At first glance, it's easy to overlook Aaron-Ross Jimenez's '03 BMW 330i ZHP. It's black, has big silver wheels and a body kit. It sort of looks like every other modified E46 out there, but when you stop and look at all the changes, you discover so much more.
The car is completely done. It has a suede interior, supercharged motor, CSL front bumper, carbon hood and interior, racing seats, big brakes, and more remarkably, an Apple computer in the trunk. So, let's get to know Aaron and his IBMW.
Aaron is a 22 year-old pre-med business major at La Sierra University in Riverside, CA. As a student, it's been difficult for him to save money and devote resources to his passion. "I make time around my studies to hold part-time jobs that support my modding addiction," he revealed. "The hardest part of tuning is finding the money to buy everything."
Despite financial limitations, he developed the addiction when he drove his first BMW, a '01 325ci with minor modifications such as suspension, body kit and wheels.
In the summer of '03, he ditched the Coupe for a 330i sedan. "I chose the car because it was a great platform to build my ultimate sedan," Aaron explained. "My vision of a performance vehicle was always a sporty coupe because sedans were mostly grocery-getters or family cars taking kids to soccer practice. But when I saw the ZHP performance package for the sedan, my vision of a sports car changed.
"My general plan was to mod it from the outside-in because I felt the ZHP had enough power to suffice and a nice enough interior with stock suede seats to keep me comfy."
Aaron began his lengthy project with the suspension. After driving the stock car for just one day, he took it to his local tuner shop and lowered it on H&R springs.
He kept the ZHP-equipped aerodynamics for a couple of years, but eventually began the exterior transformation by adding a Hamann front lip and GT-R side skirts.
Front and sides were inevitably lower than the rear, but Hamann didn't offer anything for the rear of a '03-plus sedan: "I custom fitted a rear bumper from a pre-'03 sedan and molded a Hamann rear apron to it," Aaron explained.
After more work, the sedan looked handsome, but lacked the uniqueness its owner yearned. "I always loved the M3 front, but no company mass-produced a bumper that went straight onto a non-M body," he said. "So, I acquired an OE M3 front and fabricated it to look like the CSL bumper with the passenger fog covered, the driver's side air duct and Vorsteiner splitters at the bottom."
The new bumper was custom fitted, but didn't flow with the Hamann sides and the rear because it sat higher. So, Aaron decided to add an AC Schnitzer carbon lip to the M3 bumper, with splitters below it. To complete the bodywork, a Vorsteiner GT-R carbon hood was also added.