The BMW Z3 Coupe, otherwise also known as the ‘Clown Shoe’ in the Bimmer world didn’t get a lot of love when it first came out. The most important reason was its design that was perceived by many as ‘peculiar’. It was a really good car though in terms of dynamics and it’s kinda the Ugly Duckling story of the BMW brand. In the right hands, the BMW Z3 M could shine bright like a diamond and the car we’re looking at here just might be the brightest.
This is a 850 HP BMW Z3 M that was basically built from the ground up. That figure is at the wheels, by the way, just so that we don’t get confused later on. The engine under the hood is a 3.1-liter straight six mill that started life as an S54 mill. However, the owner did overhaul it, improved its compression ratio, and changed the bore and stroke of the cylinders and actually ended up losing some of its displacement in the process instead of gaining some.
The car is also fitted with a supercharger that runs at about 20 psi and feeds off E85. It has liquid to air cooling, different cams, pistons, rods, bearings and even the VANOS system was upgraded, all with the final goal of getting as much power out of the car as possible. And the best part about all of it, is that this is a daily driver. That meant an upgrade for the suspension was needed and it was all a custom order to make sure you don’t lose a kidney on public roads but that the car doesn’t destroy its rear end either.
As for how the car drives with such copious amounts of power going to the rear wheels, the guys from Roads Untraveled try their best to explain over the course of some 25 minutes. It’s needless to say that acceleration is brutal but could it truly be an uncompromising daily driver?
