3D Design North America: 2009

Even professional racing drivers need a hobby, and when Leh Keen chose his means of recreation, he had to look no further than the E92 M3. When he consulted us on some of the modifications, Leh knew that he could only have the best parts from competition proven manufacturers such as Dinan, 3D Design, Ericsson, BBS, KW and StopTech.

Leh's car is a mix of performance, unique style, and his own personal touches that truly make it stand out. His personal touches include such unique details as the alcantara shift boot and e-brake boot stitched in white with the BMW performance steering wheel in alcantara to match.

It's great to see a Porsche GT3 racing driver be such an enthusiast, on and off the track.

We picked up our 135i in September 2008. We instantly fell in love with its gorgeous looks, well designed interior, powerful motor, and more importantly the way it made the driver feel completely in control. We chose Black Sapphire Metallic as it's a beautiful spin on the standard black. Understated and looks brilliant in the sunlight. The car came with the beautiful Coral Red interior as well. As soon as we got it back to the shop we knew we were in for a really good experience.

We drove the car stock, and really enjoyed BMW's masterpiece. Being WSTO and car enthusiasts, it didn't stay stock for long. Within 1 week we had our Bastuck 2x85mm exhaust system, Bastuck y-pipe, and Riss Racing downpipe installed on the car. It surprisingly opened up the feeling of the engine, and gave it a great deep powerful sound. Even with a cat-less downpipe, the sound was not “too loud”, and it's almost silent inside the cabin while cruising. But push the pedal on the right closer to the floor, and almost as if the engine knows what you want, the turbo's spool and a glorious sound fills your ears. After we were done making our ears happy, we moved onto our eyes.

3D Design makes quality aero products coming straight from Japan. We opted for the front lip spoiler and rear trunk lip. The front lip is understated, and flows very well with the stock body lines. The trunk lip spolier, swoops up finishing the flow of the already rounded trunk lid. The addition of BMW performance shadow line grilles finished off the exterior. Next we needed to work on the stance of the car. Thanks to some H&R sport springs, lowering us 1.8" up front and 1.2" out back, it brought us closer to the ground and set there car where it should be from the factory. Two months after we picked up the car it looked and sounded great!

As good as it looked, we of course, were not done. We knew we needed some wheels. Here at WheelSTO, your premium wheel depot, we needed something that would stand out. Our good friends at Klassen Leichtmetallrader had just what we needed. We opted for their 5.1, which offered a classic and sporty design. The 3 piece construction meant that we could pick out the perfect offset, and get the largest lip possible. We went with 19x8.5 +40 in front and 19x9.5 +48 in back. The spokes were finished in their liquid black, and completed with a liquid smoke lip. Wrapped them in some super sticky Toyo Proxes T1R sized, 225/35-19 and 255/30-19. Combined with the nice drop this really set our car apart from the rest. Our wheel fitment was perfect and to this day we have yet to experience any rubbing.

Next place that needed attention was of course the engine bay. We got some extra power from the addition of an AFE dual cone intake. It gave the car a nice tone and some extra power up top. The good guys over at Synapse Engineering helped us increase the life of our lovely turbo's with their charge pipe and blow off valve kit. The best upgrade we did was a new tune from L.E.T. Motorsports (Eurocharged). The upgraded boost and fuel/timing maps turned the car into a rocket. Merging onto the freeway is now a fun process thanks to our engine modifications.

We love the OEM interior but thought it needed some little performance oriented additions. Some simple upgrades from 3D design gave us just what we needed. 3D design pedal covers, as well as their dead pedal cover gave us more grip on the pedals and a sporty look. Sitting next to those we place a set of 3D design floor mats to keep the carpet free from the dust and dirt of daily driving.

We are far from done with our 135 and love it more and more each day. Keep checking our blog for more information and beautiful pictures from Johan, as we transform our 1er from a grocery getter to a really fast grocery getter!