Less is More

 

Not too many features ago we introduced Mila, the Bagged Mercedes Benz, from the stance capital of South Africa; Cape Town. We were lucky enough to be able to reveal the intimate and personal story on how this game changing Benz shaped its way into becoming not just a materialization of a dream but also and establish itself as one of those cars that have become a symbol of passion, love and motivation for the brand, 'CapeStance'.

By no means should this feature appear or be perceived as bias, show boating or favouritism to this car. Instead it should be acknowledged as an attempt to enlighten those individuals who do not appreciate what 'stance' is truly about, persuade those who despise the whole concept to turn the other cheek, attempt to produce something locally that can be appreciated by the nations who are basically the stance powerhouses of the globe and to get the recognition of those who have the love and appreciation of stance flowing through their veins throughout the world.

At the time when Capestance began there were no movements who were really pushing to unite the South African automotive culture. The scene was very materialistic, egotistical and self-absorbed to put it bluntly. Thesereasons are ultimately the cause for the brand, CapeStance, coming into existence. A brand made by ordinary people for the people whose primary objective (amongst other things) is to remove the negative stigmatism that is associated to automotive scene and an effort to unite the nation of stance enthusiasts. In other words, the brand sorts to improve the condition of the automotive scene at large. Ultimately, everyone who has an interest in cars will have some sort of pride in aesthetic appearance of it and this is ultimately what stance is about.

This brings us to the hugely debated questions, 'What is Stance?'

The term stance is a very subjective notion meaning that to every person the perception of what stance is will not be the same. This is mainly due to vast amount of variables or factors (suspension, wheels and tyres) that when combined produce an overall result; 'Stance'. The dictionary definition states that it is "the manner and position in which a person or animal stands.' In application to the automotive context we can conclude that it quite literally means "the manner in which your car stands." This is achieved through lowering the cars' suspension/ride height and fitment of a wheel and tyre in a certain construction. As it stands here it is quite a very broad concept and subsequently identifying that there is no real specific 'stance mould' that people seem to judge others on.

 

This whole 'stance mould' is something created by the generalizations and the extremist that have been put under the limelight for it sheer ground breaking efforts. But this does not mean that in order to have some sort of stance that you need to push the boundaries to a point where the car becomes unpractical and an inconvenience to drive. Don't get me wrong, there are those who can live pushing those boundaries daily, endlessly swerving for potholes, '45'ing' those infamous speed bumps and avoiding those pestily law officials. If it wasn’t for these individuals there would be little to no progression in the scene. At the same time on the opposite side of the spectrum you have guys who also believe in the smae ideaology that lowering the suspension and fitting a wheel to a car will ultimately make the car a bit more personal and defined. Who is to say just because they are not at the extremes that their car does not have some sort of stance?

This being said, don’t be hasty in assuming that im saying that anything that is lowered and fitted with a wheel is 'stanced'. This will be the complete reverse effect of what this post is trying to achieve. It all boils down to your parts and final execution to these stance builds and projects that have been unveiling themselves. As well establishing a certain minimum standard such that at maximum 5mm space between the tyre and the arch amongst other things.

This finally brings me to the title of this post, "Less is More". This time old expression has become increasingly accurate and appropriate as time progress and the era of simplicity dawns upon is. It’s more than a decade that has passed since the day when the first 'Fast and the Furious' film was release and brought about the wave of extreme modifications and ideology that more things you have on your car the more 'street cred' or 'scene points' you tally up. This fad has DIED HARD and has been replaced with the notion of 'OEM+' era.

 

OEM+ is a simplistic concept where by car is style based on original equipment manufacturer (OEM) the agents of certain official and reputable brands be it big brands like VW, BMW and Honda, etc or the specific tuning houses specifically focused on designing parts and accessories for that brand such VW Racing, Schnitzer, Mugen, etc (respectively) with a bit of a twist (aftermarket suspension and wheels). This OEM+ concept was developed mostly because the brands have such a large scope of business the usually maintain and demand a certain level of quality in the products produced. This means that no matter what you purchase, it will be of a quality product and subsequently when adding it to your vehicle you are not deteriorating the quality/workmanship of the car in its entirety. This is because it was developed on the same level of quality as that of the rest of the car or close to it. (For example this is what occurs when you fit a custom body, bonnet or lights that were manufactured in a small shop somewhere in someone’s workshop or backyard in order to make a quick buck. When fitting these parts your vehicle's overall appearance will substantially decrease in aesthetic quality, value and integrity). Therefore, the LESS UNNECESSARY modifications are added the MORE appealing it will be and this includes POINTLESS stickerbombs.

Now that we have an understanding on the overall concept of simplicity of the aesthetic/appearance is briefly defined, the next crucial aspects would be cover is the suspension, wheels and tyre situation.

With regards to suspension there are many ways to 'skin the cat', it all boils down to personal preference and the applicable budget. The Three common options are; Cut springs, Coilovers or Air Ride.

The most cost effective and not recommended is Cut springs, you achieve the visually satisfying drop on the suspension but generally the driving experience is a nothing short of unpleasant. This could be done from a little as nothing as your time spent on grinding them done or up to R600/1000 at local suspension specialist.

The most common application in SA would be coilover suspension, which is where a lowered shock and spring are designed and manufactured as one unit with thread on the shaft on the shock in order to adjust the right height. The prices vary from R4 500-R19 000.

The latest craze in South Africa is Air Ride; this is where springs are replaced with rubber bags that are filled with air through a compressor and air tank which is installed in the boot. The ride height of the vehicle may be adjust at anytime at a flick of switches inside the vehicle. The minimum amount on these systems cost R15 000 and can go up to R55 000.

Either of these three forms should take you to a point where there is little to no wheel gap between the tyre and fenders. The more it tucks the better it is.

Regarding the wheels and tyres application. Personally, I consider this aspect to a stance build as the make or break aspect. This is mostly because of the OEM+ styling keeping things so minimalistic that wheel choice plays such a pivotal role as it ultimate dictates the look and feel of the car that will distinguish from other models alike. Seeing that there is so much lying on this aspect it needs to be done proper and with the utmost attention to detail. Anyone can go into an aftermarket wheel store and select a set Lenso BSX or Rotiform BLQ Replica, yes they might be nice wide and give that stretch and stance you want. But at the end of the day, how much effort, thought and real dedication has it taken for you to achieve this? Not really that much if you think about.

Saying this, we hear many people saying "everyone has bsxs" and "that dude bought the same wheel as me". Clearly a sign of disappointment at the lack of exclusivity. But do you really expect to get exclusivity from buying things that are readily available off the shelves? Yes, that suites your budget then in that case just keep your wheel choice fresh and alternate and don’t expect to have that look 'patented'. I make this statement because throughout the nation there are guys selling legitimate original wheels. Some that were produced in 80s and 90s. Wheels commonly known as split rims (3 piece and 2 piece) and cast wheels. Wheels that you don’t see very often. These are the wheels that will ultimately separate your car from the rest for not that much of a price difference. Of course they are going to cost more than your average replica wheels cause at the end of the day "you get what you pay for".

We all know that everyone has financially difficulties and priorities and some have better situation than others, this should not be a hindering factor and is in fact a petty excuse. I know people who are making things happen on student budgets and really do sacrifice a lot in order to get what they want. Thats a true sign of dedication, passion and how driven they really are. The amount of money people spend on replica wheels is so close to original/legitimate wheels (even though second hand, nothing a refurb can’t solve) that it doesnt make sense why they are complaining.

There are countless individuals saying that splits are so expensive and can’t find a proper wheel. I say this based on a personal experience, where recently a set of 4x100 16" x 7J, 3 piece, Compomotive CXN, split rims was put up for sale for R8000 negotiable. Wheels that when refurbed can fetch up to R10 000. The seller was willing to negotiate quite generously but there was no real interest in them and I was shocked as there was so many enquiries for 4x100 splits and not one those individuals came forward to actually being 50% serious in purchasing them. All I'm trying emphasize is that guys claim to be interested in achieving results and want something to stand out. But when the opportunity comes to bite the bullet everyone suddenly cant put their money where their mouths are. This was an opportunity that was handed on a silver platter; the wheels could really be purchase for something close to replica money. Perhaps the fundamentals to achieving a good build is not clear enough?

Yes, they are a bit narrow, but nothing a 165 45 16 Nankang can’t solve. They will stretch a perfect amount and would just complete any car. This brings me to the next commonly execution that I have been seeing done wrong way more times than I would have like to have seen. The "Tyre Choice", this is something particularly difficult in our country as we have a pretty restricted tyre selection.

A few things that need to be noted; firstly, that the lower the profile the tyre the more the rim itself will be emphasized. The highest profile you ever want to fit if you really working a budget is a 50 profile. Secondly, any wheel 14 and small you are going to struggle to find low profile tyres for cheap, so just don’t buy wheels in those sizes if you want stretch. Therefore stick to 15s and up, it’s the safest option.

A website that I have found that has been extremely useful in all our planning of wheel builds/fitments is TyreStretch.com.This site will allow you to search for almost any tyre and wheel combination and give you sample pictures to see if that will give you the desired look you seek to achieve.

Based on what has been said above we hope that this feature of Mila just strengthens our point that "the legit wheels are the only way forward!". As it ultimately defines and personalizes the appearance and obviously not to forget the overall stance. Take this feature and the one done a few months ago and compare them and one can clearly see that through a mere wheel change it transforms the car into something abit more special.

That being said, it’s pretty straight forward to achieve some clean results and I hope this has clarified most of the misconceptions and there are many aspects which I haven’t dealt with in detail as I don’t want to over load the content and kept straight to the point. - Keep it simple, but effective! In the next few weeks we will be doing features focusing on certain aspects of stance in particular. But we hope that these 3 simple aspects will be a great foundation. Namely: 1.Oem+ 2. Wheels and tyres 3. Ride height, because "Less is More".

If any of this has left you curious, or interested in any stance orientated products (wheels, tyres, coilovers and air suspension) feel free to email us and we will gladly assist you! Those Compomotives are still up for grabs, if anyone is interested in them contact us!

Photos: Achmat Booley

Video: Lorenzo Lakay (CasualSociety.co.za)

Words: Tauriq Ajam

Good Cars, Good Food, Good Vibes

A couple of weekends ago we hookup with our good buddies at Casual Society and had an awesome "Stance Saturday". They made a video of the day; its something to emphasize embrace the unity amongst brands and cultures amongst the stance scene. Hope you enjoy!

Video: Lorenzo Lakay

The Unicorn

 

Noor Abrahams' VW Golf Mk3 GTi 3-door
This particular MK3 is no ordinary Golf GTI, although the MK3 is notably the underdog out of all the GTi models to date. This particular one stands out, not only because of it being a rare to SA soil but also due to the extremely particular and finicky nature of its owner, Mr Noor Abrahams.

 

 

Around 2006 I was introduced to Noor, by a friend of mine Raees Amien (12Twentyfour). Walking into Noors' garage and home for the first time was like opening a personal biography, as his home is a true reflection of his MK3 and VW love and his finicky or OCD tendencies so to say. The white golf featured here, stood in this very parking spot above for countless years to date and back then it stood alongside a beautiful Maroon MK3 Jetta VR6, Wolfsburg Edition. Both these cars were immaculately taken care of. Any panel or imperfection was instantaneously swopped out for brand new OEM parts from the VW agents. Walking past the two ladies, only the golf being wrapped up under a German imported car cover (which is softer than most people's underwear) as the Jetta was used more often than not. I was confronted by some of the OEM TT "Fat Five" wheel setup that was just gathering dust. However, the Jetta is now replaced by a MK5 Golf GTI. Entering his home, you are welcomed with this clinically clean feel and unusually neat arrangement of furniture and it was dressed with some personal canvas prints of his works of art. Immediately I could tell that this MK3 was no stroke of luck, it's just an extension of the personality and passion that is hidden in the mind of Noor Abrahams. This car is one of those cars that are basically on of the unicorns of the local scene, mostly because she is kept safe undercover and garaged most of its life. Hardly ever coming out if the weather is a bit overcast or if there is going to be a chance of only find a tight parking spot. So getting to feature this fine example of a MK3 was really an honour.

 

 

The Following are words from Noor himself:

 

"I always wanted a 3-door Golf ever since I became friends with the owner way back when I was in high-school with a German dude by the name of Hans who came to study in SA and brought along his 1989 Golf Mk2 GTi 16v in oak green complete with BBS RS 15in alloys.

After a hunt for a few years, and a serious search for 1year, I managed to come across a guy on the VWClub.co.za forum who owned an immaculate 1996 Golf GTi 8v in black complete with sunroof but no aircon. After much negotiating he informed me he will contact me when he is ready to sell as he must keep the car for 24months on his name. At the 23rd month I contacted him and was informed this car was already sold. I felt really upset although that soon changed when the same guy informed me he still has a white mk3 GTi with aircon but no sunroof. 3months later this was parked in my garage after being hauled from JHB by trailer. It was March 2007 and at that point I already had most of the parts which was to be fitted. The car was stock standard and original - perfect to serve the basis for a project car. 

 

 

By June 2007, the car had a full respray in Arctic white by Cannings, I had brand-new VR6 Highline bumpers fitted, stubby Cabrio Mk4 mirrors, cabrio Mk4 beadings, and some tasty after-market parts all fitted. I hated the black top-textured bumpers and those textured beadings as after the rain, you find the silicone running down the lower half of the car so therefore wanted these full colour coded items as they more practical and less of an eye-sore. The car was lowered on Traxxion coilovers with Koni sleeves. A brand-new full stainless steel Powerflow system was installed to ensure the exhaust note still maintained that GTi sporty sound with dual chrome tailpieces finishing it off.

 

 

All lighting on the car was changed to Hella Mk4 headlights, in.pro crystal foglights and indicators and FK crystal clear/red tail lights. My theme for the car was based on an Audi since Audi uses the same paint code for their A3/A4 models which looks like a cream base colour. For this very reason I approached Audi and requested where I can get the same leather in cinnamon brown. They informed me most approved re-upholsterers should be able to supply me this and kindly gave me the exact colour code. I went to visit the good guys at Domingoes in Salt River who I used previously on our maroon VR6 3litre and they retrimmed my seats in 2days flat with doorcards!

 

  

Some final details on the interior included a Momo Fighter Zebrano wood/leather steering wheel, Momo leather gearknob, audi TT aluminium pedals, cabrio Mk4 chrome door handles, cabrio Mk4 chrome tip brake handle, Sony Xplode headunit, Macrom split speaker set, Bazooka 8in basstube to finish off the sound. I also had a full tilt/slide Webasto sunroof fitted as supplied to our local Mk3's when they were sold here in SA.

 

 

All the above work was completed over a 3month period from start to finish. The last and most important feature of the car was my very first set of BBS wheels which are the very rare BBS RV208 in brilliant silver (only 2,500 sets ever made globally in 17x7.5J ET35). To get the rear stance perfect I fitted 7mm aluminium hub-centric spacers. As an alternate setup I also ran genuine Audi TT wheels from time to time to match the Audi theme running throughout the car.

Future changes are that I am still searching high and low for a new set of super rare Hella Colour Magic all-red tail lights to ensure the car remains true to the OEMplus theme.

 

 

 

Although Noor say the car is far from complete, it was still worthy of being given some special attention and a feature and we were lucky enough to get Lorenzo Lakay (link to the video on CasualSociety) to join us to capture a video of this beauty. This is especially because, even though Noor owned this car for so many years no one was really able to secure a proper feature until now. We hope to hear from Noor soon, especially because he has a new wheel setup that we are dying to expose. Its something that has a bit of a Porsche smell to it. So keep tuned, you'll sure be seeing more of this infamous MK3!
 

 

 

 

Photos: Achmat Booley

Video: Lorenzo Lakay (Casual Society)

Words: Tauriq Ajam and Noor Abrahams

Shaakir's Beetle, Flip feature on StanceNation.com

 

 

Today marks the day, that South African stance scene is officially recognised internationally! This all thanks to the passionate stance enthusiasts - Shaakir Dollie and photographers - Achmat Booley and Lorenzo Lakay (Casual Society). The blood, sweat and tears these guys have been putting away soley for the love of what they have doing has taken not only them, nor CapeStance but the entire African Scene into an intentional category! This great trio of individuals to bring you the exclusive feature on legendary, StanceNation.com!

 

Check the full feature on http://www.stancenation.com/2013/05/06/a-bug-named-flip-shaakirs-volkwagen-beetle/

 

Photos: Achmat Booley for StanceNation.com

Slamometer II Video

Slamometer II Video

By Lorenzo Lakay

If you have not seen this EPIC video of Capestance Slamometer II on our Facebook page. 

Here it is for your viewing pleasure

The Game Changer

Tauriq Ajam's Bagged Benz

This particular 1976 Mercedes-Benz W115 230.4 is one of those cars that goes further than the average diamond in the rough stories; it is more is a story of destiny. These W114/5 (chassis code signifying whether the car is six or four cylinder respectively) Mercedes-Benz’s have been the apple of my eye for as long as I can remember that I had a passion for cars. There was just something about the unusual narrowly stacked headlights, the huge grille, the long flowing body and all the little chrome bits on the exterior that just appealed to me. The W114/5s just has a gangster/mafia/hoodlum/chicano/vatos locos appeal going for itself. This stigma is easily felt when in the car's presence. This very nature is one of the aspects that made the car stand out for me, because at the same time it has this classy and elite aura that comes with the territory of boasting the classic 3 pronged star badge on the bonnet.

I have been searching for many years for a W115 Benz but as I am still a student and cash is not my biggest of friends, the search was never really 100% committed and I always believed that when the neatest one comes my way I will not be able to fork the cash out and make her my own. This is mostly because if I had to pick up a Benz that had lotsa loose ends, I knew that firstly, it would constantly annoy me and secondly, that it might just kill my dream; especially seeing as I am excessively finicky when it comes to things being on its place. So because of these reasons, I consoled myself to postpone my search until a time where money was more readily available. Now as fate may have it, I became friends with one of the most genuine people I have ever come accross; Zubair Sayed from Wheels and More in Johannesburg. He had come down one weekend to socialize with us Cape Townians (a few Big names in the Car Scene, such as Noor Abarahams, Riyaad Mohammed of International Rim Repair (One of The best in South Africa), Kyle Petersen (Bella the Beetle and Mia the P510 Datsun), Ramiz Isaacs (Rosey the Bagged G5) to mention just a few). As the conversation was going, I mentioned to Zubair that one of my dream cars to own was a W115 Benz and he just had a smirk on his face and said - "I have one". I was beyond surprised and to top it off he said it was for sale. This was about May 2012. Zubair then showed me some pics and I immediately fell in love! However, I was in financial difficulty at the time and the price was vastly out of reach and all I could do was express my love and appreciation for her.

Zubair then gave me a history lesson on the car -  he said that he himself had also been searching for many years before actually finding this Benz. He happened to stumble upon an ad on the internet of an unusually low mileaged Benz that claimed to be a one owner car. The car however was situated nearly 500kms away from his home city, but something told him there's something special about this Benz, so he took a road trip up to Kimberly from Johannesburg and went to view her. When he got there he couldn't believe his eyes, the car had only done 41 000km from 1976 until 2009 and it was indeed a one owner car. Calculating the average mileage per year of 41 000km over 34 years works out to only about 1200km per year! The owner had wool seat covers fitted to it since it came off the showroom floor, so the seats were spotless. The motor was regularly serviced even though it was not put to much use. Zubair immediately fell in love with the car and made the purchase without hesitation. Who wouldn't when the car was basically untouched and very very clean?

 

Zubair then owned the car for just under 4 years and in that time he managed to keep her in even better condition. The seat covers were only removed once or twice a year at the local classic car shows to show off the spotless seats. The mileage was take up to a moderate 60 000km and he had fitted some white wall inserts to the wheels. Zubair, being a brother of stance, then had the car lowered to a point where she sat just above the white walls. This is basically the state in which I was introduced to her - 2 owners, 60 000km on the clock, brown wool seat covers from the 70's, all sitting pretty neatly and having the usual slightly oxidized paint work that any 36 year old car would have.

Towards the end of the year, Zubair mentioned that he has had numerous buyers make empty promises and that he still is interested in selling and this is where I realised that this might just mean it is meant for me. I quickly got a few odd things sold, I even sold some things that I promised never to let go of but this Benz just meant so much to me that I was willing to sacrifice them. I eventually managed to build up enough cash in order to make this Benz my own and next thing I knew, we were planning a way to get her down from Johannesburg to Cape Town (1400km journey) and I soon began to realise that my dream of owning a classic Benz is on the verge of materializing. The feeling never really sank in until the morning of the 24th of December 2012 where I woke up at Zubair's house in Johannesburg and we set off on our road trip to Cape Town.

The road trip was really something quite exciting. She had never really done any trips longer than 750km's, so at 1400km we were really testing the long legs of the Benz. The Benz handled the roads extremely well, but about 300kms in we encountered repeated splutters while cruising - as if the fuel lines were dirty or because of faulty bogey wires. Eventually as we reached the Colesburg fuel station she completely died on us. We were a bit shocked and confused as we couldn't figure out what the problem was. Eventually we figured out that due to the Benz standing for so long the alternator had packed up. We were already deciding where are we gonna over night until we could find an auto electrician, as it was way past business hours, when an elderly man from the surrounding area walks up to us and says "Our cars come from the same period"; we then found out he drove a 70's Rover. He heard about our problem and escorted us deep in to the neighbourhood to Piet the Auto Electrician, miraculously he obliged to get the alternator fixed on the spot on Christmas Eve, and a hour later we were back en route to Cape Town! We did not experience a single problem thereafter. I was truly impressed with how the Benz performed and took to the long road which just completed the whole experience of the Benz being handed over to me.

Late on the morning of Christmas Day(5am) we arrived in Cape Town, and this is where she was officially handed over to me! From there on, the dream I had so long awaited was quite unexpectedly becoming a reality. Spending time with her, I got her up to the standard that I wanted her to be in. The first thing that I always do is have the body work waxed which just brings it back to life. Because she was garaged for most of her life, the paint had lost its depth and wetness in the colour - nothing a full detail can't fix.

There were lots of further small touches that were done, like the old school South African black metal plates that the cars were fitted with in the 70s. I opened up the headlights and removed the orange indicator lenses to give it the clean white appearance up front, replaced all the fused bulbs and just got everything functioning 100%.

At this point, this is where the big changes started taking place. I managed to get my hands on some air suspension goodies and took them to CapeStance's air specialist. He then installed the complete Air-lift Performance Bags with analogue toggle switches (until Accu-air becomes feasible) in the Benz. While she was under-going the operation I managed to source a second set of hubcaps and brand new white wall inserts. I had the caps fully polished and everything was assembled on the completion of the air setup. Basically, this brings us to the point of where you see the car now in this feature.

This Benz is by no means the neatest one around, but she has a very special place in my heart! She also happened to be named Mila, the Bagged Benz AKA The Game Changer. The reason for the alias 'The Game Changer' comes from the way the stance scene stands in South Africa. Yes, we admit we are extremely behind relative to the international scene and because of this the cars that have been focused on are the usual VW's, Honda's and basically most of the cars on the stance scene that come from 90's and the 2000's era. This means that Mila's entrance into the scene is something that quite literally is changing up the South African game.

Mila has only been a product of four months of work and she is by no means near completion, there is loads more of tidying up to tackle, the trunk/boot setup requires some dressing up and she is begging for a wheel setup to just give her that extra character - to mention a few things. So you can definitely be assured that Mila will be gracing the pages again in the following months of this year.  

I would just like to personally thank to all who made this possible, especially Mr Zubair Sayed, Riyaad Mohammed, Q-beams and everyone else who made the materialization of this dream possible.

Photos: Jason Clifton

Words: Tauriq Ajam

Ridhaa Cornelius' Brutal M3

Ridhaa Cornelius' Brutal E90 M3

So it seems we have back to back BMW E90/E92 M3 features. Now this is by no means planned or intentional, but merely a coincidence and by product of Cape Town's fast growing stance scene. It is clear from this feature that the boundaries of stance have broken into the more elite and classy categories of the automotive industry and that the stance scene is no longer limited to usual suspects such as the Hondas and VWs. We are therefore proud to bring you Ridhaa Cornelius' E90 M3.

Ridhaa is really one of those guys that do things to utter perfection. Looking back to his previous countless amounts of immaculate  Nissan Sabre GXIs, and a beautiful E46 M3, Ridhaa really stepped up his game and opted to get his hands on the less popular and very understated E90 M3 painted in Interlagos Blue with a tan nappa leather interior.

When Ridhaa found this M3, she was by no means the showstopper she is today. She was not taken care of and nowhere near to the same standards that he would like her to be in, so as soon as he purchased her he had her fully detailed by one of our best local detailer's available; Vincent West at UltimateShine.co.za. This was the first step in really bringing this beauty of a machine alive. The reason being that when a car leaves Vincent's studio you will not be able to pick up a single grain of dust or spot a single swirl mark. She basically was restored back to showroom condition.

Ridhaa thereafter took the car to one of the top panel shops in the Cape, where he had the front bumper done over and in the process, flushed out the number plate brackets and had a Vorsteiner front spoiler molded into the bumper to give the front a more aggressive appearance. To compliment the bumper, the kidney grilles were sprayed black and LED bulbs had been fitted to the halo rings in the headlights to give this E90 a more modern and crisp finish. The rear was graced with a slight smoke of the tail lights and not forgetting the dual Schnitzer exhaust silencers, which amplifies that perfectly engineered and insanely aggressive engine note of the infamous BMW S65B40 V8. This car is clear example of how small touches can really set a car apart from the rest.

Now onto the main attraction, the Wheel and Suspension Setup. This E90 chassis is resting up a set of H'nR Race springs and the arches are filled out with a set of 20" Rohana wheels with fitment specifically spec'd to fill those beautifully flared arches that E90-3 M models all boast.

These Rohana RC5s measure in at 20x9 up front and 20x11 at the rears and are wrapped in Falken 452 rubbers 245 30 20 and 285 25 20 respectively.

In conclusion of this feature, we would just like to express our appreciation and gratitude as this M3 is a clear example of the typical saying, less is more. How the small details come together and end up in something that is completely classy and flawless.

The M3 Boys Tauwfieq and Ridhaa

Some beautiful rolling shots of the M3 in action

Photos: Achmat Booley

Words: Tauriq Ajam