If BMW Ever Built A 1M GTS, This Would Be It
Using almost all OEM BMW parts, you could practically call this car a 1M GTS
Builds like this happen far too infrequently for our tastes. At first glance this appears to be a 1m, but it actually started life as a 135. Over the course of a few years, a project ended up getting ever larger, and eventually we wind up here. Think of it as the ultimate BMW M car that they never made. A 1M GTS.
Built to the extreme of a Porsche 911 GT3, this car still retains nice OEM creature comforts as it is used on the street, but that is about the only thing that was left alone Marco Svizzero decided that his car needed completely different power, and BMW’s S65 V8 was just the engine to get. Finding one proved to be a bit difficult, but eventually it was sourced and bought – sight unseen – through a part-out of an M3 in England. Said S65 was then stroked out 4.6L courtesy of Dinan and tuned to produce more than 500 horsepower.
Fitting the S65 into the 1-series proved to be a chore, with very minimal clearances. Spark plug changes? Don’t even ask. But the tuners at Performance Technic got everything to work. And boy does it work wonderfully. The goal was to feature an OEM-like level of integration. Every electrical feature and interior accoutrement works exactly like a stock car.
The swap didn’t do much to change the car’s great handling, thankfully. Weight penalties, surprisingly enough, were mostly paid by the heavier, stronger drive-line. Removing things like the sunroof, rear seats, and going with carbon fiber rims helped trim the fat on this car, tipping the scales at just over 3200 lbs.
By the way, that engine note is worth the time you’ll spend watching this video. We may actually just go back and watch it again.
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via: [1addicts]
