There are three certainties in life: death, taxes and widebody BMWs. No sooner does the German manufacturer introduce a new model, than people scramble to create an even more memorable profile.
Generally, it's the German tuners who claim they did it first. Having close ties to the manufacturer and getting the cars ahead of everybody else certainly helps. However, a malaise has fallen over the German tuning scene of late, which means they weren't first out of the starting blocks.
The honor of being first across the line goes to Sam Said at Technik Engineering in Marina Del Rey, CA. From speaking to him, he didn't seem to realize there was a race to be won. He built the car at his own pace to meet his personal requirements and is very pleased with how it turned out.
In the business for about six years, Sam also runs Rennsport, a wholesale distributor for products like ASA superchargers and Gruppe M intakes. Two years ago, he decided to create Technik Engineering. This second company makes performance parts such as pistons, rods, cams, etc., and builds cars in order to showcase the products.
Previous notable projects have included an E46 M3 sedan and Z4 3.0 Roadster. All are built to an impeccably high quality and distinguished by an elegant restraint that's overlooked in the BMW tuning scene.
Sam appears to have an eye for what's instinctively right. He builds a car until it's perfectly balanced before moving on to the next one. You won't find trinkets or baubles on Technik cars.
Last year, he bought a '06 E90 BMW 330i. He widened the rear on the sedan before giving it a 30hp increase with his stage 2 intake, header and software upgrade.
We asked Sam for his thoughts when he heard about the new E92 335i Coupe: "I heard rumors about the car but couldn't believe a company like BMW, that's so focused on naturally-aspirated engines, would build a twin-turbo. But when it appeared the rumors were true, I ran to my BMW dealer and put a deposit down," he said.
Despite being the first to build a widebody E92, Sam seemed more excited by the engineering on his 335i. "We've just tweaked the tuning and the motor showed 415hp and 490 lb/ft on the dyno," he enthused. "This is great because we'd only fitted a Gruppe M intake, custom Sebring cat-back exhaust and a Haltech management computer.