Esquire's Dakar Yellow M3 coupe - a Photo Modification Journal

[esquire]

It feels like forever ago now that I placed a call to Ryan Amico of Steve Thomas BMW. But really, it was just September of last year. I was about to begin the process of placing an order for the European Delivery of a car whose vision had been emblazened in my mind since I was a young teenager - an M car steeped in the tradition - and one whose color had captured my imagination since before I was even able to drive - Dakar Yellow.

And so I placed my order for European Delivery : a 2011.5, Dakar Yellow, M3 Coupe, fitted with Black Novillo, Carbon Leather trim, DCT, Competition Package and the now-emblematic Carbon Fiber Roof. I threw in a few other options for good measure of course - heated seats, ipod integration, premium sound (a must have option for people who love music as much as I do), and a few other goodies here or there. But none of them mattered really... what mattered most was getting the car... quickly. However, it seems, as I learned the hard way, European delivery is not for those of impatient ilk, such as myself. It turns out that you can't just swing by Germany and grab your car off the lot. Haha. Who knew?

After some back and forth, my Munich pick up date was set for the absolute earliest date available: December 1st - which at that point was more than 2 months away. Even that was too far away. The wait was excruciating. So as the days crawled steadily by, my restless mind began to toy with the absurd - to indulge in an Individual interior. Before I knew it, what was first a playful idea in my mind, all of a sudden became a "must-have." I have no idea how it happened; but it did. And so the day before my order became unchangeable, I called Ryan and told him to amend my order. The conversation went something like this.


Me:"Hey Ryan"
Ryan: "Yeah whats up?"
Me: "Uhm. Yeah. I want Piano Black now"
Ryan:
Me:
Ryan:
Me:
Ryan:
Me: "hello?"
Ryan: ".... Okay. Let me see what I can do"


To his credit, Ryan made it happen. BMW Individual agreed to throw on Piano Black! Unfortunately though,it was going to take two extra weeks to get the pieces prepared and ready. "Two Extra Weeks!!?!?!" I said. "You have to be kidding me." The problem was not the wait. It was that I had already purchased my tickets to Germany, and they were non-refundable. With a little persistence we stumbled upon a solution though. The amazing people at BMW M/Individual, specifically the Head of BMW M/Ind. for North America & Canada (who's name I unfortunately can't name) made some phone calls and arranged to have the Piano black pieces shipped out directly to me as soon as they were ready. My Dakar Yellow coupe with Piano Black Trim was going to be a reality!

Time passed and December 1st was finally upon me. I could drone on and tell you all the details of my European Delivery trip, which was a simultaneously beautiful and bone-chilling experience (literally), but it's nothing you haven't heard before. If you're a true fan of BMW, its an amazing experience. But, if you're doing it just for the discount - don't bother.

And so I present to you my Photo Modification Journal. Beginning with my Euro Delivery of my car in stock form, and ending in the present day, I will update this journal with photos of each and every modification made to the car in chronological order, along with a few words here or there discussing the process. Though I already, have an overall theme for the car emphasizing its existing black gloss accents (black carbon fiber roof, black gloss shadowline trim, and piano black interior trim), I hope to use this journal to invite and collaborate with others in the community to help further refine my vision where any ambiguity exists. (I look forward to this being an exercise in civility and respect and constructive feedback)

Anway, to give you guys an idea of where this car is going, here are a list of my expected future modifications:

• Vorsteiner CSL style trunk/bootlid
• Black Gloss or Black Satin Powder Coated Competition Wheels
• Akropovic Full Titanium Exhaust – Powder Coated Gloss Black Tips**
• Piano Black Trim
• Angel iBrights
• Huper Optik Tint 40 all around (50 front windshield)
• IND Gloss Black Kidney Grilles
• IND Gloss Black Side Markers
• Euro Front Bumper w/ Front PDC
• Challenge Diffuser - Gloss Black or Carbon
• Revinora or Luma Front Lip – Gloss Black
• Spacers
• Mach Schnell Pulleys
• Mach Schnell Air Intake

Without Further Ado.... I welcome you all to my Photo Modification Journal. I hope you guys enjoy it.



December 1st, 2010 - Taking European Delivery at BMW Welt in Munich, Germany









Sincerely,
- esquire

[Joseph]

wow, just beautiful. congrats! i love dakar yellow!

[BSM 135i]

maybe i have to see it in person but i've never been a fan of dakar yellow, SICK M3 none the less!

[Yukohama]

just beautiful, always liked Dakar Yellow... mods asap! haha

[GOLFFRR]

awesome car, even nicer in person

[Slwdrvr]

omgoodness your e92 is amazing as is! good luck on your future mods! looks like it's going to b e one hell of a project!

[Laidback]

Congrats bradah

[E46transforM3r]

sweet keep us posted

[esquire]

It was less than one week ago today that I took delivery of the car via the "Hoegh Chiba." It was a long and excruciating wait, but it was all the more worth it when I finally took delivery of the car here in the States. I knew the time had come to truly enjoy the car, and to start down the path of modification.

Some modifications you just want. And then there are those that you feel you need. Looking at my stock coupe the first two things that struck me as needing immediate attention were 1) tint and 2)headlights. The car just felt naked to me without them. More important to me than the tint though, were the headlights. It grates on me to look at the pale yellow of our stock headlights while our non-M 3series brethren drive around with those beautiful bright white LED headlights (which they received as part of the LCI) - a revision that the M3 for whatever reason, never received. Though I don't understand why we never got those beautiful front LED's, I suppose that's besides the point. I wanted bright whites. Badly. So first thing was first - A quick trip to EAS to get Angel iBrights installed while I began discussions with them about the future of the car and its overall direction.

A big thanks to Steve, Anthony, and Tom of EAS for all their help, feedback, and many hours of research in helping to refine my vision.

All that said, here are a few pics of the first in a series of mods. Next up, tint.

Before


Half and Half

[esquire]

With the much needed Angel iBrights out of the way, and after a few days of in depth discussions with EAS and IND formulating our treatment of the car, it was time to knock out the next much-needed yet basic mod - tint. I knew I didnt want anything over the top, but rather something simple and clean.

As long as i've been on this (and other) boards, Hann at STM Solutions in LA has been the go-to-guy for tint work. (He'd kill me for calling it tint and not film. haha. Sorry Han. Old habits die hard). With that said, I gave Han a call and arranged an appointment. What strikes you first about Hann is that he knows everything there is to know about tinting BMWs (and those pesky raised dots that make tinting our cars so annoying). He knows exactly what films will achieve a specific look whether its ceramic or non ceramic, madico or huper film, limo black or barely noticeable, wrapped around all the way or front windshield bare.

Having had a number of other cars with Huper Optik tint, it's something I swear by. Hann is a big fan too. What strikes me the most about Huper is that it's blackness leans more toward the earthy side of the spectrum than the blue side of the spectrum, which i love. It gives you a very unexaggerated look. But on a more subtle note, and perhaps equally as important, you never ever ever step into a "hot" car with Huper. It truly keeps the heat out. That's something that I really come to appreciate here in southern california where things can get hot, especially in light of the fact that my cars have had black interiors. Mind you, this is of course just my opinion, and there are plenty of other excellent films to choose from. This stuff is all subjective.

Together with Hann, we settled on Huper Optik Ceramic Film. 40 all the way around, 50 on the windshield. Here is the final result.

Before (by way of comparison):




After (color difference in car is a result of this being a cell phone camera as well as the time of day - Better pics to follow)








Tint together with Angel iBrights