MIA v.2 || Reinvention by TheSHOP@CC | AG Forged | STM | EAS | SMSpa | Team Leche

[415Banker]

An unfortunate accident occurred on July 1, 2012 where a drunk driver in an Acura TL smashed into my car while parked on the side of the street in Sherman Oaks, CA. Fortunately though, witnesses were there to see how it happened and even got the plates of the woman's car. On the downside, the whole left side was bent, scratched, and at certain portions of the rear bumper cracked. The rear axel is done. The real suspension is beyond repair. The rear left wheel broke mid way in the barrel! The radiator support, headlights, and the hood caved in due to the rippling effect of the impact. It was a stomach aching sight to see but had to keep composure in front of the witnesses and the police.





First people I called were big brother Laidback and Moe from TheSHOP of Culver City. Despite being so late at night or actually pretty early in the morning (to be exact around 3:00AM), these friends were there ready to drop everything to help me out knowing I was stranded and far from where I live in the OC. That's mad love right there. No HOMO =P.

The tow truck brought me and Mia to Culver City where Moe had reparked his client's cars so he had space for the vert. Talk about high class customer service at 5:00AM!



Let me dissect that a little further. 5:00AM Sunday MORNING. Barely got any rest, still meets his client at work and still volunteers to take me to LAX to get a rental. I've worked with several body shops. Not knocking on them since they were good to me, no complaints. But Moe is a game changer. That level of sincerity can't be found and studied about in the training books. Going way above and beyond. Now, I know why many of the MFest brethren go to him for work to be done. It's those finishing touches, that differentiate good from greatness. Situations like this, you know that's when the bull$sh!t stops. Right there, I knew Mia is in good hands.

Later on the day, Laidback and I talked of the plans of rebuilding the car. Being the innovator that he is, he advises me that this a great opportunity to think about going WIDEBODY with the car. I promised myself I was not going to go full blast with the vert. But with Laidback's convincing motivation, I could not say no.

Since I had a SEMA project in the works with Yuya of Avante Garde Forged Wheels for a set of 3 Piece 18 inch Series 240 wheels, I requested to have these 18s a tad bit wider and with more aggressive offsets =P. Once again, another classic example of exceptional customer service. Yuya was more than happy to get this going!





Next people I spoke with are the guys at StilundMacht Spa. I told them about the predicament I'm in. They were very excited since this would be also a great opportunity to introduce their bootlid for the vert!



That matched with Moe's high level of expertise in clean custom widebody themes, I'm definitely getting excited. What got me is when Moe said these words, "Bro you're widebody will be different than any of the widebodies I've done. Each car I've done has it's own personality. I already envisioned what we're going to do for Mia."

For reference, here are some of the current widebody projects TheSHOP has going now:

m kube's IB E46 M3 Coupe

Laidback's CB E46 M3 Coupe

With these great people within the car industry and others I'll mention on a later date, the Reinvention begins. The wait will be back breaking with a rental provided by AllState, but I know it'll be all worth it because I know Mia is "in good hands." =)...

Check back from time to time with this build thread because some there will be some things going to be done on this E46 vert that has not been done before ...Another true testament to the words our MFest family live by, "Redefining the enthusiasts and the community through CAMARADERIE."

[415Banker]

07/10/2012 Update:


The centers are done =). Waiting for the inner and outer barrels that will equate to 18x10 in the front and 18x13 in the rear!!! lol... Don't know if 13s have been done on a vert before. Offsets are ridiculously low, but I'm not in the liberty to share what they are . The next update is not for the faint hearted. AG Forged is installing the 3 piece wheels together with 24K gold plated hardware.... More info on other specs of the wheels to come when pics of the components start trickling in.

here are the teasers ...ala CROWN ROYALE...

17 inch diameter centers unfinished


24k gold plated hardware



I was also toying with the idea to do a color change between Lexus IS-F's Ultrasonic Blue Mica and Ferrari's Rosso Corsa...but once you go black, you never wanna go back! So I think I'll keep her Jet Black...

[415Banker]

Reserved #2

[415Banker]

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[415Banker]

Reserved #5

[soul surfah]

Damn jo,

Sorry to hear about this, but glad to know she she is in good hands. Back in tha game again, eh bruddah?

[indohan]

See I told you widebody.

[Laidback]

So the transformation begins


The Shop in Culver City making headway on a lot the projects heard there's three more cars coming in for some Widebody sexiness and or modification

[415Banker]

Originally Posted by soul surfah

Damn jo,

Sorry to hear about this, but glad to know she she is in good hands. Back in tha game again, eh bruddah?

ugh, lol...i guess so...

Originally Posted by indohan

See I told you widebody.

i hate u for being so right

Originally Posted by Laidback

So the transformation begins


The Shop in Culver City making headway on a lot the projects heard there's three more cars coming in for some Widebody sexiness and or modification

3 more?!? omfg, ...who are the other 3??? TheSHOP@CC definitely changing the game! this has never been heard of or done before!?! i mean other shop's have produced widebodies after the other, but to have this much cars widebodied all at the same time, this is just ridiculous! game eff'n over!