified crankcase ventilation, custom twin stainless race exhaust with crossover and cat delete, Emerald K6 ECU with twin map switching

    Transmission:

    Getrag 265 five-speed manual gearbox, fully rebuilt, C3 competition clutch and slave cylinder, Group A selector and alloy gear stick, Group N transmission mounts, Group A oil sensor, balanced propshaft, fully rebuilt diff with 4.27 final drive ratio and 25% lock-up, finned differential case, gearbox oil temperature sensor

    Chassis:

    8×17” (front and rear) Compomotive TH wheels with 225/45 (front and rear) Toyo R888R tyres, powder coated front crossmember, Vorshlag fully adjustable race camber/caster plates, 2.5” coil-over spring perch with single-row race bearings, Leda fully adjustable shortened front struts, Eibach 2.5×7” 500lb coil springs, Eibach 2.5” 40lb helper springs, Zone Motorsport eccentric rear wishbone racing bushes, H&R anti-roll bar with race mount, Sport Evo aluminium front wishbones, Powerflex bushes, power steering deleted and replaced with manual quick rack, powder coated rear subframe, GAZ fully adjustable shortened rear shocks, Eibach 2.5×10” 250lb coil springs, Eibach 2.5” 40lb helper springs, H&R anti-roll bar, alloy race mounts and Powerflex bushes, Brembo four-pot calipers and vented discs with aluminium bell housings (front), Moseley Motorsport-supplied callipers and discs (rear), braided hoses

    Exterior:

    Shell media blasted to bare metal, fully seam welded, painted original Alpine white III, Warsteiner livery, Sport Evo arches, thin-slat front grille and bonnet rubber seals, fibreglass bonnet with twin pin quick release, ABS front bumper with twin pin quick release, Group A carbon fibre front splitter, cold air intakes for brakes, door mirrors (driver’s side feeding cold air to driver) and single-wiper conversion, Bosch high-output headlights and main beam, FIA-approved towing eye, engine cutout, plumbed-in fire extinguisher switch, ABS rear bumper and boot lid with twin pin quick release, Group A rear spoiler with adjustable Gurney flap, Armourfend on stone chip-vulnerable areas

    Interior:

    Group A roll-cage incorporating front and rear suspension mounting points and differential, Ramsport heated windscreen, custom-built lightweight loom, Perspex windows with slider kit on driver’s door, flocked dash, Group A instrument panel with 8000rpm tacho, engine oil temperature, gearbox oil temperature, differential oil temperature, engine water temperature, engine oil pressure and fuel gauges, plumbed-in fire extinguisher switch, ignition switch, push-start, Spa digital speedometer, Group A gear selector, Fire Sense 5kg plumbed-in fire extinguisher for both driver and engine bay, Odyssey Extreme Racing 25 battery and aluminium mounting bracket, FIA battery isolator, Sparco Pro 2000 FIA-approved seat with steel side mounts, Sabelt six-point 2” harness and stress plates, OMP Corsica 330mm suede steering wheel and alloy hub, Longacre wide-angle race rear-view mirror, original door cards and rear panels, FIA-approved foam-filled fuel cell in spare wheel well with rollover valve, Group A rear-mounted aero filler cap with fast-fill alloy tube, Facet competition fuel pump with alloy filter bracket and swirl pot

    Source

  • 1000WHP BMW M4: BEYOND THE LIMIT

    While this BMW M4 might look subtle on the outside, barely contained beneath the surface sits a seriously modded S55 developing an earth-shattering amount of power, creating a 1000whp BMW M4 monster.

    Feature taken from Performance BMW. Words: Elizabeth de Latour. Photos: Brandon Fudge.

    Is there such a thing as too much power? Ricky Nguyen wouldn’t say so because he’s built the most powerful M4 we’ve ever seen. That’s made all the more impressive by the fact that while the S55 is a serious powerhouse, to extract truly astronomical figures from it as he has done requires real commitment, and this car has been built to a scale and standard that are truly astonishing.

    Ricky’s 1000whp BMW M4 build would be impressive regardless of how many modded cars had come before it on his motoring journey, but the fact that this is not only his first BMW but also his first-ever modded car makes this whole project and the incredible end result all the more amazing. So what drives a man who drove a Honda Accord as his first car to buy an M4 and mod it on this scale? “I have always been interested in BMWs as they don’t go out of style and last for generations,” says Ricky. “What makes BMWs special to me is their durability and longevity. Their body style is unique and still looks modern and luxurious even after newer models are released. They can be passed on from generation to generation and still run like the day they were driven off the dealer’s lot,” he says and he makes a good point. “The BMW E92 M3 was my dream car growing up as a kid. I always loved the M3’s aggressive body lines and sporty look as a coupé. A BMW M coupé is the car that I had to have when I could afford one; there was no other car that kept my attention like that,” he smiles. “I decided to buy my 2016 BMW F82 M4 because it had everything I was looking for in a BMW. It checked every box on my buying list: BMW, M performance, coupé, Mineral white, and being that is the first 4 Series M model was a bonus. I know it will become a classic, luxurious sporty vehicle that others will come to love and enjoy down the road,” he says.

    1000whp BMW M41000whp BMW M4

    Now, while Ricky did have some mods in mind for his M4, with this being his first BMW and with him never having modded a car before it’s understandable that he fully intended to take things easy and keep the mods mild. “My only plans I had for the car after purchasing it were to add an exhaust and downpipes, the simple bolt-on mods,” he says, and we can see how well that worked out for him… “The first mod done to the car was adding catless downpipes and an exhaust. Both were purchased from Fabspeed as they have their signature X-pipe design to eliminate the rasp of the OEM exhaust note,” he says. “The second mod I did was adding my M Performance carbon fibre lip and carbon diffuser. After adding the exhaust and carbon fibre exterior pieces, I felt like the car lacked power to match its appeal so I went with a custom Stage 2 tune with bootmod3,” and with just those simple mods Ricky already had a car that looked good, sounded good and went like stink, with the Stage 2 bootmodm3 taking power deep into 500hp territory. As far as a selection of starting mods goes, they definitely got the job done and the car remained at this level for a little while, but when Ricky made his next move things got serious, and seriously fast.

    “Once I drove the car for another 5000 miles I felt that it could use a lot more mods so I purchased the following items and had them all installed at once,” he says and everything he bought took the M4’s power level from reasonable to incomprehensible in one giant leap. It took a hell of a lot of work but, damn, did it get results. “I bought Evolution Racewerks charge pipes, Fuel-It Stage 4 kit, Driveshaft shop axles and propshaft, SSP Spec-R clutch and transmission package, Pure Turbos High-Flow Stage 2 turbos, Burger Motorsports intakes, CSF front-mount race heat exchanger, top-mount cooler and DCT cooler, and a CarBahn Autoworks Stage 2 engine. All of these modifications were added just 8000 miles after purchasing the car and installing all of these modifications took about nine months,” he explains and that’s an incredible array of upgrades, but it’s the CarBahn Autoworks Stage 2 engine that really stands out because that’s what takes this build to a whole other level.

    1000whp BMW M41000whp BMW M4

    “The CarBahn Stage 2 engine was the longest wait as they had to upgrade a stock S55 engine,” explains Ricky. “I went with a CarBahn engine because it is a Steve Dinan engine, and the Dinan name has been tied to BMW since 1977 when he first started building high-performance BMW street and racing engines. CarBahn Autoworks addresses the two biggest issues that plague the S55 engine,” Ricky continues, “and the engine is also built with forged Carrillo connecting rods and forged CP pistons for excellent durability. Lastly, the engine’s compression ratio is dropped by 0.5 to accommodate a large increase in boost and the cylinder head is also ported to maximize airflow at higher rpm,” he continues. “Once the engine came in everything was installed at the same time since the entire car would be torn apart. This allowed for the car to have the least amount of downtime possible. As soon as these mods were done, the car was pushing 730whp and 750lb ft wtq; I drove the car around at this power level for about two weeks before I blew the clutches and transmission. I had a shift-rod error from too much torque causing the SSP Spec-R clutches to fail along with my transmission,” Ricky tells us but, as we all know, when something breaks that just means that you rebuild it even better than before, which is exactly what he did.

    1000whp BMW M41000whp BMW M4

    “At this point, I knew that I had another chance to rebuild my car – I was given a second chance to turn my BMW into what it is now,” he grins. The first item on the list was brakes, because while the stock items are probably the best M3 (and M4) brakes we’ve ever had, there’s still plenty of room for improvement, especially once you start upping the power to this sort of level. Ricky opted for a Brembo BBK with red calipers to deliver the perfect contrast against the white bodywork, with six-pot calipers up front and four-pots at the rear, both mated to 380mm discs, and this is actually his favourite mod on the whole car. “It allows me to go as fast as I want and still be able to stop as needed. Without the big brake kit, I would not be able to drive the car as spiritedly as I do,” he smiles. Next up, the clutches needed some serious upgrades to ensure they were ready for what Ricky had planned; “I sent the clutches back to South Side Performance (SSP) and had Kris make me custom clutches. I did not know my power goals so I told him to do whatever he has to as I plan on pushing at least 1000whp while daily driving the car. While the clutches and transmission were being replaced, Kratos released their KRAS55Bi turbos. These turbos are designed to allow the car to push a much higher amount of boost with less strain on the motor. Also, the turbos’ dual ceramic ball bearing aids in decreasing response time with its near-frictionless surface as well as guaranteeing long term reliability,” he says.

    “While tuning the car with the previous Pure turbos, I ran into valve float with the stock valve springs. Valve float is a common issue now with the S55 engine as you reach approximately 7-800whp depending on your car’s setup,” Ricky explains. “With valve float occurring, we could turn up the boost as much as we want but no power gains would occur. It can also cause damage to the engine if not addressed in a timely manner. At this time, there were only two companies working on a valve spring upgrade for the S55 engine as it was unknown territory, because only a small handful of S55s were pushing the limits and boundaries as I was. HeadGames Motorworks was the first to have a complete, finished product and I went with their valve spring kit to solve my valve float issue. Once the valve springs were upgraded, it was time to bolt on the Kratos turbos and get it tuned.

    1000whp BMW M41000whp BMW M4

    “I went with Halim at HCP Performance as my tuner as he, along with the staff at Kratos, make a hell of a team and had my car dialled in within a week. While tuning the vehicle, I found a small boost leak in my Evolution Racewerks aluminium charge pipes and replaced them with Maximum PSI’s silicone charge pipes and their J-Pipe. I also ran into issues with the Burger Motorsports intakes so I modified the setup to be compatible with ASR Engineering’s intakes. I also installed a 4 bar Bosch sensor so that the car can run more boost than the OEM factory sensor. At that point, the rest is history,” he grins. “The car dyno’d at 995whp and 847lb ft wtq on pump E85 alone at 45 psi, and 656whp/580wtq on 93 octane at 27 psi with more left in it on the 93 octane tune. I did not dial in the 93 octane tune as I prefer the power that E85 delivers. I kept the torque down intentionally for the E85 pump map so that the transmission can keep up,” he adds.

    Now, for most people that would be it, because 995whp is an insane amount of power, but Ricky isn’t most people… “After driving the car daily for five months, I learned a lot about it and its characteristics. I learned what it liked and didn’t like. I also knew that I left power on the table so I decided to do some more modifications. 995whp and 847lb ft wtq was not enough,” he grins. “I first contacted Mike at Evolution of Speed so that he could set me up with one of his CNC intake manifolds. I also upgraded my 950cc injectors from Fuel-It to Injector Dynamics’ 1050x injectors that flow 1065cc at 3 bar. Furthermore, I swapped out my spark plugs to Brisk’s QR08S Silver Racing plugs, which are one step colder than the QR10S I ran previously. I also contacted Kris at South Side Performance and I upgraded the stock DCT transmission pan to their DCT Billet Transmission Pan as well as their DCT Viton Transmission Pan Gasket and Stainless Steel Filter. The SSP Transmission Pan is CNC’d and has cooling fins to keep temperatures down while also providing an additional 2-litre capacity over stock. With more power comes more responsibility so I also installed SPL’s Titanium Rear Upper Links and Rear Traction Links as well as Fall-Line Motorsports’ Toe Link Kit.

    “Since I upgraded to the Evolution of Speed intake manifold for extra fuelling, my mechanic Matt had to run some custom fuel lines so that it would be compatible with some of the existing Fuel-It components. With changes to the fuelling, that also meant I had to retune the car as well. I decided to go with my original tuner this time, Paul Johnson, otherwise known as F80Paul. He is extremely knowledgeable on the S55 platform as well as a few others such as the B58 engine,” says Ricky. “After everything was installed, we started tuning immediately and the rest is history. It took approximately two days to tune the car on the dyno for three different types of fuels. We first started with pump E85 with my ethanol sensor reading E80 then moved on Ignite Red (E90) and finally 93 octane. The car put down 960whp and 845lb ft wtq on the pump E85 map, 1005whp/863lb ft wtq on the Ignite Red map and 670whp/600lb ft wtq on 93 octane in the 90°F (32°C) weather here in Dallas, Texas. If tuning was done during boost season like when it was previously tuned my numbers will definitely be higher, and with race fuel alone the car is capable of up to +1163whp/983lb ft wtq as that is what Kratos made on their shop car. I always keep race fuel handy, so that if I do want to make more power on a particular day I just need to mix it in with the pump E85,” he smiles. We need a moment because the numbers being thrown around here are just insane. 1005whp is a completely abstract number that you can’t even begin to wrap your head around, and to have that much in a car that is still daily driven is just beyond words, really.

    1000whp BMW M41000whp BMW M4

    The question on our lips, and everyone else’s, is what is it actually like to drive something with that level of power, because it’s incomprehensible really. “I daily drive the car on the E85 tune and it is exhilarating to say the least,” he laughs. “When people ask me what it’s like driving the car around as my daily driver with 1000hp to the wheels, I tell them it’s just like stock but faster. The jerkiness with the DCT transmission from the factory is gone with the upgraded clutches and tuning. I have no issues with traction besides in first and second gear; given the right environment/factors, the car will catch traction in third gear, no later than fourth. The car is an absolute rocket and physically lifts when I smash the gas pedal. It looks and sounds like a luxurious, high-end performance BMW coupé: it is the ultimate driving machine,” he smiles and we don’t doubt that for a moment.

    Often when we feature a car with this sort of power level it has the outlandish looks to go with it but, as you can see here, this M4 is incredibly subtle on the outside, and it’s a theme that carries over to the inside as well. While by its nature an M4 – and any M car – can never truly be considered a sleeper, this 1000whp BMW M4 is about as close as you can hope to get. “I decided to go with an OEM+, sleeper-style look for the car,” says Ricky. “I kept the engine bay looking as stock/OEM as possible. Every modification on the car was ordered directly from BMW’s M Performance line if possible. I was first running an M Performance carbon fibre lip but it cracked in half and flew off while flooring the car, so I then replaced it with an M4 CS-style carbon lip and secured it to the point where it will not fly off. I even got the quad exhaust tips from Fabspeed finished in polished chrome to make them look as close to the stock quad tips,” he says.

    1000whp BMW M41000whp BMW M4

    1000whp BMW M4 sleeper? You best believe it

    We admire Ricky’s restraint and his subtle carbon additions merely serve to delicately enhance the car’s looks without drawing any unwanted attention, and the same goes for the wheels, which are far from flash, and the suspension, which has been set up to deliver handling and the perfect drop. “Given the fact that I went after an OEM+ sleeper look, I decided to go with something a little different than the usual wheel selections,” he explains. “I decided to go with Brixton Forged’s CM10 monoblock forged wheels finished in Satin Kingsport Grey,” and the intricate design looks so good on the M4’s shape while the colour and satin finish are a stunning combo. The wheels are wrapped in super-sticky Toyo R888R rubber, with 265s up front and 305s at the rear, delivering huge levels of grip and traction.

    For suspension, Ricky chose a set of Öhlins Road & Track coilovers, which offer plenty of adjustment, allowing him to fine-tune his M4’s handling based on the type of driving he’s doing and their track bias is perfect for him as, while the M4 might be his daily, it also gets to enjoy some circuit time, while the SPL Titanium Links combined with the Fall-Line Motorsport kit helps him put all that power to the ground. Finally we come to the interior and, as with the exterior, things have been kept very subtle and stock in here. “The interior is very basic and stock-looking and I did all of the interior mods myself,” Ricky says. “I installed the M Performance Alcantara arm rest, DCT carbon fibre knob, DCT console trim, carbon fibre/Alcantara parking brake handle and stainless steel pedals,” and while that might be a modest selection of mods, these M Performance additions are more than enough to enhance the cabin’s aesthetics and make it feel just that little bit more special.

    We feature some incredible cars here at PBMW but this 1000whp BMW M4 is truly something else. It’s not just the headline figure that is mind-blowing, it’s the work that’s gone into achieving it which is truly astonishing, with that engine taking centre stage and it truly sets this build apart. If you’re ever wondering what it takes to build a 1000whp car, this is the level of commitment and dedication that’s required. We love this car for many reasons, but we particularly love the way it combines insane power with incredibly subtle styling, because that’s something we’ll never get bored of. After nine months of building and an incredible array of mods, it is with both great relief and satisfaction that we can say this car is done and Ricky only has one thing on his mind. “My only plan is to drive it as much as possible and enjoy it so that all the time, effort and money was not put to waste,” he says with a smile and that sounds like a damn good plan to us.

    Tech Spec: 1000whp BMW M4

    Engine and Transmission:

    3.0-litre straight-six CarBahn Autoworks Stage 2 S55B30, Kratos KRAS55Bi turbos, HeadGames Motorworks valve spring kit, Burger Motorsports intakes modified with ASR filters, Fabspeed catless downpipes and exhaust with polished chrome tips, CSF top-mount chargecooler, front-mount race heat exchanger & DCT transmission cooler, Evolution of Speed intake manifold, Injector Dynamics 1050x injectors, Maximum PSI charge pipes and J-pipe, bootmod3 software, custom tuning by HCP Performance, custom tuning by Paul Johnson. Seven-speed M DCT gearbox, South Side Performance custom DCT clutches, Billet Transmission Pan, Viton Gasket and Transmission Filter, Driveshaft Shop propshaft and axles, GTS DCT TCU flash, GTS diff flash

    Power and Torque:

    1005whp and 863lb ft wtq on Ignite Red (E90), 960whp and 845lb ft wtq on pump E85, 670whp and 600lb ft wtq on 93 octane

    Chassis:

    9.5×19” (front) and 11×19” (rear) Brixton Forged monoblock CM10 wheels in Satin Kingsport Grey with 265/35 (front) and 305/30 (rear) Toyo R888R tyres, Öhlins Road & Track coilovers, SPL Titanium Rear Upper Links and Titanium Rear Traction Links, Fall-Line Motorsports Toe Link Kit, GTS electronic power steering flash and traction control flash, Brembo Type 3 BBK with six-piston calipers and 380mm discs (front) and four-piston calipers and 380mm discs (rear)

    Exterior:

    M4 CS-style carbon fibre front lip, BMW M Performance carbon fibre rear diffuser and boot lip spoiler, Suntek Ultra PPF and Ceramic Pro Lifetime Warranty by Southwest Auto Detailing

    Interior:

    BMW M Performance Alcantara armrest, DCT carbon fibre console trim, Alcantara/carbon fibre handbrake handle and stainless steel pedal covers, BlackVue DR900S-2CH dash cam

    Source

  • BOOSTED BMW E36: 1014WHP TWINCHARGED BEAST

    Equipped with both a supercharger and turbo and developing an astonishing 1014whp, this boosted BMW E36 really is something else.

    Making decisions is hard and having to make choices is unfair; for example, do you want a starter or do you want dessert? Well, why not both? See? Easy! And the same approach can be applied when modding. For example: do you want a turbo or a supercharger? Also why not both? Hold on though, that’s one area where you kind of have to make a decision because, generally speaking, running both is rather complicated to execute. The logic is sound – you use a positive displacement supercharger to fill in at the bottom end, giving you instant monster torque when you touch the throttle, and then the big turbo goes to work at higher revs for massive power up top. Great in theory and awesome in practice, but there are very few examples out there, with the Lancia Delta S4 and VW 1.4 TSi engine being probably the two most notable ones. And yet, here we are looking at a home-brew boosted BMW E36 and it’s making over 1000whp. We love this car, and we love Andreas Blanksvärd for building it.

    Boosted BMW E36Boosted BMW E36

    Andreas is not some mad scientist engineer as you might be thinking – his day job is driving railway excavators – but he’s a man who knows his way around a car and who loves modifying and forced induction. That combined passion has resulted in the combined application of supercharger and turbo and the subsequent creation of the beast you see before you. Oh, and did we mention this happens to be not only his first BMW but also his first car? That’s not to say the 27-year-old Swede has just started driving, he’s been punishing the Swedish tarmac with all manner of monster machinery for years, but this was his first-ever motoring purchase, which makes the end result all the more significant on a personal level. “It all started when I was 17 and was going to buy my first car,” he explains. “I wanted rear-wheel-drive and the options in my budget where an old Volvo, Mercedes or BMW and the choice was pretty easy. I found this BMW 328i with the M Tech kit for a really good price and I was hooked for life,” he grins and he’s not kidding. With the exception of an R34 Skyline GTT and a Dodge Ram, Andreas has been devoted to BMs ever since and his current stable includes a BMW E36 320i drift car running a turbo’d M54B30 with 500hp and M3 drivetrain, and an immaculate E30 325i Convertible, which he owns with his dad and which they restored together.

    Boosted BMW E36Boosted BMW E36

    While he’s clearly no stranger to modding, he’s never attempted a project on this scale before and, when he bought the BMW E36, ending up with a 1000whp fire-breathing boosted beast wasn’t part of the plan. “I didn’t really have any plans; sure I had looked at big horsepower BMWs online but the plan was only to have fun in a beautiful BMW. Then I mounted a small supercharger to the 328 and after that the goal was 1000whp and the project started,” he grins and that’s got to be one of the quickest project escalations ever.

    As Andreas says, it all started with that supercharger and around 300hp, followed by an auto’ to manual swap, and while he did want more power the supercharger was too small, so he bought himself a Garrett GT35 turbo with standalone management. All good, except for the fact that he only got to drive it on track once before a friend missed a gear and blew a hole in the engine… “After that the real stuff began and I started thinking about both a supercharger and turbo with a goal of 1000whp and the total rebuild was on,” he grins and that’s definitely a case of every cloud having a silver lining.

    Boosted BMW E36Boosted BMW E36

    There’s a lot to take in with this E36 3-Series because it is an absolute monster that’s as much about bark as it is about bite, but if we’re going to start anywhere then it has to be with the engine. “The block is from an M50B25 with an M54B30 crank and forged rods and pistons,” explains Andreas, “and the head is from an M52 and has been ported and rebuilt with solid lifters to handle the 8500rpm limit, and is fitted with oversized valves. I have removed the Vanos due to the high lift and duration on the cams, which have a 290° intake duration and 11.55mm lift and 282° exhaust duration and 11mm lift. In order to handle the high revs an ATI crank damper had to be fitted, and there’s also a dry sump lubrication system. The turbo is a BorgWarner S400 SXE with an 82mm inducer and an 88mm exducer, and to get the turbo started I use an Eaton M122 supercharger running at about 1.3bar of boost,” he says. “Other fun parts are the S54 individual throttle bodies, custom-made plenum, charge pipes, mounts, turbo manifold, dry sump pan etc. and I use a Link G4 system along with a Race Technology dash to control the engine.” That’s an awesome engine spec and the end result of that mad science is a frankly insane 1014whp and 795lb ft wtq, which is transmitted to the rear wheels via a GS653BZ six-speed manual from a 530d, with a custom-made propshaft to the 210 diff and upgraded driveshafts as well. Staring into this engine bay is like staring into a black hole itself, such is the sheer power contained within, and we have unlimited respect for Andreas for just how much work he has pumped into that unsuspecting M50 and the end result he’s achieved – it’s just breathtaking.

    Boosted BMW E36Boosted BMW E36

    Now, as you can see, this E36 is no street sleeper and that’s because it was built with a specific purpose in mind. “The goal was to take the car drifting,” says Andreas, and that meant the suspension required some pretty serious upgrades to get it up to spec. “I rebuilt the entire front suspension myself (which required a lot of thinking and calculating), welded my own axles to get the steering angle and brakes that I wanted, moved the steering rack back and used an electric power steering kit to make room for the dry sump and supercharger, then built my own mounts inside the suspension towers to get the camber and caster that I wanted,” he says, so you can appreciate just how much work went into this build. Elsewhere you’ll find fully-adjustable arms with uniballs or solid aluminium bushes throughout the entire suspension and, as aesthetics also play an important part in all of this, Andreas has painted the front and rear suspension white so it looks nice under the car. His chosen coilovers are D2’s multi-adjustable Drift Series offerings, obviously the perfect choice for this application, while on the brake front you’ll find Brembo four-pots up front clamping 325mm discs and twin calipers and 315mm discs at the back.

    Of course, even with all that’s going on here you still need the right set of wheels to get the car looking perfect and Andreas’ choice is on point. “It was love at first sight with the Rondell 0058s,” he smiles, “and they are fairly cheap and easy to get as I need a lot of wheels for drifting. I have always wanted a beautiful set of 17” BBSs to have on the car when driving on the street and for car shows but haven’t got there yet,” he adds, but that’s no hardship as the 0058 is a great-looking wheel with loads of dish and it works really well on the E36 3-Series.

    So that’s the drift-based underpinnings dealt with but we also have to talk about the outrageous aero that this car wears, and it is absolutely covered in fins, wings and diffusers but none of this is for show, it’s all functional and all about delivering maximum downforce to assist Andreas in deploying all that power to the tarmac. “I just had a vision in my head of a really wide and angry-looking black BMW E36, and I got a lot of inspiration from time attack cars,” he explains. “Most of the things are made by myself with help from my dad and friends, except for the carbon wing and canards – for the rear canards I actually had to make the moulds myself to get them the way I wanted, and in the pictures the lower front canards are missing,” which means this thing normally wears even more aero than you see here.

    Boosted BMW E36Boosted BMW E36

    “There were no problems building the components but I have had some problems with the big front as it takes a lot of pressure and I broke the mounts,” says Andreas. “The entire front is mounted together so that it can be removed quickly using five push click mounts, and the cooling package is mounted together so it can be removed in a few minutes as well. The exterior is made to be really aggressive but it also works with a lot of downforce – below 200km/h (124mph) I have full grip on normal cheap street tyres and that’s running at full power,” he grins, which is seriously impressive stuff. As for his vision of creating a really wide and angry-looking boosted BMW E36, it’s mission accomplished as this machine is visually terrifying. It’s black on black on black, with that black bodywork enhanced by those custom-made pumped-up arches, blacked-out front and rear lights, black wheels and then there’s all that carbon and those outrageously angular aero elements. Cars really don’t get much more intimidating and aggressive than this.

    Away from the wild exterior the interior is marginally more restrained and has been built with purpose in mind, but that’s not to say that making sure it looked good too wasn’t on the cards. “I went for a simple, clean racing style in black and white, with the goals of safety and a proper driving position,” says Andreas, “and I did the cage and all mounts for the seats, pedals, steering wheel etc. myself,” which comes as no surprise based on the amount of hands-on work that he’s applied to this E36 project. The interior has been completely stripped and the aforementioned monochrome colour scheme has been applied before Andreas added a full Group H rally cage, Momo seats with RRS four-point harnesses, Sparco steering wheel, the aforementioned Race Technology digi dash, along with a hydraulic handbrake. It’s exactly the sort of interior you’d expect to see in a build like this and is packed full of nothing but the best gear, reflecting the incredibly high standards throughout the entire car.

    This boosted BMW E36 is an incredible machine, completely and utterly insane and we love it. This home-brew beast really is the very definition of built, not bought and the work that Andreas has poured into it over the past six years or so is truly astonishing and incredibly impressive. “It’s really hard to say what my favourite modification on the car is but it has to be the turbo and supercharger setup,” he grins and we don’t blame him as it make this car truly unique and special, as well as unreasonably powerful. Despite the sheer scale of this project, there are some things even Andreas couldn’t quite stretch to, like a billet block and crank with carbon pistons and billet head for even more boost and power, but we guess he’s just going to have to make do with only 1014whp as best he can for now… Of course, a mind that creates a car like this is never going to be one that will be easily satisfied and he’s already dreaming about the next project. “I would like to build my own tubular chassis E36 with an S54B32 twincharged engine,” he says, “but for now I will just do some smaller upgrades on the cars I have and try to get as much track time as possible for next year,” which sounds like a good plan to us and, with a 1014whp boosted BMW E36,. we reckon he’s going to have a hell of a lot of fun.

    Boosted BMW E36Boosted BMW E36

    Tech Spec: Boosted BMW E36

    Engine and Transmission

    M50B25 block, M54B30 crank with ATI damper, forged pistons and rods, M52 head, oversized valves, solid lifters, Cat Cams 290° 11.55mm lift and 282° 11mm lift cams, Weiss dry sump with Moroso tank and custom-made mounts and pan, custom-made 48mm turbo manifold, BorgWarner S400 SXE turbo with 82mm inducer and 88mm exducer, 4.5” downpipe, 3.5” custom stainless steel exhaust, Eaton M122 supercharger, S54 ITBs, custom-made plenum and supercharger/turbo valves, fuel cell, Speeding fuel system with SPD filter, fuel pressure regulator and all hoses/fittings, twin AEM 400lph fuel pumps, Nuke fuel rail, SPD vacuum station, Turbosmart dump valves and wastegates, Link G4 Extreme. GS653BZ six-speed manual gearbox from 530d, custom-made propshaft, 210mm diff, upgraded driveshafts

    Power and Torque

    1014whp and 795lb ft wtq

    Chassis

    8.5×18” (front) and 10×18” (rear) Rondell 0058 wheels with 235/40 (front) and 255/40 (rear) Federal 595 RS-R tyres, D2 Drift Series coilovers, custom axles, relocated steering rack, electric power steering kit, custom suspension mounts, fully-adjustable arms, uniballs and solid aluminium bushes throughout, Brembo four-piston calipers with 325mm discs (front) and twin calipers and 315mm discs (rear)

    Exterior
    Custom wide arches, fibreglass bonnet with carbon vents, fibreglass boot lid, custom carbon wing, carbon canards front and rear, custom-made front splitter and rear diffuser to match wide-arches, bolt-in plastic windows, blacked-out head and rear lights, Benen IND towing hook

    Interior

    Fully-stripped, Group H rally cage, Momo seats, RRS four-point harnesses, Sparco steering wheel, Race Technology digital display, Innovate AFR gauge, AEM boost gauge, hydraulic handbrake, flocked dash

    Feature taken from Performance BMW. Words: Elizabeth de Latour. Photos: Patrik Karlsson

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