You might have already seen “Another Shade of M” – a pulsing online video featuring two M3s in Verde Ithaca green and matte Reventon gray, both supercharged by Miami specialists, Active Autowerke.
One of those cars – this gray one – belongs to Omar Murray, Active’s own director of sales and marketing. And as awesome as it looks, he originally planned to let BMW modify his E92.
Customizing a BMW at the factory is possible with BMW’s Individual program. It features tons of options for buyers to change the exterior color, interior trim, leather seats and everything in between. However, Omar’s intention was to buy the limited-edition Frozen gray E92 M3 with DCT and Fox red interior that BMW released last year. He would then utilize the Individual program to order a six-speed manual instead of the DCT. Unfortunately, the 30 cars in North America were quickly snatched up, leaving Omar in their dust.
Not discouraged, he decided to simply build his own gray BMW E92 M3, adding Active’s 625hp supercharger conversion to crank up the volume. So the M3 was ordered and shipped directly to Martino Auto Concepts in Glen Cove, NY.
The company first added Vorsteiner’s carbon/kevlar GTS3 front bumper with a matching front splitter. Next came the company’s vented carbon/kevlar race hood, trunk and rear diffuser.
MAC regularly works on exotic cars, so Omar’s M3 naturally went the Lamborghini route, using the matte Reventon gray paint, followed by accents in Verde Ithica green on select parts – the same paint Joe Lapadula from Martino Auto Concepts would use on his own M3 (see Bimmerfest East report in this issue). The vivid green was applied to the rollcage, the six- and four-piston StopTech calipers on all four corners as well as the intake plenum under the composite hood.
The car was then shipped to Maimi where Active’s engineers carried out their modifications with only eight miles on the eight-cylinder engine!
The crew installed the HKS GTS8550 supercharger system with an eight-rib drive belt, front-mount intercooler as well as AA blow-off and bypass valves fitted to the vibrant green plenum with eight high-flow velocity stacks inside. With Active’s software controlling larger Bosch injectors, the blown 4.0 V8 puts out an astonishing 625hp and 450 lb-ft of torque at 6.5psi boost pressure.
Supercharged 4.0 V8 boasts 625hp with 450 lb-ft at 6.5psi“The system works great; the power is linear like the stock powerband, only it has so much more thrust,” Omar told us.
The Active crew then turned its attention to the interior, replacing the stock seats with Recaro Profi XL chairs and the painted cage. Flicking through the BMW Performance catalog, they also specified its flat-bottomed, alcantara Type 2 steering wheel and shift knob along with an Active S1 short shifter.
The rims were replaced by aggressive 20x9.5" front and 20x11" rear ADV.1 5.0 Track Spec wheels. The wheel manufacturer finished the centers in matte black with polished gunmetal lips. They were then wrapped in Nitto Invo rubber tucked under the fenders by KW Clubsport coilovers.
As we mentioned, the M3 wears green StopTech Trophy calipers that clamp drilled 380mm front and 355mm rear rotors.
After everything was fitted and the M3 had completed its 1200-mile bed-in, it was time to star in the viral video. The shop photographer had noticed a location close to Miami airport used to test aircraft engines. So with the owner’s permission, the two M3s positioned themselves in one of the test bays for the first shots. As the cameras rolled, the location became darker when a tropical rain storm rolled in, allowing the drivers to pull donuts, accompanied by the roar of Active-tuned V8s.
Shooting video takes an incredibly long time, but the building owners gave Omar and his crew their keys and asked them to lockup when they finished! It’s nice to know there are still such generous people out there.
“Another Shade of M” does a great job to capturing these two highly modified M3s, so check the video out for yourself online at www.activeautowerke.com/shadeofm/
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