2002 BMW M3
Almost two years ago, Jeff Nguyen told us he'd built his car to be mild. "Mild meant trying to heavily modify the car yet not have it appear over the top with crazy bodywork or bright paint," he said at the time.
Fast-forward to today and Jeff's not the same person. Formerly residing in Los Angeles, he's back in his hometown of Dallas, having graduated from dental school and happily married to his wife, Caroline. But during all this activity, he found time to re-think his approach to his '02 BMW M3. "I basically got to the point where I needed to step up my game to be competitive in the show scene," he revealed.
Having built a steel grey M3 (et 1/07), Jeff got together with his friends at the tuner shop Carrozzeria Design and show team TWCompetition to commit the M3 to surgery. The first order of business was the rear fenders. "I wanted to keep them tame," he explained. "I've had friends who experienced problems with widebody conversions, so I decided to do the rears only. This way it's more functional, allowing more rubber on the rear wheels."
Auto Explosion in Gardena, CA widened the rear arches an extra 1.5" either side, while custom vents were grafted in as well. The new fenders matched seamlessly to the existing AC Schnitzer carbon diffuser, giving the rear more definition.
Otherwise, the exterior remained from Jeff's previous efforts with a molded Schnitzer front lip, shaved bumper lights, ATR carbon hood, roof spoiler and CSL-style trunk lid.
When it came to paint, Jeff rationalized a color change. "I wanted to paint the roof black for sure," he explained. "I was doing the rear fenders as well, so that's basically half the car. It wasn't going to cost much more to change the rest," he explained.
Jeff ditched the stock grey for House of Kolors white. "I always wanted a white M3 and the color I chose was based on the Lexus IS, but where the IS has a iridescent purple pearl, I used blue instead."
To compliment their work, Auto Explosion also disassembled the Brembo brake calipers and color-matched them in white as well.
The previous 20" Modulare wheels were scrapped in favor of new 20x8.5" front and 20x10.5" rear Modsport S1 wheels. "I wanted wheels with a sporty look and the mesh design worked well," Jeff stated. "I also wanted to contrast the white, so did them matte black."
The big Rotrex 81-trim blower...
The big Rotrex 81-trim blower from Active Autowerke Level 4 supercharger kit
A more aggressive offset gives the wheels deeper rims than before, providing ample traction with 285/25-20 Falken FK-425 tires on the rear.
With the star-studded makeover nearing completion, Jeff didn't want to neglect the motor. So he used his relationship with Active Autowerke to raise the bar on his supercharger kit. Having started with Active's Level 1 kit, Jeff was able to upgrade to Level 3, adding a front-mount intercooler and oil cooler, water/alchohol injection, new intake manifold and headers. He's since moved on to the latest Level 4 kit, which is claimed to produce 525hp and 338 lb-ft at the crank thanks to a larger 81-trim Rotrex compressor with 70mm pulley allowing 9psi boost pressure. Bigger injectors were also installed, along with UUC's stage 2 cera-metallic clutch and 8.5 lb flywheel.
The M3 was then strapped to the dyno, where the supercharged 3.2 liter laid down 432whp and 328 lb-ft of torque. It's just shy of Active's claims after calculating drivetrain losses, but doesn't take into account the 91-octane gas and warm weather, which may account for the missing power.
The rest of the car was left untouched because Jeff had mastered it on his first try. The interior still has Recaro Sportline seats in grey suede. Matching suede replaces the headliner, pillars, door panels and rear seats. Defi gauges are molded to the A-pillar to monitor boost pressure, oil and exhaust temperatures. A Schnitzer rollcage encases the cockpit, while attention to detail is seen in the carbon dash trim, ACS pedals, e-brake handle, floor mats and European center tray.
 He's since moved on to the...  He's since moved on to the latest Level 4 kit, which is claimed to produce 525hp and 338 lb-ft at the crank. |  Diamond Audio provides the...  Diamond Audio provides the sounds while water/methanol minimizes detonation |  Clean dash with Eclipse double-DIN...  Clean dash with Eclipse double-DIN head unit, carbon trim and Defi gauges. The interior is reupholstered in suede, including the Recaros, rear seats, door panels and headliner |