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Winston’s M2 ‘GTS’ Build

Star Wars has always been my favorite movie trilogy since my father introduced them to me at a young age. As the franchise expanded and added films, I found myself disappointed in several aspects of the prequels like many other fans. When BMW released the M2, a similar sentiment was shared by Winston Crawford who felt that the car should have received a GTS package from the factory. The feeling of the original M3 is closer than ever in this car, which initially drove Winston to purchase one, but it wasn’t enough. Winston, a dedicated racing driver and BMW enthusiast, set out to do what we can’t with Star Wars but can with cars: to make his own GTS-inspired M2.

Winston has always felt drawn towards BMWs. The connected feeling to the car, the balance exhibited by their chassis, and the performance capabilities on the track are just some of the reasons he enjoys them. So often, I myself am caught up with my complaints about the ever-evolving and more advanced models that seem to take us farther away from the original BMWs I loved. When it came to the new models, I pictured George Lucas somehow at BMW crossing out manual transmission designs, yelling at engineers for considering individual throttle bodies, and fitting all manners of restrictive traction settings on the M2, which represents Attack of the Clones. While the result was an incredible car reminiscent of its inspiration, the M2 could have been the unbelievable story hinted by Obi-Wan rather than a softened tribute with some high-budget effects.

That didn’t stop Winston from seeking out an M2, however, as he had a plan to make some changes that should not have been left on the cutting room floor. As a racing enthusiast, Winston would draw his experience from over ten years on the track to approach this build. He needed to get back into a BMW after his last few years of racing a Radical which, according to Winston, had never made him feel connected to the car the way his previous E36 had. Before the Radical, the car he drove to events, around town, and to the racetracks was a ’95 M3, while his E30 M3 sat at home in the garage. With those two cars, he developed a strong urge to have something pure, mechanical, and, debatably, as flawed as the original release of A New Hope. We know Han missed that Stormtrooper in the detention facility, but the scene still adds to his legend as the luckiest pirate in the galaxy. So too does the M2 offer that classic combination of lightweight, compact, sport design with a high performance engine and suspension courtesy of the best in the business, but it isn’t without room to improve.

On the track, Winston’s E36 helped him develop his skills as a driver. The E36 was the car that made his jump to the Radical a mixed bag of emotions. It was after a few seasons in the Radical with some private motorsport clubs that he realized what was missing. The missing heart and personality of a car like the E36 M3 with the community around the car through the BMWCCA, forums, and car meets had left his experience incomplete. The Radical provided a sterile, precise, almost too serious attitude and left Winston wanting something more fulfilling.

That is when Winston turned to Enthusiast Auto Group, who sourced his most recent car, a return to the light side. He purchased this Alpine White 2016 M2. The M2 platform, though modern, was enough to make Winston feel a close connection with the car as he did with his older BMWs. The feeling of driving a contemporary car, with its conveniences and equipment, that behaves like its direct and extremely mechanical predecessors is the equivalent of seeing real animatronics and actual location filming when the last few installments have been all green screen and CGI.

The M2 was not without its shortcomings as it left the BMW factory, though. In its unmodified form, the brakes needed improvement, safety measures needed to be added, and the handling characteristics required immediate adjustments. The vision of creating a track capable car that could be driven on the street or to events, inspired by the F8X M3s and M4s with the GTS package, began after a year of living with the car.
“It was my daily driver for a year, but I wanted something to take me to cars and coffee, drive around town, and then compete in races. Basically a ‘street legal’ race car.”
Like a switch flipping from light to dark, the car underwent its careful modification. Unlike what Lucas and Kasdan did with the prequel movies, retention of the car’s original balance was key. Winston quickly decided on Sparta Evolution big brakes with their track pads to improve the stopping power of his M2. For suspension, he traded the BMW factory gear with KW Suspension Clubsport 3-way coilovers and new camber arm and control arm bearings all around. In place of the original wheels, Winston has run two different sizes of APEX Wheels with Nitto NT01 tires to provide maximum grip for the car. His current setup is a square 18X10.5 that helps eliminate some of the uncharacteristic understeer from which the car previously suffered under hard driving.


When editing anything, either your work or someone else’s, the finished product needs to cohesively be the same as the rough draft without completely rewriting the whole thing. Often, the final version is nearly identical to the rough draft, but if you look closely, hundreds of little differences and omissions can evoke a completely different feel. In the case of Star Wars, scenes like Biggs and Luke chatting at Tosche Station were left out of A New Hope. This change resulted in a diminished importance on their friendship and left the audiences less than sad when Biggs is shot down during the Death Star attack. Similarly, the M2 as a final product from BMW’s years of developing small, well balanced, high-performance cars feels like it is missing something that gives drivers the same sort of emotion. With the M2 missing a GTS treatment logically omitted in the revision process of the car’s development, matters had to be taken post purchase. Winston has taken his M2 and completed his vision of what the car should have been without removing its functionality as a street going car.

His modifications continue with a half cage that mimics the GTS design, with slightly improved mounting points, and powder coated white to match the exterior. The steering wheel, pedals, and various other visual elements of the car have been tweaked to conform with that GTS feel, including a rear wing for additional downforce. His Cobra Racing seats are currently receiving a similar treatment in the continued theme of BMW inspiration, as they are being wrapped in BMW leather, Alcantara, and finished with Polar Blue thread. According to Winston, the decision to build the M2 in the spirit of the GTS F8Xs has not been the easiest. In the case of that stitching, weeks of pursuing a few spools of thread were needed since it is an exclusive material to BMW. Thankfully, the contrast stitching will appear in the final interior after many hours of searching and negotiating.
The fandom that inspired this M2 build is more than just cosplayers dressed up to look the part, like so many plastic lightsaber wielding fans at a movie premier. With cars, you are able to participate and be a part of the story of your brand with endless avenues to explore that are more than imaginary. For Winston, that is not limited to just building and racing his BMWs. Alongside his time gaining track experience and building this M2, Winston felt a need to use his connections from years of racing to help create a community of his own. Like fan pages and extended universe authors, Winston decided a new group was needed to support enthusiasts like himself.

From his devotion to racing his M2 ‘GTS,’ he has developed a growing community of like minded enthusiasts. Previously, with the BMWCCA and other clubs, Winston felt that the exclusivity and incredibly specific interests of those clubs prevented him from experiencing everything he wanted to with variety and a comfortable atmosphere. With the idea of a relaxed, free to join, supportive community in mind, Winston founded the Silicon Valley Motor Club. The group is a club for enthusiasts, drivers, builders, and anyone who simply wants to talk, drive, ride, or race in the Silicon Valley area. The club participates in track events, hosts car meets, and spend time together all enjoying a love of motorsports. With an interest in all things cars, Winston has been able to grow a community of like-minded drivers with whom he can continue to improve his driving skills and draw inspiration for his own cars.

Enthusiasts like Winston, who refuse to allow what they love about BMW be dictated exclusively by the company, are the contributors that inspire others to pursue their vision. The army of creative fans, motivated by their interest, provide the community with their own exciting interpretation of the common hobby. Thanks to those like Winston, we have an outlet to share that sport and enthusiasm together and deepen the bond between us and our BMWs. Winston’s M2 represents his idea of the perfect track car that can drive to the store or cars and coffee on a Saturday morning. It is the combination of extended universe creativity and a love for the original story that drove him to build something distinctly his, yet undeniably BMW. If only we could do the same and make our own prequel movies to replace the ones we suffered through in the early 2000’s…

Winston’s full build is documented well, which we encourage you to read at Silicon Valley Motor Club where you can find pictures, stories, and ways to become involved.



 




Tough Choices: Steve’s 1987 BMW 325is

On a sunny day in May of 2017, my beautiful '87 325is got wrecked. I don't know about you, but car wrecks are rare events in my life. I was unprepared for the decisions that had to be made after my pride and joy was almost totaled. Allow me to share with you some of the things that I have learned. But first, let me provide a brief background.

My BMW was a rust free example from Florida. Except for a leaking main rear seal, the engine was strong and sound. It had been a one owner car but had been neglected by a loving owner who didn't do any of his own repairs. It needed a lot of work but was worth it. I spent well over 100 hours refurbishing the car and put much more into the car than its value would warrant. But I didn't care about value. I grew to love the car.

That day in May, I was taking it for the first drive after completion of the restoration process. A few details remained, but the car was ready to drive. A tandem axle dump truck coming at me from the other direction blew its front left tire and the driver lost control. He came into my lane at about 60 mph, leaving me seconds to save my life. I jumped into his empty lane and attempted to pass him on his right. Unfortunately, he swerved back into his lane before going off the road. The right rear tire of his truck crushed my right quarter panel and tore the right rear wheel out of the car. If I had been two feet more to the left, I would have driven home, but if I had been one or two seconds further back, I might be dead.

"After the accident, the car sat in a body shop parking lot for almost a month before I transported it to storage in my garage for another three months. I was surprised by how long it took to get my car rebuilt."

So here are a few things that I know from the process: 1. Because I had the radio off, two hands on the wheel and two eyes on the road, I was able to take advantage of every second, when every second counted. As soon as the tire blew, I was looking for options. If I had been playing with my cell phone, I would be dead.

2. Accidents like this happen quickly. They come out of nowhere and end within a minute. After the accident, I was totally unprepared to make the first decisions required of me. A rollback appeared and I hadn't considered where the car should go. I had no idea which body shop would be most qualified to properly rebuild my 30-year-old car. I sent the car to a body shop near my house.

3. If you have a cell phone, start taking pictures of the accident scene. Take pictures of the tire skid marks, where the involved vehicles ended up after the crash and what they looked like. If the other driver was at fault, his insurance should pay. Pictures may be critical in supporting your description of events.

4. Get collector car insurance with agreed value, if your use of the car conforms to the requirements for collector coverage. In my case, an '87 325is had a NADA value of about $5,600 and a Hagerty value of about $17,500. I had $22K in my car with agreed value to match. The high agreed value is all that kept my car from being totaled. If I had regular coverage, I might have received less than $5K.

5. Just because the economics say that you might need to junk your beloved car, doesn’t mean you should. Before my accident, I had attended to all of the little restoration details on my car. Because I planned to keep the car for many years, I replaced every rubber part and anything worn or questionable at considerable expense. In addition, the car had been on jack stands in my garage for most of a year and I had spent many hours in the rebuild.

The damage was very severe but localized. The car was rebuildable, but the restoration cost would max out my insurance coverage. The insurance company gave me two options. They would have totaled the car and given me about $19K and left the car with me. The other option was to use their adjuster and have the car rebuilt for up to $21K of coverage. My love for the car wouldn't allow me to send it to the boneyard.

6. Finding the right body shop: My car sat in the body shop parking lot for weeks while I debated with the shop foreman. Many shops are oriented to work on new cars. The late model cars come in and get quickly repaired or totaled and go back out the door. 30-year-old cars require a special kind of shop. If my car had been new, it would have been totaled. The shop foreman couldn't see my car as rebuildable, despite the classic car coverage. He was afraid to touch it. So it sat in the lot until I brought it home on a rollback.

It took a long time and a lot of hard work to find a shop that wanted my car. There are small shops that I thought would want it, but the job was too big for them. Big shops didn't want classics. This part was much more difficult than I ever imagined.

7. Parts availability may be a problem. Fortunately, E30 parts are readily available. My body shop immediately ordered the new quarter panel from BMW. The quarter panel had a current part number but was on backorder. We waited for the quarter until I found that BMW had discontinued the part after we ordered it and never bothered to tell us. That one issue added weeks to the rebuild.

8. The first adjuster estimate is just the beginning. He just took a quick look at the car and underestimated the damage. His first estimate was $6K in damages, but it grew to over $21K by the time everything was finished.

9. Get involved in the process to the highest degree you can. Inspect the car very carefully yourself. Look at parts schematics and identify all of the parts that the adjuster left out of the estimate. Make sure that no parts get left out of the final agreement. Make sure that the body shop recognizes the additional repairs that you want to be made and that you both agree on the scope of the project.

10. Negotiate a carefully written agreement with the body shop for large repair jobs. The agreement should fully identify all of the parts and all of the work to be done. It should describe how changes in work scope will be approved and how you will be kept in the loop. You should have the opportunity to approve all price increases that the insurance company fails to approve.

During the rebuilding process, a number of unexpected problems emerged. Some of the ordered parts weren’t right. The body shop had trouble matching my original paint. Our written agreement gave us some direction, but mutual respect and courtesy between the body shop owner, the shop mechanics and me went a long way to bringing about a happy ending.

These are things that we never want to think about. But when your classic BMW gets wrecked, you will have a lot of important decisions to make and you don't want to get it wrong. I hope that you never need to learn anything about such things through personal experience. Thankfully, my '87 is back on the road and looking just the way I like and I learned a great deal as a result of the decision to get it back to that condition.



 




Locking Up

Once again, we are extremely thankful for the participation and support from readers like Steve and Winston. Sharing our passion for BMWs with each other is as critical a part of the community as driving the cars themselves. If you have a BMW, then you assuredly have many happy, sad, frustrating, or confusing memories with it. As a community, when we hear these stories, it adds value and depth to our own enthusiasm to know what other hobbyists love and hate. We want to hear your stories, so we would like to invite you to submit your own for the Turner Motorsport family to enjoy.

-Turner Motorsport

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