Vivid Racing's Project BMW M3 E90 Underway!
#1
02-14-2012, 11:00 AM
Vivid Racing's Project BMW M3 E90 Underway!
Having sold our Project BMW M5, we went on the hunt for a new ride to build before the end of the 2011 year. Tossing up ideas between the new Audi S4, building a throw back E36 BMW M3, or just sittin pretty till the new F10 BMW M5 comes out, we decided we needed to get the BMW M3 E90. Having built a E46 M3 and a 135I, we had our feet wet in the BMW market. Wanting to further our recognition, we felt that the BMW M3 Sedan was the perfect platform to show how the daily driver could still be a monster.
The car we got is a 2008 M3. Done in the Interlagos Blue, the car came with the DCT transmission, navigation, cold weather package, and uniquely enough, no sunroof. Who needs the extra weight anyways! This car had some slight mods on it which included being lowered with a set of H&R springs, intake scoops, and a front carbon fiber lip spoiler. Being that the car was used a little, its alignment was a bit off. So besides the compact feeling of going from a M5 to a M3, its hard to give a good review on the car. However, the V8 engine does feel much more responsive then the V10 of the M5. As well, the DCT transmission is HUGELY improved over the SMG that the M5 came with. You can actually put the car in D and not feel like your getting whiplash. The V8 has alot of torque where the V10 was all up top.
With this car we will accomplish 4 major goals. Power, Styling, Handling, Stopping. On board for this project car will be several sponsors you have seen work with Vivid Racing in the past and some new ones. We are very excited to announce these partnerships. First, we are going back to our old friends and aerodynamic pros, Vorsteiner. Having started with Vorsteiner back in the E46 M3 days, we are privelaged to continually be apart of this trend setting company. Our past successful promotions of our Mercedes C63, BMW M5, and Porsche 997TT, will compliment the M3 as just another great car to add to the line up.
A new partnership that we are very excited about is with VF Engineering. For over 15 years, VF Engineering has been supercharging vehicles. With BMW and Porsche as their top marquees, their new VF620 supercharger kit for the M3 E92/E90 is what will be going on our car. To seperate ourselves, this will be a VR Edition kit with custom carbon fiber components, change of color, and packaged with our Agency Power exhaust system. With this power comes alot of awesome horsepower tests and videos!
Our next collaborations have some strong history with Vivid Racing. The first is with Brembo North America. Vivid Racing has been using Brembo GT Big Brakes on many cars for years. Their enormous 380mm 2piece drilled rotors with 6piston front and 4piston rear calipers will stand out well in a custom paint we are doing. The brakes will pop beautifully behind a set of Volk Racing G2 matte black wheels. The 20x9 and 20x10 wheels are 1 piece forged in a simple 6 spoke design. From our original Subaru WRX in 2003 using Volk TE37 wheels to our latest Subaru STI Cosworth edition running G2 wheels, Volk Racing has been a strong partner for us. Wrapping those wheels will be a set of Toyo T1R tires. The fronts are a 255/35/20 and the rears a 285/30/20. H&R has come on-board to handle our suspension needs with a set of lowering springs to maintain the EDC adjustable ride along with front and rear sway bars.
This project like all Vivid Racing Project Cars will be fully documented and you can always view the latest photos on our official BMW M3 gallery here.
The car we got is a 2008 M3. Done in the Interlagos Blue, the car came with the DCT transmission, navigation, cold weather package, and uniquely enough, no sunroof. Who needs the extra weight anyways! This car had some slight mods on it which included being lowered with a set of H&R springs, intake scoops, and a front carbon fiber lip spoiler. Being that the car was used a little, its alignment was a bit off. So besides the compact feeling of going from a M5 to a M3, its hard to give a good review on the car. However, the V8 engine does feel much more responsive then the V10 of the M5. As well, the DCT transmission is HUGELY improved over the SMG that the M5 came with. You can actually put the car in D and not feel like your getting whiplash. The V8 has alot of torque where the V10 was all up top.
With this car we will accomplish 4 major goals. Power, Styling, Handling, Stopping. On board for this project car will be several sponsors you have seen work with Vivid Racing in the past and some new ones. We are very excited to announce these partnerships. First, we are going back to our old friends and aerodynamic pros, Vorsteiner. Having started with Vorsteiner back in the E46 M3 days, we are privelaged to continually be apart of this trend setting company. Our past successful promotions of our Mercedes C63, BMW M5, and Porsche 997TT, will compliment the M3 as just another great car to add to the line up.
A new partnership that we are very excited about is with VF Engineering. For over 15 years, VF Engineering has been supercharging vehicles. With BMW and Porsche as their top marquees, their new VF620 supercharger kit for the M3 E92/E90 is what will be going on our car. To seperate ourselves, this will be a VR Edition kit with custom carbon fiber components, change of color, and packaged with our Agency Power exhaust system. With this power comes alot of awesome horsepower tests and videos!
Our next collaborations have some strong history with Vivid Racing. The first is with Brembo North America. Vivid Racing has been using Brembo GT Big Brakes on many cars for years. Their enormous 380mm 2piece drilled rotors with 6piston front and 4piston rear calipers will stand out well in a custom paint we are doing. The brakes will pop beautifully behind a set of Volk Racing G2 matte black wheels. The 20x9 and 20x10 wheels are 1 piece forged in a simple 6 spoke design. From our original Subaru WRX in 2003 using Volk TE37 wheels to our latest Subaru STI Cosworth edition running G2 wheels, Volk Racing has been a strong partner for us. Wrapping those wheels will be a set of Toyo T1R tires. The fronts are a 255/35/20 and the rears a 285/30/20. H&R has come on-board to handle our suspension needs with a set of lowering springs to maintain the EDC adjustable ride along with front and rear sway bars.
This project like all Vivid Racing Project Cars will be fully documented and you can always view the latest photos on our official BMW M3 gallery here.
Last edited by vividracing; 02-14-2012 at 12:36 PM.
#4
03-07-2012, 10:12 AM
Project M3 Update!
We have kinda kept our Project BMW M3 on the download as we build her up into something fierce looking. With many more stages to come on this build, we just completed a round of mods that will make any BMW lover drool. The 2008 M3 sedan is just missing a couple things to make it really stand out. First, as with any vehicle, we put some wheels on it! Volk Racing has always been a partner with VR and for this car we stuck with our guns on this one. The M3 was equipped with a set of Volk Racing G2 wheels in a 20×9.0 and a 20×11. No need to worry about the flush look on these as the offsets were perfect with the fenders. Wrapping the matte black wheels are a set of the newToyo T1R tires. The front is a 255/35/20 and the rear is a 285/30/20. The front actually could be stepped up to a 265 as there is plenty of room even with it dropped on H&R springs and stiffened with H&R sway bars.
Next we added some much need body enhancements. When we bought the car it had a carbon lip that was cracked and a small carbon trunk wing. Though ok, it was not aggressive enough for our flavor. As with many of our past Project Cars, we chose to work with Vorsteiner. The car was then equipped with their front bumper featuring a carbon fiber lip spoiler, the rear CSL style carbon boot lid, and a rear carbon fiber diffuser. Having dealt with many different body kits on various cars over the years, Vorsteiner is hands down one of the best fitments out there. As a premium brand now offering aero kits for cars like the Ferrari 599 and Bentley GT, having a kit on our E90 M3 only validates the quality. The parts are much lighter then the factory components and the weave with glossy clear coat is incredible. Since the boot lid is only made for the newer LCI version, we had to get the upgraded tail lights as well. As small as it is, the carbon fiber rear diffuser is probably one of my favorites as it wraps around the exhaust.
The crème de la crème of this project update is the Brembo big brake kit. I should not even have to explain why Brembo is the best and used on more race cars, OEMs, and enthusiast vehicles then any other brake manufacture. Its simply, Brembo… The front is a 6piston caliper and the rear a 4piston caliper. The front and rear rotors are 2piece floating drilled rotors that are 380mm in diameter. That is 15 inches of fury. With a car so rad, why keep a stock Brembo color on it? So we decided to use a Lamborghini green with a slight white pearl and paint these calipers to really pop. We decided to do a pretty incredible installation video of the Brembo Brake Kit on the M3 so watch the video below.
Coming up next will feature our Agency Power header back exhaust which really has the V8 engine come alive, our new ergonomic Agency Power upgraded steering wheel, and some serious forced induction by a VF Engineering supercharger. Stay tuned to our Blog Here or Facebook Page Here for more!
The crème de la crème of this project update is the Brembo big brake kit. I should not even have to explain why Brembo is the best and used on more race cars, OEMs, and enthusiast vehicles then any other brake manufacture. Its simply, Brembo… The front is a 6piston caliper and the rear a 4piston caliper. The front and rear rotors are 2piece floating drilled rotors that are 380mm in diameter. That is 15 inches of fury. With a car so rad, why keep a stock Brembo color on it? So we decided to use a Lamborghini green with a slight white pearl and paint these calipers to really pop. We decided to do a pretty incredible installation video of the Brembo Brake Kit on the M3 so watch the video below.
Coming up next will feature our Agency Power header back exhaust which really has the V8 engine come alive, our new ergonomic Agency Power upgraded steering wheel, and some serious forced induction by a VF Engineering supercharger. Stay tuned to our Blog Here or Facebook Page Here for more!
#5
03-21-2012, 06:29 PM
Since having updated our past Project Car's steering wheels, it was a must to continue this trend with our new vehicles. We have now aligned with a partner in Germany to bring Agency Power these beautiful custom steering wheels built off OEM cores. With a semi flat bottom and more ergonomic hand grips that are thicker, driving your car becomes more of an obsession. This custom wheel we had done for our Project BMW M3 meets that expectation. Keeping the inner ring to meet strict safety standards, this wheel has been enhanced with beefier preforated leather grips and a smooth top and bottom. Built for the factory paddle shifters, we also aquired a carbon fiber Y-trim to match our other carbon fiber components. This is just 1 small addition to the car that adds that extra flavor usually missed. Stay tuned for more updates and check out all the Agency Power Steering Wheels Here.
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#10
03-28-2012, 02:06 PM
Lets be honest and say that the stock BMW M3 E90 E92 V8 really does not have that much of a growl. Like any car, the first mods are usually wheels, intake, and exhaust. With the M3 already have some decent looks factory, the exhaust is a great option to move to. However, we did it all! To really get that intense V8 sound from the BMW M3, we added the complete Agency Power Exhaust. This includes the Section 1 and Section 2 pipes as well as the rear muffler system with titanium tips. The sound you here in the video below comes from this combination. With this, the V8 M3 wakes up and banging through the gears is completely a new experience. The exhaust is made to fit the BMW M3 E93 E92 vehicle. However when fitted to the E90 M3, the tips will stick out an extra 2 inches which the Vorsteiner carbon rear diffuser cleans up nicely. With the addition of the rest of the Vorsteiner BMW aero upgrade, Brembo Brakes, H&R suspension, and Volk G2 Racing wheels, this project is the ultimate daily driver. However it is 1 step away from the next major upgrade courtesy of VF Engineering and their 620HP supercharger kit!
Last edited by vividracing; 04-02-2012 at 09:23 AM.
