After spending the better part of a week walking around the Las Vegas Convention Center exploring the 2016 SEMA Show, something became very obvious to me – there were a lot of BMW-based builds on display.
Whether you’re talking vintage or brand new, mild or heavily modified, this year’s show features Bimmers of all types. I found one of my favorites in the Toyo Tires Treadpass display, but I’m not sure what the purists will think about this one.
This E36 M3 from StreetFighter LA is powered by an inline six just as it was when it left the factory, but that’s obviously not a BMW motor in the engine bay, nor is it the ultra-popular Toyota 2JZ. It’s a Nissan RB26 straight out of a Skyline GT-R.
The RB has been converted to single turbo, with larger fuel injectors, lower compression pistons and a pretty radical screamer pipe setup. The GT-R motor has also been mated to a dog box transmission.
The M3 sits on a set of KW Clubsport coilovers and the wheels are purple-finished Rotiform Sixes, 17×9.5-inch up front and 17×11.5-inch in the rear with Toyo Proxes R1R rubber all around.
Doing its best to contain the negative offset wheels is a StreetFighter LA wide-body conversion.
But perhaps best of all, the body has been coated in color-shifting Midnight Purple III paint to further build on the GT-R connection.
Inside the E36 there’s a pair of Recaro Pole Position buckets, a Renown steering wheel, Racepak dash unit and an ASD hydraulic e-brake setup for those sideways shenanigans.
With the heart of a Skyline GT-R matched with the chassis of a BMW E36, it’s very fitting that this M3 was parked just across from the Ford Mustang-bodied R35 that we saw the other day.
The show might be over now, but stay tuned for more coverage from SEMA 2016.
Mike Garrett
Instagram: japanifornia
mike@speedhunters.com