Performance BMW — September 2017

36 PERFORMANCE BMW

standard with the M tricolour stitching),

Mooneyes dash cover, Schnitzer hand

brake lever, Schroth six-point harness for

the driver’s seat (which he admits is just

for show), a trio of Defi supplementary

gauges and column-mounted tach. He also

installed the entire M5 dash cluster to

ensure, along with the ECU and necessary

wiring changes, that the car works as

intended. Everything behind the front seats

is stock though, as the car still has to serve

its practical purpose of hauling golf clubs,

surfboards or shopping when needed.

So, having got the car to this stage,

what does Furuyama-san have planned for

the future? Well, for starters, by the time

you read this, he may well have already

swapped to a set of Hamann PG-1s,

which he bought in Bali, of all places (his

company happened to have an employees’

retreat there in January and they were up

for sale online shortly before he left) and

were being reconditioned and re-sized at

time of writing. Because of the move to

11.5” rear barrels, he’s likely going to have

to get the rear arches widened further,

too. Given the engine has now done well

over 100,000km, Furuyama-san also plans

to overhaul it, then swap out the near-

factory induction system and fi t a set of

ITBs, complete with lovely velocity stacks.

Rather interestingly, he says the idea for

this mod came about after seeing Michael

Hack’s E30 Touring in our June issue.

Finally, there may well be a respray in

black or gunmetal (“something dark”), and

possibly an interior re-trim, but after that,

Furuyama-san says he’ll be done.

Irrespective, he plans on keeping the

car for a long while, and just enjoying the

mix of fun, practicality and award-winning

style (the car took home trophies at both

Stance Nation G Edition 2016 and Wekfest

Japan 2017) he’s achieved by building

this unique beast. Thanks to the Star-spec

Direzzas he currently runs, even with the

car’s stance-oriented camber, Furuyama-

san gets enough grip to have fun on the

Tokyo Bay area motorways, and shifting

through the gears to rev out that glorious

S38 would no doubt never get old. The

fact he can do all that on his way to the

beach or golf club, carrying his equipment

without any hassle and not a care in

the world, is surely the icing on a very

delicious cake. ●

Custom J-Wheels 18s

look stunning

Gorgeous carbon bonnet

Hella high beam covers are a very cool retro touch

PBMW217.e34_touring.ed2.indd 36 07/08/2017 08:21