Feature: Rolling Hard - Juiceboxforyou

It only takes one glance to realise something special is going on with this E46. The car has a timeless simple look. The execution is factory like. What makes this E46 even more interesting is the fact it’s not an M series. The car itself started its life as a silver e46 325 which opened a black hole and a mission to create the perfect E46 from a blank canvas.

Sticking to a similar look these come with as the M3 Darren decided to go with clean white finish and break it up with a black roof. . Even small places, which look factory, like the mirror mouldings and water tank cover and even the ECU cover were sprayed to break the white without being too obvious.

The front end received a Rieger M3 style front bumper with a Rieger splitter some new fog lights have been added to keep that fresh look wrapped in some M-tech moldings. Rieger M3 e46 side skirts helped to hold the design along the side of the car and an M-sport rear bumper was put in place for the rear. The rear bumper didn’t quite match the flow of the Rieger side skirts so Darren improvised and brought the bumper down just that little bit so it would flow perfectly amazing how subtle some of these modifications are without even noticing them.

The boot received a CSL ducktail boot spoiler and at the rear Darren has added a carbon fiber rear diffuser. Darren decided to keep the black and white theme flowing throughout the car by adding some carbon fiber kidney grills and carbon fiber badges on the front and rear.The headlights have also had the same type of treatment. The headlight indicators have been smoked and the same has been done to the side repeaters. Nothing too intense but a collection of subtle touches that worked with the overall look of the car.

For the rear lights Darren added some red and smoked LED lenses, which have also been added to the boot lid. Before Darren knew it, the car was almost a factory brand new car again. Factory inside arch protectors were added for all four corners. All the brackets for the body kit and arch moldings were replaced. Even new covers for the rear lenses replaced the old ones on the inside.

The same styling theme was adopted for the inside. The original Grey and mediocre interior was re – trimmed into a full red nappa leather. This gives the car that luxury look without overdoing the cockpit. The door cards, seat lift handles and all the remaining Grey parts were sprayed to match the new more interesting trim. The back window shelf was re trimmed also with some black alcantara.

The carpets were swapped out for a full black factory carpet replacement. The foot well units were replaced also with black units to keep inside theme. Some ST1 pedals and a footrest replaced the old and new factory door rubbers on the driver and passenger’s side replaced the old. This was also carried on the rear of the car in the boot where it received new rubber also.

Some factory doorsills were replaced to keep with the new fresh look that this lucky e46 was receiving. Darren added an M-Sport aluminum handbrake handle and an M-Sport black and chrome leather gear knob working with an ST1 short shifter. The dash was also given the luxury treatment also which was flocked in black. On this dash Darren added Three Stuart Warner gauges for boost, oil and volts, which are all 52mm in diameter. A custom unit was made for these, which was also flocked.

The engine received a TS1 supercharger an inlet manifold and bigger injectors, all which came from ESS in Norway. Simpson Motorsport in England remapped the ECU. Darren decided to buy new OEM parts to keep the E46 fresh. A new factory clutch, fuel filter oil filter, rocker cover gasket and factory spark plugs were installed. Factory tensioner pulley and associated nuts brackets and bolts were bought and replaced.

A sea of original parts was replaced with new. A custom heatshield was installed for the air intake and Darren added some custom decals for the cover. A polished Powertec air filter and some black paint for the air intake unit, the ECU cover the water tank cover and the battery unit box was added to keep things nice and subtle in the engine bay. This clean engine setup runs through and out a Supersprint exhaust setup and manifold, the amount of effort that was put into this restoration, nothing was left untouched.

BBS rims and BMW’s work hand in hand; Darren knew where he had to go next. The best part is that these are no knock off 700 euro for rims and tires package BBS LM’s. Everything on this car is genuine.  When someone goes that far with a build, going all out and buying the real thing really pays off in the end. The dishes were stripped of their lacquer and in a machine lathe brought to a polished finish. The front LM’s are 19×8.5 on 235 x 35 x 19 and the rear enjoys a 19 x 10 setup on some 265 x 30 x 19 Goodyear F1 tyre’s.

Getting the car to sit just right are some KW variant 2 fully adjustable coilovers. For stopping power some AP Racing 4 pot brakes are up front on some 330mm grooved discs. Darren decided to go with some M3 rear callipers and pads, which were painted red to match the front. The brake hoses were upgraded to braided all round and brand new factory discs were installed on the rear. The brake lines were even changed and Ferodo brake fluid was installed and some factory brake shoes. The entire under carriage was completely redone also, full nut and bolt replacement, the list goes on!

Such a perfectly subtle amazing execution, this is true automotive passion in ever sense. Darren went all out, but it wasn’t easy, countless hours day and night to get this Bimmer looking just right and it really has paid off. To the average onlooker it just looks like another decent looking BMW, thats exactly the kind of impression the owner wanted to give off.

Even if BMW’s aren’t your thing, as a car enthusiast this car has to strike a chord. Darren took a route and threw his focus and commitment on a chassis and model many people would completely overlook. For Darren and his friends it was a long hard road with over 9 intense months of  late nights to transform every inch of this car into the subtle masterpiece you see here, a truly great Irish car build.