Performance BMW — September 2017

SEPTEMBER 2017 33

A

s the cliché goes, fast estates

are for people who like to

haul gear and haul arse. But

what if you like to look good

while you do both? Well,

some would argue any reasonably sporty

longroof will achieve that, but for those

who really want to stand out, you have

to go to extra lengths. This is exactly the

situation Kiyoto Furuyama found himself

in back in August 2010. A hardcore wagon

lover from his early days thanks to his

love of surfi ng and golf (previous cars

included a GX70 Mark II wagon and an

E34 525i Touring), Furuyama-san wanted

to get back into an E34, but step things up

a notch. Starting with an automatic 540i

this time, he wanted to make it much more

like the super-rare M5 Touring, but with a

shakotan-inspired twist, and after enjoying

the car in stock form for a year or so, got

to work sourcing parts.

Like most builds, things started slowly.

A set of reconditioned Brembo four-pots

and two-piece drilled discs designed

for an E46 M3 went on the front, and

similarly re-purposed Lancer Evo two-

pots and custom one-piece drilled discs,

along with braided lines, went on the rear.

Furuyama-san then turned to the wheels

and suspension, fi tting a set of M Parallels,

Spoon Rigid Collars, Racing Dynamics

anti-roll bars and cheap Taiwanese weld-

in coilovers (pretty much the only option

at the time in Japan) to spice things up.

However, he never really liked the wheels

and suspension, so set about investigating

potential upgrades. Unfortunately, it turned

out locally-available suspension choices

hadn’t really expanded since Furuyama-

san fi tted the original coilovers, so he was

kind of stuck. And while many other wheel

choices existed, none really fi tted the

aesthetic he was trying to create.

Thankfully, a chance encounter with

the head of Scream, a tiny Japanese

coilover manufacturer that generally only

builds to order, solved both problems.

Having befriended the owner, Furuyama-

san told him he wanted a proper bolt-on

solution that would also allow him to

slam the car, and as you can see, he

delivered. Fortuitously, Scream’s owner

also knew the head of J-Wheels, another

tiny company making custom parts in

western Japan, and this opened the doors

to the hoops you see here. According to

Furuyama-san, J-Wheels is so small they

have no website, no catalogue (although

they have three basic designs to choose

from), and you have to just tell them

what you want for them to build you your

wheels. Choosing a custom version of the

PBMW217.e34_touring.ed2.indd 33 07/08/2017 08:20