Performance BMW — September 2017

40 PERFORMANCE BMW

switch. “It’s a 2015-model M3,” he explains.

“It was pretty new when I got it, it only

had 7000km on the clock. The reason for

choosing it as a base car for this project?

Well, the M3 has always been a dream car

for me, it’s just as simple as that. I did a bit

of searching online and found this car for

sale at a dealer in Nuremberg, Bavaria, so I

called them and said ‘I’ll buy it’!”

So, with the gloriously Smurf-like

hardcore four-door safely ensconced

within the Kauer garage, it was time to

draw up a battle plan. And it turned out to

be a pretty simple one, to be fair. “I wanted

to change the rims and the suspension

at fi rst, that’s it,” he shrugs. Fair enough.

That does dovetail rather neatly with what

we were getting at earlier – for some, the

M3 is untouchable, but Felix is among

the camp who view it as almost perfect.

Almost, but not quite. And his motivation

for this, his inspiration? Were there any

Hot Wheels F80s out there fl icking his

switch? “No, there was no car I wanted to

imitate or emulate,” he says. “It was all just

my imagination.”

Now, the F80 M3 is a phenomenally

accomplished piece of kit in stock form,

that goes without saying. You’d have

endless fun with an unmodifi ed car and

possibly may never wish for more – when

you’re looking down the barrel of 430-odd

horsepower, the 0-62mph dash despatched

in four seconds plus change and all

manner of other trickery, it delivers on a

lot of promises. And Felix certainly didn’t

want to cock up that formula – coming

from the 530d, this had sent all of his

expectation curves rocketing skyward.

But, as is his way, that’s not to say he

didn’t want to massage it a little... so you’ll

now spot a set of Akrapovic tails poking

out of that pert little rump. The genius of

the Akrapovic Evolution system is that

it provides three separate and distinct

benefi ts: fi rst off, it gives you more power

• about 17hp more. Secondly, you also get
  more torque – call it 13lb.ft. And fi nally,
  being niftily crafted from titanium, you get
  a handy 7kg weight saving over stock. Oh
  yeah, and there is one other benefi t – it
  makes the M3 sound astonishing. Like a
  swarm of infuriated bees trapped in an oil
  drum, all simultaneously taking off.
  “It’s quite good to drive,” he ponders.

F80 M3

ENGINE AND TRANSMISSION

3.0-litre straight-six twin-turbo S55B30,

Akrapovic Evolution titanium exhaust system.

Seven-speed M DCT gearbox

CHASSIS

9x20” (front) and 10.5x20” (rear) Vossen Forged

VPS-314T wheels with 255/30 (front) and

285/30 (rear) Michelin Pilot Super Sport tyres,

KW V3 coilovers

EXTERIOR

Yas Marina blue, BMW M Performance carbon

fi bre front fl aps, rear spoiler lip and rear diffuser

INTERIOR

Silverstone leather seats, Full leather, carbon

fi bre trim

DATA FI

LE

Sexy Silverstone seats

the perfect partner for

Yas Marina

Carbon trim and

Full leather

PBMW217.f80_m3.ed3.indd 40 07/08/2017 08:29