They say that BMW's designers have gone mad with the latest styling ideas for the company's products. But frankly, we are more interested in seeing how we can go crazy alongside their engineers because the latter allow the same cars to be so easily transformed into veritable track monsters.
No matter how much you want to start running amok, crying your outrage whenever BMW presents a new model (I know we need counseling for relaxation and stress-relief procedures after each presentation, for sure), there is nothing that can persuade fans from dropping the engineering case. No matter how quirky or even ugly these products are, they're still marvels of technical prowess. And there is no need to take our word for granted – the internet is brimming with reports of how BMW conceals true wonders under stock ratings that are found to be positively untrue when doing simple dyno research.
That makes it even easier for the aftermarket realm to take advantage of the BMW miracles and lift the spirits of their owners with a few simple mods. Let us give you a couple of practical examples. So, Sam, the host of the Sam CarLegion channel on YouTube, has prepared yet another drag and roll race series with tuned imports, and the results are pretty bonkers, indeed.
The Bavarian protagonists include a 2023 BMW M3 Competition that now has about 530-wheel horsepower and a 2024 BMW M340i that also obliges with more than 500 whp. Just for good measure, he also concocted a three-way skirmish with help from a 2018 Audi S4 that was massaged with lots of carbon fiber and other goodies to about 534 whp. That sounds pretty balanced, right?
Well, you better think again if you made any bets. The quarter-mile unprepped dragstrip procedures (which, as per tradition, occur on a windy airstrip track) kick off at the 3:55 mark with the roll races. There are two passes (second gear at 50 kph or 32 mph), and both have the same outcome: M3 first and the M340i or S4 switch places for runner-up. Things get heated up pretty fast once the drags kick off at 5:53, and the results are still pretty much the same – the mind-bending G80 M3 is king, while the runner-up is closely fought between the M340i and S4.
In the end, there can be only one second place, though; to the gifted S4's shame, that is reserved for the tuned M340i. After the final drag race, the stats are in, and the figures are pretty astonishing on their own: M3 does the 60 mph (96 kph) sprint in 2.8 seconds and the quarter mile in 10.8 seconds, followed by the M340i with 3.46s and 11.2s, as well as the S4 with 3.62s and 11.39s, respectively. Remember, all these numbers were obtained on an unprepped surface!
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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