If you ask people to describe Japanese ingenuity they will often tell you that the Japanese excel at taking something foreign and modifying it to become their own. One of the most prominent examples of the Japanese writing system which is a modified/simplified version of the Chinese system. A more relevant example would be the Mazda Miata/MX5 which was simply an improved and modernized version of the classic British roadster. The worldwide popularity of the Miata shows that this formula often works well, though anyone who has tried Japanese pizza might tell you it's not 100% fail-proof.
BMW ,or "BM" as the Japanese often call it, is known worldwide for making great luxury/sports cars and the M3 in particular is the global standard for performance luxury coupes. When you think of the Japanese tuning scene, the first thing that comes to mind are domestic cars like the GTR and Evolution. While the "JDM" machines are certainly the most common, foreign makes have dedicated followings as well. The M3 is no exception, and there are a number of Japanese companies that specialize in BMW tuning and racing. The M3 is a hard car to improve upon, but a look at the above E46 M3 CSL shows that it is surely possible.
While the car may be foreign, the tuning style is similar to many Japanese racing cars. The style includes subtle yet functional body upgrades, a GT wing, and single piece forged racing wheels, in this case Volk TE37s. The wheels in particular really make the car stand out. Typically, BMW owners will go with multi-piece offerings by companies like BBS and HRE, but the TE37's with a GTR-like concave face look amazing. Then again GTR-face TE37's look amazing on nearly anything.
This Black E46 is another example of Japanese BMW street/circuit tuning. Like the white CSL this one uses Ray's wheels - Gold CE28N's. I found these photos on the Japanese website http://www.bmwstyle.tv/index.html .
Although it hasn't been updated for awhile, there is an impressive collection of photos and videos from events all over Japan. A number of the events are BMW-only and include not just M3's but M5's, the Z-series, and many others.
Someother Japanese BMW links to check out include -
One and Only Motorsport and RedHot. If Red Hot sounds familiar to American readers, it's because two years ago one of their E46 M3's was shipped to the United States for the SEMA Show and the Buttonwillow Time Attack event.
I was quite impressed by the car when I saw it at Buttonwillow. The car lap times were in the 1:56 range, which was an impressive showing. RedHot has another Blue M3 in Japan, seen below at Central Circuit.
BMW's presence in Japanese motorsport also extends to the Super Taikyu racing series, where the FINA Advan E46 M3 and more recently the Petronas SYNTIUM Z4 M Coupe which have been very competitive against their domestic rivals.
These BMW's are a great way of showing that Japanese style tuning is not limited to only Japanese cars. I wonder if more European car enthusiasts will start looking to Japan for new ideas. Look for more stuff about the non-traditional aspects of Japan's vast car culture in the near future.
