REPLAY
FEATURE:
EQUILIBRIUM - THE SUPERCHARGED ///M3 16
August 2012| Images by: Tauriq Abrahams & Shawaal Davids
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Story by: Jason Sasman.
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Balance,
in the automotive sense, has always been the goal of many, as
it embodies the ultimate in all round enjoyment. And to be able
to get such balance is not easy. For Mubeen Sahib, this has
been a four-year journey. Mubeen always knew that he wanted
his latest project to embody the ultimate poise, a combination
of raw power with soft styling, shining vividly without being
outspoken, having race-edged performance with luxurious comfort.
This 2001 Laguna Blue E46 M3 is the end result of painstaking
methodical planning and preparation, starting with simple software
upgrades and carbon-fibre intake, to de-cat exhaust and short
shifter transmission. It wasn’t long after all that that
Mubeen consulted with Zaid from BMW specialist and tuners, Zeemax,
to formulate a recipe to create his dream ride.
A Supercharger conversion was chosen, as the owner felt this
would be far more reliable and drivable for daily use than a
turbocharger, as it maintained the cars instant responsiveness,
albeit that much more powerful. All parts required were ordered
from Active Auto in the UK. Parts included the supercharger
kit, intercooler and piping, clutch and methanol kit. Before
the parts even arrived the 3.2 engine was stripped, ceramic
coated and reassembled and then balanced to rotational perfection.
By the time the engine rebuild was completed, the parts had
arrived and were duly added in their respective places. All
gases exiting the engine do so via the custom Schnitzer duel
exhaust system.
With the engine side of things taken care of, the heavy duty
clutch was fitted, giving the 6 forward gears plenty of grip
and transfer capability to put power to tar, without any hassles.
The cars centre of gravity was put closer to mother earth with
the help of an Eibach lowering kit. And to complete the sleek
look of the car, a set of rare 19” inch M3 CSL rims were
fitted to super sticky Yokohama Advan tyres in 30 profile all
round, handling would not be problem for those super lightweight
and super strong wheels. Brakes consist of drilled disks at
each corner of the car, giving them a sharp and instant feel;
brake fade would now be nothing more than a thought.
The exterior was also treated to a “Ying-Yang” ideology
of balance, with the bright Laguna Blue assaulting the eyes,
Mubeen painstakingly blacked out the chrome grill and gills
of the car, smoke tinting the head and tail lights, and finished
off with black side mirrors and “panoramic-style”
blackened roof, contradicting the luminescent paintwork, thus
putting the bodywork at perfect ends of the scale between light
and dark. A carbon fibre lip was moulded on to the front bumper
to further enhance the darken mood of the car, as well as add
much needed aerodynamic functionality at high speed. At the
other end, a matching roof spoiler above the rear window completes
the external symmetry.
The interior remains standard for the most part, as it encompasses
a good balance of comfort and luxury mixed with race look and
sporty function, as can be seen in the cars wood grain and SAT
NAV encrusted dashboard, and electronically adjustable race-like
seats and thick grip steering wheel, respectively.
The end result of Mubeen’s painstaking planning and attention
to detail towards his goal of creating the ultimate all round
performance, style and luxury car has been met, resulting in
337kw and 570nm at the wheels (at only 0.5bar boost), as tested
on the Zeemax dyno at the beginning of this year. And due to
its high power output, its diet strictly consists of +100 octane
Avgas and Methanol injection mix.
Driver estimations put the car currently at low to mid 11sec
on the quarter mile, and the ability to easily clock 330km/h
on top end. Having taken a ride in the car myself, I can very
much vouch for those figures, as this car paralyses your facial
muscles on pull away, and then instantly switches to zero traction
with the change of a gear, sending you from one end of the traction
grid to the complete opposite in seconds.
As mentioned before, the amazing balance this car strikes makes
is more than just a straight line speed or quarter mile car,
she can handle better than the rest of them on a full race track,
and has readily partaken in many track days, ending very high
up on the finishing grid.
Mubeen is currently very happy with the cars all round performance
and sees no need to add anything more, so he is rather enjoying
the car as he does, on a daily basis. Future plans have already
come to mind for the owner, but not for this one, as it has
completed its journey to where it should be, according to Mubeen,
he now has his eye on a E92 M3 in the very near future, and
I have been assured that the E92 M3 will also be treated to
his unique formulation to make it better than it already is.
Raceweb will definitely be looking out for the new project,
and bring it to you first.
After our chat, I glance back at the darkened Laguna Blue beast,
and amaze myself at all the detail and work that has gone into
making it the perfectly balanced machine I see before me, so
true to form, that it perfectly embodies the ultimate in equilibrium.
