Afew months ago the internet forums and our inbox lit up with questions about an unusual pink BMW. Ordinarily, such a proposition would cause panic and vomiting, but it soon emerged that the E92 M3 in question was the work of our old friend, Yasuaki "Bob" Suzuki, the CEO of Studie AG.
Based in Yokohama City, Japan, the company has created a worldwide reputation with a series of colorful and superbly executed BMWs. In fact, regular readers probably recognize his work, since we've covered a number of his creations in the past.
The company first came to light when we had the chance to drive its bright blue BMW 130i hatchback at a Yokohama track day at the Tsukuba circuit in Japan (et 5/07). Behind the retina-jarring paint it wore a genuine BMW Motorsport carbon fiber widebody used by the official endurance racecars.
This was followed by a bright orange and bright green pair of BMW Z4 M Coupes (et 7/08). Both similarly wore dry carbon widebody conversions built by BMW Motorsport for its endurance racers, not usually available to tuners.
And let's not forget Studie's bright orange E93 335i Convertible (et 5/08). It had been converted to M3 spec ahead of the official M3 Convertible's arrival and created quite a stir, as you can imagine.
As soon as we saw photos from the 2009 Tokyo Auto Salon (featured elsewhere in this issue), we knew the pink M3 could only be the work of Studie AG. Its bright color and aggressive fenders had become the signature of Japan's leading BMW tuning specialist.
Don't imagine these are catwalk models, though. Studie builds all its cars to perform on the racetrack, and has an annual event at Fuji Speedway for its customers. Several hundred BMW owners turn up to drive on the circuit or take chauffered rides in Studie "taxis" - where all the project cars are put to work scaring customers on high-speed laps of the track.
BMW Performance steering wheel...
BMW Performance steering wheel looks right at home in this high-tech M3
One of Yasuaki's greatest inspirations is the famous Nurbrgring and particularly the 24-hour race that takes place there. He frequently makes the trip to the German circuit and this was the inspiration for his widebody 130i and Z4s. Similarly, the E92 M3 you see here also owes its existence to the famous race.
The widebody kit is the same one used by the Black Falcon racing team in the 24-hour race and was sourced directly from Flomann Auto Design (Flossmann) in Germany. It's also a derivative of the parts used by the Rahal-Letterman M3 currently competing in the GT2 class of the ALMS series.
The body kit comprises a front spoiler with integral splitter, front fenders with rear vents, side skirts, rear fenders and a rear bumpers with more vents behind the rear wheels. The Flomann parts list includes several other items but Studie decided to source its own carbon rear diffuser from 3D Design. They also went to Varis for a custom vented hood and carbon rear wing.
Finally, everything was painted in-house using a custom mix based on Porsche's Rubystone red that was extensively "modified to be brighter," according to Yasuaki.
Filling those motorsport fenders wouldn't be easy, but Studie works closely with Yokohama tires and used its 20" RS-D wheels from the Advan range. Measuring 9" wide at the front and 10.5" rear, they were fitted with 245/30 and 275/30 Advan Sport tires, respectively. Although that's not much more rubber than stock, the wheels are wider so create a larger footprint, while the wider track inevitably produces greater stability and cornering prowess.
And since this car is destined for the track, Studie equipped it with a "home-made" Brembo race system. Rather than taking parts off the shelf, they used 380mm (15") two-piece Brembo front rotors, clamped by six-piston forged monobloc calipers from Brembo's race division - these were described by a Brembo specialist in the US as "very high-end, very exclusive and very hard to find." The rear has equally enormous 370mm (14.6") slotted rotors with similar race-spec four-piston calipers.