Redout
This extreme, hardcore, supercharged E92 M3 track beast will fry your senses and melt your brain. Buckle up…
The day we no longer get excited by supercharged M3s is the day you can officially start worrying about us. The idea of taking an extremely high performance car like the M3 and then giving it even more performance is one that we’re very big fans of indeed, and the appeal of a supercharged E9x M3 is through the roof. The S65 is an epic engine in standard form, but a supercharged V8 is always going to be something seriously special and endowing the S65 with forced induction completely transforms both it and whatever car it’s attached to. The M3 is not a slow car by any stretch of the imagination, but that high-revving V8 needs some conscious effort to wake it up; with a supercharger on board, however, it becomes an altogether different animal and now it’s wild, savage, ferocious and when you put your foot down it’s a case of hanging on for dear life. It’s an eye-widening, intoxicating, and highly addictive experience and it just takes the M3 to another level of performance. When Paul Emmerson, MD of Essex-based tuning specialist MStyle, set about building the company’s latest demo car, you can understand why he decided that a supercharged M3 was the right choice.
If you’re not familiar with MStyle, check out the Company Profile we ran in the October ’18 issue, but what you need to know is that the company has been on the BMW scene for over 18 years. That means that Paul, who started the company himself back in 2001, has seen the scene grow and change and evolve in incredible ways, and he’s every bit as passionate about BMs and modding them as he ever has been. Just look at this M3 – this is not a casual build and every mod on this car has been hand-picked by Paul himself to create the ultimate track build. You see, this isn’t just a company demo car that’s been designed to turn heads at shows and make sure its creators get noticed; no, this car was built to perform and there was a very clear philosophy behind this project, as Paul explains. “The E92 M3 was a natural progression from our previous E36 M3 and E46 M3 track cars,” he says, “and we have been getting a lot more demand for upgraded tuning parts on the E92 M3 and track prep items, hence we wanted to have a car to show customers and take out on track. The plan is for us to use it as a show and demonstration car,” he says, and this is the sort of car that delivers a demo ride that will leave you weak-kneed and weak-willed, as you’ll instantly want to hand over the entire contents of your bank account to build a car like this of your very own – it’s that good. And even a little bit better. Oh, and the best bit of all? It’ll be Paul behind the wheel on track because he’s as serious about driving BMs as he is about modding them, so you know he understands what it takes to build a serious piece of machinery, and you’re looking at it.
When you have the pleasure of writing about a car that’s as sorted as this, the biggest problem you’ve got is actually knowing where to start with it all, but considering how wild this machine looks the exterior seems as good a place as any and, with the exception of the LCI rear light set, every component you see before you comes from MStyle’s own styling range. First things first – that colour; it’s a satin red wrap and it looks awesome on the M3, especially with all the carbon additions, and the two combine to deliver a striking visual contrast. We’re not going to lie, we were feeling a bit over satin wraps, but this one might have just changed our mind. As for that carbon, well there’s just so much of it everywhere and, with this being primarily a track build, Paul and the MStyle team haven’t been at all restrained by having to make this car look slightly more restrained and it’s an all out build when it comes to the aero. The front end looks like it’s about to cut you into ribbons thanks to that combo of extreme angles and edges – there’s a GTS front splitter with intake ducts, a custom lower splitter extension with support bars, and this combo is joined by the double-decker canards, which leave you in no doubt that this is a serious track machine. This car also wears a pair of MStyle’s black grilles and side vents, while that ultra-aggressive bonnet is actually the stock item but it’s been fitted with a set of race vents on the sides and a double mesh panel in the middle and it looks awesome as a result. The front end has also been enhanced with a set of DTM ring xenon headlights that add to the aggressive appearance, while the flanks have been treated to a set of carbon side blades along with a set of carbon mirror caps. The rear, meanwhile, is an absolute riot of carbon and aero and it looks suitably outrageous; first of all you’ve got the carbon CSL-style boot lid, with just the edge of the ducktail spoiler having been left exposed to show off that carbon structure, and above it towers that vast GTS race wing, while below all that sits the carbon diffuser and that’s joined by an aero undertray for that full-on race look. That’s a whole lot of aero, but for a track-built ultimate company demo car, it’s exactly what you want and shows you exactly what MStyle can do for your M3.
To go with that track-bred exterior, this car has been equipped with a suitably hardcore interior and it’s every bit as focused as you’d expect. The comfy standard leather seats have been unceremoniously ejected and in their place sit a pair of single-piece Cobra Monaco buckets with adjustable runners, and they are joined by a set of red five-point harnesses for both driver and passenger. The rear seats have also been removed and replaced with a Wiechers roll-cage, also in red, and the red highlights continue with the custom MStyle leather and Alcantara steering wheel, with its heavily sculpted grips and red centre stripe, and pair of red extended DCT paddles. There’s also a set of MStyle racing pedals and a trio of Stack gauges housed in the centre console, displaying oil pressure, coolant temperature, and AFR, and all this makes the interior look and feel incredibly focused, exactly what you want when you’re hitting the track hard.
You know what else you want when you’re hitting the track hard? A fully focused chassis setup and Paul has gone to town here to ensure that this M3 really delivers on the handling front. For the suspension itself he’s selected KW’s Clubsport coilovers, which offer two-way adjustment, allowing the perfect handling setup to be dialled-in, and they are joined by a trio of Ground Control’s offerings: adjustable rear camber arms, solid rear diff mounts, and engine mounts. A H&R anti-roll bar kit means this M3 corners as flat as physically possible, and then you’ve got the Powerflex anti-roll bar bushes and suspension bushes front and rear, all of which combines to deliver absolutely razor-sharp handling the likes of which
a standard M3 can only dream of, and this is an absolute track weapon and no mistake.
The brakes also needed attention as the stock items come in for criticism on the road so they would have been quickly overwhelmed on track, but no such concerns with the StopTech BBK that’s been fitted here. It is not, however, as vast as you might imagine, with four-pot calipers both front and rear along with 355mm discs, but this more conservatively sized kit was chosen to enable this M3 to run 18s, the preferred track wheel size, and it’s been given three sets of these gloss black six-spokes. They measure 9.5”-wide front and rear, sit on an MStyle stud kit, and the wets are fitted with Uniroyal RainSport 3s (which are also, handily, road legal and the set on the car in the photos), while for the track it wears Dunlop BTCC full slicks, which tells you just how serious a track build this is and that Paul really was not messing around when it came to this project.
All that is very impressive, but you can’t go building an ultimate track M3 without playing with the engine, and while we’ve given the game away about what’s going on under the bonnet it still takes your breath away when you see that supercharger setup for the first time. It’s probably not the sort of kit you’re used to seeing and that’s because for this build Paul opted for a G-Power kit, and MStyle is the only UK dealer. The German tuning expert has been supercharging cars for over 35 years now, so you can be sure its engineers know what they are doing and this kit is proof of that. This is G-Power’s SK II CS kit, which uses an ASA T1-523 supercharger running at 0.7 bar, along with a front-mount intercooler and uprated injectors, to generate a mighty 640hp along with a hefty 439lb ft of torque. It’s an awesome and imposing sight, especially with that alloy plenum and intake piping custom-painted in matt red to complement the wrap, but the supercharger kit is just what you can see and there’s a hell of a lot of work that’s been carried out beneath the surface.
With the S65 being known for its rather fragile rod bearings the ones on this S65 haven’t just been changed, they’ve also been uprated to be able to cope with the addition of the supercharger and so a set of VAC items has been fitted, along with a VAC oil sump baffle kit. The CSF catalogue has also been raided and the company’s uprated engine oil cooler, DCT gearbox cooler, and engine coolant radiator have all been fitted, while the air con condenser has been removed and there’s an enlarged power steering fluid reservoir. Finally the exhaust system has also been thoroughly reworked – there’s a primary cat delete, centre X-pipe, and a pair of MStyle custom silencers with massive quad 90mm tips, which look suitably intimidating and sound absolutely awesome, delivering the sort of V8 soundtrack a car like this deserves and it’s the icing on one hell of an epic cake.
This is an absolutely breathtaking build and the sort of M3 many of us dream of building and owning, making it absolutely the perfect aspirational company demo car and it shows that MStyle definitely knows how to put together an absolutely killer machine. Everything has been upgraded, nothing has been forgotten about, and it all comes together to deliver an absolutely awesome track machine. It looks utterly spectacular, with the sort of ultra-aggressive aero you’d expect on a full-blown race car, it’s got that hardcore, focused interior, the chassis delivers handling of epic proportions that ensures it’s unmatched on track, and that G-Power supercharger kit makes this car absolutely unstoppable. MStyle has done a spectacular job with this car and track builds don’t come much bigger, badder, or better than this beast of an M3.
Thanks to:
Buckmore Park Kart Circuit
www.buckmore.co.uk
01634 201562
sales@buckmore.co.uk
DATA FILE
Supercharged E92 M3
ENGINE AND TRANSMISSION
4.0-litre V8 S65B40, G-Power SK II CS supercharger kit, VAC Motorsports uprated con rod big end bearing set and oil sump baffle kit, CSF engine oil cooler, DCT gearbox oil cooler, and engine coolant radiator, Evans Power Cool 180° waterless coolant, air conditioning condenser delete, enlarged aluminium power steering fluid reservoir, MStyle primary cat delete, centre X-pipe, and custom rear exhaust silencers
with quad 90mm tailpipes. M DCT seven-
speed gearbox
POWER AND TORQUE
640hp and 439lb ft
CHASSIS
9.5×18” (front and rear) MStyle gloss black wheels with 265/35 (front and rear) Uniroyal RainSport 3 (wet tyres) and Dunlop BTCC full slicks (dry tyres), MStyle stud conversion kit, KW Clubsport coilovers, Ground Control adjustable rear camber arms set, solid rear differential mounts, and engine mounts, H&R anti-roll bar kit, Powerflex anti-roll bar bushes and suspension bushes (front and rear), StopTech BBK with four-pot calipers and 355mm discs (front and rear)
EXTERIOR
Satin red wrap, MStyle carbon GTS Type 2 front splitter with air intake ducts, custom front lower splitter extension with support bars, front bumper canards, race bonnet vents installed in original bonnet, DTM ring xenon headlights, black front grilles, black side vents, carbon mirror caps, carbon side blades, race carbon rear diffuser and rear aero undertray, carbon CSL-style boot lid, carbon GTS race rear wing, LCI rear light set
INTERIOR
Cobra Monaco front seats with adjustable runners, MStyle custom leather/Alcantara steering wheel with red centre stripe, red extended DCT paddles, and racing pedal set, Stack performance gauges housed in centre console for oil pressure, engine water temperature, and AFR, Wiechers roll-cage
CONTACT
MStyle
www.mstyle.co.uk
020 8598 9115
info@mstyle.co.uk
facebook.com/MStyleUK
Instagram: @mstyleuk
Words: Elizabeth de Latour Photos: Matt Richardson