Earlier in the week fellow Speedhunter Jeroen Willemsen passed me an email with a link showing some photos of a rather mean looking E46 M3 out of the UK. Jeroen had actually been tipped off the car by Mike from Fluid Motor Union, and we figured this aggressive looking BMW was worth a share.
It’s not the most extreme M3 out there, but the car has a certain appeal that’s hard to deny. You may look at the slammed ride height and think “stance car”, but to me it also recalls the spirit of touring cars from 1990s and early 2000s.
The wheel choice also helps to give the M3 that touring car look. They are Azev Type As, 17×8.5 in the front and 18×10 in the rear. There aren’t many cars that can pull off the staggered diameter look, but this appears to be one that can.
Power wise, the car is mostly stock save for a custom exhaust system and the gleaming set of velocity stacks that were provided by Fluid Motor Union. I’m just gonna go ahead and assume it sounds magnificent.
The competition-inspired feel continues to the interior where you’ll find a suede OMP steering wheel and an AKG Motorsport stage 2 shifter.
The seats are Bride Zetas with custom sidemounts for maximum low positioning.
Even in factory trim the E46 M3 is a solid car, and with some unique modifications in all the right areas this one has come together quite well.
Thanks to Mike from Fluid MotorUnion for sending us the photos, which were shot by Bridle Photography.
If you have a cool car or build story that you think is worthy of being featured on Speedhunters, drop us a line at featurethis@dev.speedhunters.com . Please make sure to include your name and location, as well as some basic details and specs, along with at least 5-10 photographs. Photos should be no less than 800 pixels wide and in .JPG format.
-Mike
OFFICIAL SPEEDHUNTERS SUPPLIERS
Bad Ass
Mismatch camber? Style over substance. Spoils potentially nice car.
@e21Mark In fairness, when do cars like this get to see their full performance potential? Unless you live close to a racetrack, then not very often. Even with the "style over substance camber", it is still an M3. At the end of the day, each to their own - it may not fit your tastes, but it's not your car. If this car makes the owner happy, then congratulations.
"The spirit of touring cars" is to GO FAST. They look that way because forms follow function, not the other way round.
"The spirit of touring cars" is to GO FAST. They look that way because forms follow function, not the other way round.
It's not a case of taste though is it. I actually like the styling but see no point running 4+ degrees of negative camber on the rear and 0 degrees up front. Running geometry like that spoils the handling and looks odd. Posting pictures of your car on sites like this is going to invite comment - that's what comment boxes are for - but as you say, it's not my car and is just my personal opinion.
Is the driver just super short or are the bucket seats just a little too low?
good thing the seats are custom mounted as low as possible, dude can hardly see over the dash. Looks like a 10 year old driving his parents car
looks sooooo sick!
Talked about the staggered wheels...but never gave us a pic where you can actually see them well.
So disappointed... This is not at the level of car craftsmanship I expect from SH articles. Just mediocre..
I agree with anon, a tad short, and wouldve loved to see the bay from different angles
This is pretty much what I wanted to do with my car. Almost exactly. This M3 is sssick!
@e21Mark I totally agree with you. This car has a lot of nice components but the execution by the owner is god awful.
I feel like the whole "stance car" look, would only look good to someone who doesn't understand how a car is supposed to properly function.. To me, I see the beauty in my wheels having enough space to travel around and having a normal amount of camber, this thing just looks defective.
Too much camber on rear. Not enough camber on front. Seats too low and too much of a stretch to the steering wheel.
@manekineko You're talking rubbish. The function is ruined with this look. Nice components but poorly executed. Obviously e21mark & e36matt actually know what goes into making a car handle. Might ''look fast'' to you, but it won't be,
Too much camber on rear. Not enough camber on front. Seats too low and too much of a stretch to the steering wheel.
@manekineko You're talking rubbish. The function is ruined with this look. Nice components but poorly executed. Obviously e21mark & e36matt actually know what goes into making a car handle. Might ''look fast'' to you, but it won't be,
@M3e30 @manekineko M3e30, you're just another example of whats wrong with this world. Quietly raging behind your computer... So sad. Makes me wonder what else it is you have so much hate for... Being an annoying, know-it-all purest f@g is a bandwagon all it own as well, I hope you know. You're little bubble of knowledge is not very impressive, sorry. You should go find a car forum that appeals to your narrow-minded point of view, because I promise, if you keep coming here, you'll continue feeling these pussy emotions your having. Everything has it's own purpose, like you can't take a funny car dragster to a time attack circuit and expect 1st place. There's a reason it's called CAR CULTURE!
@M3e30 @manekineko M3e30, you're just another example of whats wrong with this world. Quietly raging behind your computer... So sad. Makes me wonder what else it is you have so much hate for... Being an annoying, know-it-all purest f@g is a bandwagon all it own as well, I hope you know. You're little bubble of knowledge is not very impressive, sorry. You should go find a car forum that appeals to your narrow-minded point of view, because I promise, if you keep coming here, you'll continue feeling these pussy emotions your having. Everything has it's own purpose, like you can't take a funny car dragster to a time attack circuit and expect 1st place. There's a reason it's called CAR CULTURE!
@MychalYbarra i got points, what is this? Ive been a SH reader for maybe 2 years but havent paid attention to the updated SH commenting, can someone inform me?
@M3e30 Since you drove the car and thoroughly evaluated its handling and also put yourself into the body of the owner thereby allowing you to judge the ergonomic layout of the car I totally trust your opinion. -_-
@worker bee @M3e30 Same to you! You f*cking idiot. Same to you. Please, keep the vocab to yourself. You look extremely stupid right about now.
Play nice people. Nothing wrong with different opinions but no need to flame one another.
Dislike
@LouisYio Those seats are for the benefit of low center gravity. Best example is Formula 1. And, he's probably a little short.
@M3e30 @manekineko having been involved in this car. it gets driven and its fantastic fun. the seating position comment is a bit dumb, you have no idea how far it is to the steering wheel or how tall the driver is lol.
Love it, SpeedHunters should consider moderate what people post on the bottom. Too many children voicing their immature opinions. Different strokes for different folks.
Love it, SpeedHunters should consider moderating what people post on the bottom. Too many children voicing their immature opinions. Different strokes for different folks.
Only one way this post + all of the gatebil posts could have been improved, by posting videos along with them.
So many of these cars I would love to hear and see driving actually. However, I'm only left to guess at how brutily awesome this car sounds.
@M3e30 lol don't know if it was my bad english or your lack of comprehension skill. What i was trying to say is this M3 might have the touring car "look" but it has got nothing on the real deal..btw that comment was directed to Mike Garrett. Cheers.
looks cool. tbh though only got respect for it if its used hard, would love to see pics/vids of that as it looks like a 'fake' track car to me
@M3e30 You obviously don't know what you're talking about. The steering wheel has an ADJUSTABLE column like most cars do now a days.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150979244544096&set=vb.509664095&type=2&theater
This car sounds crazy, check out more vids:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyUxAQF8suA&
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heHBFbmaAP4&
@M3e30 Who cares? It's a road car, not a race car, saving a few tenths doesn't matter so long as it's fun. Which in something like this it would be, and it looks f*cking cool.