BMW in Tuning

BMW also know as Bimmer within bmw enthusiasts. This master peace of german engineering is one of the respected cars in the tuning scene. There are many different ways to modify your BMW. One is to add some moderate parts to your bimmer and keep your bmw almost in stock condition. This is usually called as oldskool tuning. On the other hand, you can modify your bimmer so much that you can't even recognize it to bmw anymore. Of course there are lots of bimmer tuners between these two extremes.

When owners describes their bimmers, they tend to use words like "performance", "passion", "control". This describes the true nature of this car.

There are lot of different kinds of BMW tuning events all over the world. These events are held mainly in the summer time fo obvious reasons. One of the biggest event is Bimmerfest which is held in North America. In Europe there are BMW Action in Germany and Bimmerparty in Finland.

Wheels

There are plenty of wheels available in the market. You can make your pick and not worry that your friend have the same wheels. Of course there are some popular wheels like Alpina, Borbet, Hartge etc. which are commonly used. Balance between the car and the wheels is the most important thing when choosing wheels. For example huge 20 inch wheels doesn't necessarily look good with your 300-series bimmer, but in 700-series they would look awesome.

BMW offers wide range of wheels it own. Especially M-series wheels are popular when you want to spice up your regular bimmer. Original wheels aren't the cheapest but you get quality wheels that doesn't let you down. There are also huge amount of replica wheels that imitates original bmw wheels. Replica wheels aren't even close to that quality what original wheels provides but you get at least the same look that original ones have.

Engines

BMW has engine family which has four, six, eight and twelve cylinder engines. Each engine has it own M-code. Example M60/M20 engine is six cylinder engine which was manufactured in years 1977-1992. Engines M-code: "S" stands for Motorsport engine. S50B30 is six cylinder inline engine which was used in BMW M3 in year 1992. Engines max output power is 286hp at 7000 rpm and 320 Nm at 3600 rpm.

Body-kits

Body-kits is one of the most controversial topic about BMW tuning. Original BMW body-kits are called M-Technic which are highly popular amongst oldschool tuners. However some tuners are open minded and ready to explore new ways to modify BMW's appearance. There are many body-kit manufacturers such as Rieger and Lumma. These body-kits are well known in the BMW tuning scene.

Chassis models

3-series

E21
First 300-series model. Introduced in 1975 and manufactured over 1,3 million.

E30
Introduced in 1983 with 2- and 4-door models. Manufacturing ended in 1991.

E36
Launched in late 1990 with four cylinder engines 316i and 318i. Six cylinder engines were 320i and 325i.

E46
Introduced in year 1998. Fourth generation of BMW's 3-series started with five models: 318i, 320i, 323i, 328i and 320d. One year later BMW introduced two new models 316i and 330d. In the year 2000 BMW added three 4WD models 325xi, 330xi and 330xd.

E90
Introduced in year 2005. This chassis design is one of the controversial model in BMW's history.

5-series

E12
Introduced in year 1972. First 5-series Motorsport version was introduced in year 1980.

E28
Introduced in year 1981.

E34
Introduced in year 1988.

E39
Introduced in year 1995.

E60
Introduced in year 2003. E60 M5 was introduced in fall 2004.

7-series

E23
Introduced in year 1977.

E32
Introduced in year 1986.

E38
Introduced in year 1994.

E65
Introduced in year 2001.

Well known BMW tuning companies

AC Schnitzer

AC Schnitzer Automobile Technik GmbH is an German tuning company which is specialized in BMW. Company is founded in 1987 and it's headquarters is located in Aachen, Germany.

Alpina

Alpina manufactures cars with their own brand.

Hartge

Hartge is founded in 1974 and it has an long history in BMW modification. One of their specialities is to put 5-series M-motors to 3-series chassis. Hartge's headquarter is located in Merzig, Germany.

Hamann Motorsport

Founded in 1986 Huttisheim, Germany. BMW became part of the Hamann product line in 1994.

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