Daily Driver – My 2006 BMW 3 Series
Although I spend my time shooting cars, it’s a very rare thing that I get time to shoot my own car. Earlier this year, after months of planning & preparation, I was finally at a stage where I was happy to take the time out to shoot it. I’ve owned the car for three and a half years now, but since day one I’ve always had in mind just how I wanted the car to look. Some of it was simple, whilst other parts took a lot longer to come together. My main aim was to create something that didn’t look modified. I wanted it to look like a car that BMW could have released. To achieve this, a lot of genuine BMW parts were used, albeit cherry picked from other models. The wheels comes from an E63 7 Series, the brakes were an over the counter option available from my local dealer, Brembo for BMW Performance. The boot lid is a full carbon CSL style trunk, inspired by the E46 M3 CSL whilst the front splitter is a rare Hartge Japan item, and took two years of searching to find. Not long after this shoot, that splitter met an untimely demise which resulted in the car being raised on its KW suspension whilst another splitter was sourced. The real reason I wanted to shoot my E90 was for posterity. I spent so much time agonising over such small decisions, researching part options online and trying to come up with a unique look that I just wanted something to look back at in years to come and say ‘I’m proud of that.’ Since ‘completing’ it, I’ve mostly been staying on top of maintenance and ensure the car is running 100%, all of the time. There’s just over 140,000KMs on the clock now […]
Project 4848 – Part Two
I’ve just landed in the door from a truly epic weekend in Luxembourg, where I was covering the first round of the Berg Cup for Speedhunters. Shortly before I left, I put the final touches to my own car and grabbed a couple of quick snaps to share with you. Since part one, I’ve made a couple of changes… I loved the LM style wheels, they were proving a nightmare to keep and when the lacquer began to lift on one of them, I knew we would have to part ways. I always liked CSL style wheels but preferred the concavity of the rears over the flat finish on the fronts of the genuine wheels. Unfortunately, I couldn’t fit a 9.5″ front wheel (especially with their offset) without reworking the front wings and probably adding coilovers to control the ride height. I had a chat with Paul in AutoAlloys and he managed to source four 9″ CSL style wheels with that concave finish for me. It’s only a subtle difference, but it really makes the car IMO. Behind the front wheels, you’ll now notice a pair of Brembo aluminum six piston calipers with 365mm drilled and vented discs. Rebranded as ‘BMW Performance’, the brakes provide a much more reliable pedal with a lot more bite when leaned on. They were a relatively cheap upgrade too when compared with other six piston braking solutions. I’ve also made a couple of small cosmetic changes including a full carbon fibre boot lid, a new exhaust exit and some carbon vinyl wrapping on the steering wheel trim. The car has also just received a full paint correction thanks to Larry in CleanCar.ie
Project 4848 – Part One
Back in August 2011, I waved farewell to my beloved Volkswagen Caddy van (affectionately known as Sudsy). I loved that van. However, it had got to a stage where I wasn’t getting the full use out of its hauling abilities and I yearned for something with more than two seats. Whatever I chose to replace Sudsy would have a lot of boxes to tick. First and foremost, it needed to be something remotely interesting and have potential for minor modifications down the line. It needed to be economical as I’ve often clocked up over 1,000KMs in a single weekend. Similarly, it also needed to be a comfortable cruiser with the ability dispatch long stints with ease. Anything else was a bonus. Read on after the break for more …
