Audi BMW

A $5,000 BMW Individual paint has just popped up at a SoCal dealership. Autospies spotted a BMW M3 in Dakar Yellow at South Bay BMW in Torrance.

Along with the unique paint job, the car features an extensive carbon treatment, including a CF rear spoiler, CF mirror caps and CF front splitters. To add more uniquness to this M3, the dealership also ordered Black Kidney Grills and Black Powder Coated Rim Set.

The total price for these upgrades comes down to around $5,400. MSRP of the vehicle, including the previously mentioned upgrades, is $83,980, quite steep for an M3, despite its exclusivity.

More photos at AutoSpies

IND Distribution completed the construction of their Atlantis E92 M3 project car by bringing the car to BimmerFest. The car was well received and won a first place trophy in the “best modified BMW” class! The owner was so excited by the finished project that he created his own name for the car- “The Blue Max”, the highest medal given to German pilots in World War 1.

With our deadline approaching fast, IND’s staff found themselves spending more and more sleepless nights at the shop. I was driving back and forth between our Carbon Fiber manufacturer’s and our upholsterer’s more and more regularly, and I knew we were truly pushing the limit of what was possible in the time available.

One the roll bar is complete, Fall Line places their plaque on the roll bar as a signature of their amazing work.

IND laid a coat of beautiful Atlantis Metallic paint on the car’s roll bar to integrate the piece into the car’s interior. Because Nelson’s vision for this car was originally inspired by both the M3 GTS and IND’s original Atlantis project, we knew that the Atlantis roll bar would be a perfect unifying point between both of these sources of inspiration.

To compete with Nelson’s exotic collection, we knew that we had to achieve something truly special in the car’s interior, and knew of no better starting point than Ericsson’s amazing Carbon Fiber door panels. Time was of course the enemy once again, because after contacting Ericsson we learned that not only had the panels never actually been made for a car outside of Ericsson’s own facility, they were to take about 8 weeks to build and import. After several conversations that included a fair amount of begging and pleading, IND was able to successfully import the panels in a matter of two weeks! Because the panels had never been sent outside of Ericsson’s own facility, fitting these panels to the car would be a true challenge. Our expert technician worked for nearly a week to create the perfect piece!

IND knew that only one set of seats would be right enough to continue the GTS theme- the BMW Performance seats. We contacted one of our connections in Germany to import the seats for us, along with hide after hide of BMW’s original leather (something we were told repeatedly was impossible to get). To match the all leather headliner and dash, the seats were painstakingly disassembled and completely reupholstered in leather. The seats were completed in four days, a nearly impossible feat! IND refinished the plastic seat belt pass through pieces in gloss black for an absolutely original look.

By far the biggest challenge of the project was this, a completely one off carbon fiber rear interior section. IND once again worked with our amazing composites manufacturer, and gave him his most ambitious task yet- build a piece that will completely cover the rear area left bare by installing the roll bar, match everything to the Ericsson door panels, and do it all in just one week. The entire staff worked through each night and the weekend to complete our project, and the result was even more impressive than anyone at IND could have possibly envisioned! The full carbon fiber interior treatment gives the car a fighting chance against Nelson’s amazing supercars.

The completed view of our “IND GTS” interior treatment.

Smaller details like the reupholstered shift and ebrake boots with M tri color stitching surround the leather wrapped gauge holder that contains oil temp, water temp, and oil pressure gauges by Stack. Monitoring this engine’s vitals will be critical, as the car will see it’s fair share of track use.

No other wheel will have suited this project more perfectly than BBS’ FI. The wheels were completely unavailable during the planning of this project, and to my knowledge, this is still the only set of BBS FI wheels in the United States as of today. The volcanic eruption of April made importing these wheels an even greater adventure, forcing IND to have our shipping contact in Germany personally pick the wheels up at BBS’ facility, drive them to the airport, and personally ensure the set got loaded on an airline flight. Seeing the wheels safely in our hands was truly thrilling!

Finally, after the key components for the car had been installed, IND was able to fly the chief software engineer for ESS Tuning to Chicago to program the car’s already incredible double clutch transmission, and dyno test the car. The M3 spun the dyno rollers with a fearsome bellow from the Akrapovic exhaust, and produced 522 horsepower at the wheels with just 6.5psi of boost from ESS’ supercharger kit!

When the car pulled into IND’s facility for it’s final cleaning and inspection prior to departure for BimmerFest, all of us at IND could collectively feel the specter of time lift, and our tensions eased. The job was done, and we no longer had to fear time’s looming presence, at least until our next project began.

Photos and article by IND-Distribution, and Jason Tang

Our friends over at IND-Distribution have another project to share with us.
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Humanity has been obsessed with time since the dawn of history. The Egyptians, the Mayans, the Greeks, and thousands of other civilizations throughout human history have strived to measure and understand time. No mineral, artifact, or human creation, nothing is more precious than time. Time does not negotiate; it cannot be purchased, sold, or recovered once it’s lost.

Mankind has accomplished impressive feats, but as each man lives his life, he does so under the looming shadow of passing time. No force is more fearsome than the passing of time itself. IND’s latest portfolio project makes this fact abundantly clear. This project was not a battle against limited resources, limited creativity, or limited ability, but rather a fight against time.

Nelson, our client for this Portfolio Project is an unsung hero in the car world. His collection of supercars has given magazine editors across the world the opportunity to test drive some of the rarest, most exotic vehicles on the planet, and has allowed regular car enthusiasts like us to read about machines we can only dream of having. His garage looks like every teen aged boy’s fantasy, with everything from Aston to Zonda contained within.

Nelson has been a BMW owner since the 1970s, and has had a passion for the M division’s unique creations since the letter M began to quicken the heartbeats of performance enthusiasts worldwide, so was naturally felt inspired when he saw IND’s Atlantis E90 M3 portfolio project. The color was so striking to our client, that he knew he had to have it. The color itself comes with a price, however- a brand new M3, ordered through BMW’s Individual program can take nearly a year to obtain. As plans came together, our mission became very clear.

IND would create a car that would look at home next to Nelson’s two Bugatti Veyrons and Ferarri Enzo both because of its amazing performance and its exotic spec sheet. We also knew that Nelson wished to have the car in time for the summer’s track season, and could not think of a better venue to show the completed car to our client than BimmerFest in California- without question the biggest BMW gathering in the US. It is when we committed to these two simply-stated goals that the specter of time began to loom over IND.

We had to build a car that could fight against Enzo Ferarri’s personal legacy to capture Nelson’s attention, and we only had two months to envision and build such a machine.

The project started with the purchase of a brand new 2010 E92 M3. It had been a while since I had the chance to sit in an M3 this new, and the experience was no less intoxicating than the first time I’d gotten the opportunity. The car pulled into our shop with 29 miles brightly displayed on the odometer. The window stickers, floor mat protectors, and of course that wonderful smell of a new BMW were all there, and I could not conceal my excitement. Of course, after some moments of simply staring at the car, I began to regain focus. All of IND’s staff would have to talk and plan and debate for hours. Choices had to be made quickly, and correctly. Parts that many said were impossible to get would have to arrive within days of the car’s arrival at our facility. And of course, there was the matter of disassembling the entire car to prepare it for its complete refinish in BMW’s beautiful Atlantis Metallic.

To that end, while IND’s creative staff met to discuss our vision and create a build timeline for the car, IND’s BMW factory trained technicians immediately moved the car to our lift to begin disassembling the entire car. The complete front of the car was removed in this photo, to prepare the engine for removal.

The engine was stripped, and prepared for removal…

… and then removed to expose the muscular looking frame of the M3.

The M3’s complete drivetrain was then removed, along with any trim, underbody protection, and fuel, brake, and emergency brake lines under the car.

Each part was meticulously packaged and labeled immediately after removal. A dedicated section of industrial sized warehouse shelving was purchased specifically for Nelson’s M3, and installed in a separate section of our warehouse to store all of the parts. One of the biggest challenges of building this M3 is the reassembly process- our technicians are doing the job that BMW does on an assembly line with complex machinery, entirely by hand. Each piece must be absolutely perfectly re-installed to ensure that the car has no strange creaks, rattles, or groans and feels and drives just like a car with 20 miles on it, fresh from BMW’s assembly line.

We chose our most qualified paint professional to complete the paint work on this car. He has been with our shop for 28 years, and lit up with excitement when we began discussing the magnitude of this project together. The beautiful Atlantis Metallic paint was applied to the freshly prepared car only two days after the car’s arrival at our shop. Every member of IND’s staff was aware of just how little time was available, and with time looming over our shoulders, not a single staff member wasted even a precious second between tasks.

As soon as the paint cured, our technicians began reassembly of the critical components so that the car could be sent to our composites manufacturer, our upholsterer, and to BMW.

Because every nut and bolt was removed from the car, even small items like the horns, oil cooler brackets, and so on had to be reinstalled, along the with the natural centerpiece of the car’s wheel wells- the KW ClubSport adjustable suspension and Brembo 380mm brake kit, finished in IND’s custom machinery grey to resemble Brembo’s Motorsport calipers.

Akrapovic’s titanium exhaust system was a perfect match for this project, and was next to be reinstalled on the car. Rogue Engineering adjustable toe arms can also be seen in this photo, and at this point the car’s floor plates and other small hardware are reinstalled.

A car meant to compete for attention with Nelson’s supercars would not succeed in its task with only the M3’s standard power level on tap. ESS Tuning’s supercharger kit was perfectly suited to the task, offering bulletproof reliability and power levels usually reserved for exotics. IND could not leave the engine bay well enough alone, of course, so we chose to finish the valve covers in a high gloss black, with their plastic covers in Atlantis Metallic, and the supercharger’s intake manifold in a jewel-like high polished gloss black to match the theme of the car.

From here, the car made a trip to visit our friends at Fall Line Motorsports. To complete the car’s interior, we knew we had to borrow an element from the M3 GTS- the roll bar. IND worked with the expert fabricators at Fall Line Motorsports to create a custom roll bar for the car, using 1.75″ .095 wall thickness chromoly tubing. FallLine used their experience in racing E92 M3s in the Grand AM race series to weld in this beautiful piece of safety equipment.

A photo of the roll bar’s main hoop being test fitted reveals another custom detail of this project- the all leather headliner! The fabricators at Fall Line had to work very carefully to not damage the beautiful leather of the headliner- IND had to purchase this leather directly from BMW’s leather supplier in Germany, and import the hides into the US as they are a blocked item in the United States! This gives the headliner, along with some other interior pieces we will reveal later a nearly irreplaceable status.

Fall Line’s master fabricators placed beautiful welds on the base plates of the roll bar.

As the project nears completion, all of us at IND must make the final push to build easily one of our most pride-worthy creations. I can’t reveal many more details at this point, but the car will be available for viewing at BimmerFest for BMW enthusiasts from the west coast, and once again at the Pebble Beach show for enthusiasts from the east.

Here is a preview of some of the other components being installed on the car, to make the project truly special:

Ericsson was contacted to build a one-off set of Carbon Fiber door panels. These beautifully sculpted pieces will be part of a complete interior treatment.

IND imported BMW Performance seats from Germany, and are working with a true expert in the art of BMW programming to allow the M3 to communicate with the seats with no custom wiring or modification of the car’s safety equipment. We also have a special treat planned for the appearance of the seats.

No other wheel will have suited this project more perfectly than BBS’ FI. The wheels were completely unavailable during the planning of this project, and to my knowledge, this is still the only set of BBS FI wheels in the United States as of today. The volcanic eruption of April made importing these wheels an even greater adventure, forcing IND to have our shipping contact in Germany personally pick the wheels up at BBS’ facility, drive them to the airport, and personally ensure the set got loaded on an airline flight. Seeing the wheels safely in our hands was truly thrilling!

Challenge Engineering was contacted to produce a completely custom Carbon Kevlar trunk lid for the car. This is a truly unique piece, as it does not use any extra spoiler, and does not change BMW’s original lines. This piece was custom built for the project in literally a matter of weeks.

I have to end here, so readers will have to be patient until the car’s premier at BimmerFest. I assure all of you, the end result is well worth your time. See this car for yourself at BimmerFest in California, and at Pebble Beach in Florida!

Our german magazine, BimmerToday, brings us new photos of an unique BMW. It all started on when they showed us a 1 Series Coupe sporting the quite unique Power Green color, a love/hate kinda paint that could swing both ways.

Today, we have another one. A BMW M3 Coupe, facelifted of course, featuring the Dakar Yellow, the same very color that our friends over at IND-Distribution showed us last year.

While yellow has never been a favorite color of ours on any car, the Dakar Yellow is just another story. From time to time we still see an E46 M3 sporting this color and it’s quite stunning.

From the creators of Atlantis Blue BMW M3 and Dakar Yellow M3, here comes another interesting project: ESS supercharger kit on BMW M3 E92. IND-Distribution has already made a name for themselves in the BMW world of modding, but now they are taking the game a step further by installing one of the most powerful kits on the popular M3.

“E92 M3s have been done before. To present ESS’ supercharger kit on our client’s E92 M3, we knew we had to go different. This project car, in addition to seeing nearly as much time on the race track as on the street, will have an absolutely one-of-a-kind look that will surprise some, frustrate others, and reflect the sheer power the 600+ horsepower supercharged engine will provide.”

Excited yet?

Here is a list of the parts included in this new project and from what we see, it is certainly not on the cheap side. A full pricing list will be available upon completion.

Eisenmann Inconel exhaust ($17k)
ESS Stage II supercharger 6.5psi made in Norway
KW Clubsport suspension
RD Sport sways
Brembo 365mm kit with custom RS Green
Rogue SSK
Rogue rear arms RS Green
Vorsteiner GTS3 Carbon front bumper
Vorsteiner carbon trunk coming soon
Vorsteiner custom diffuser coming soon
IND RS Green side markers with Tint
IND Gloss black mirror caps
18″ HRE Fall-Line track wheels
Nitto NTO5 275/35/18 front and 285/35/18 rear

ESS Tuning Stage II E92 M3 SuperCharger kit, as installed by IND

Disclaimer: IND-Distribution is a sponsor of our website, but that doesn’t mean we wouldn’t write about their amazingly modded BMWs.

IND Distribution’s Dakar Yellow M3 Coupe project made the headlines of many auto and tuning magazines across the world. One of the most tasteful and beautiful modded M3s we have seen in a while, was unveiled back in June after a photoshoot session that took place in Portland, Oregon.

At a first glance, the modding job seems to be a regular day at the office, but the truth of the matter is that IND Distribution’s workflow is very detailed and precised. The project kicks off with the task of determining the perfect ride height, then the next step involves the color of the finishes pieces on the car and continues with all the parts that were going to be used.

The end result was one of the most exciting tuned up BMW the community has seen in a while and not necessarily because of the stunning Dakar Yellow paint. Beside the regular photoshoot, Nate and his team decided to take the car on track as well. Therefore, a new set of high quality photos are available for your viewing.

For more photos from the BMW Driving Day, feel free to visit Charles White Photography

IND Distribution is back with another exciting project. After the head turning Dakar Yellow BMW M3, Silverstone II M3 Convertible and Red Death Project, they are back to day with the first BMW M3 Sedan featuring an all Carbon Fiber roof.

IND Distribution has completed the first ever Carbon Fiber roof install on their client’s BMW individual Atlantis Blue E90 M3.

This roof will be one of hundreds of large and small modifications performed during this car’s stay at IND as one of the company’s Portfolio Projects.The project certainly looks promising and the Atlantis Blue color is just simply stunning.

Stay tuned for more details and new photos!

Our friends and longtime sponsors of your bimmer focused blog, IND-Distribution, are back again with a new project. Despite being friends with them, we’ve always objectively analyzed their work, but they managed to impress each and every time.

Their previous Dakar Yellow M3 project made waves within the BMW community and showed everyone that “classy and stylish” modding can still be done.

Today, they are back with their latest Silverstone II BMW E93 convertible project and as usual, we will let them explain the vision behind this new project. As you can see in from their words, passion is needed to create a successful project.

“Working at IND gives all of us here a unique opportunity- we get to build the car we love over and over again. How many people are fortunate enough to modify beautiful cars for a living? Because offering styling consultation on our Portfolio projects is one of the key components of our Portfolio service, it is critically important for all of us at IND to keep an open mind.

We have to do a fresh, new look for each car, and ensure that the finished project isn’t just a mass produced modified car, but rather a car that is uniquely our client’s.
This Silverstone II E93 convertible was built for a client that loves the E93 M3 for it’s versatility, and it’s tasteful looks. He wanted a beautiful M3 that retained it’s high class appeal. To accomodate our client’s desire for a clean and subtle E93, we chose to mold a Vorsteiner Polyurethane front lip to our bumper, removing any sign of the old OEM reflectors along the way.

Complimenting the classic front lip is the new Challenge rear diffuser, which was also molded to the rear bumper. Nitto Invo tires in 255/30/20 Front and 285/30/20 Rear sit on BBS LM wheels in 20×9.5 Front and 20×10 Rear accent the OEM chrome trim perfectly.
Instead of choosing to black out everything in sight, IND left the chrome trim well enough alone on this E93, prefferring the bright, clean look it and the BBS LMs offer. Coming soon is an Eisenmann Sport exhaust system, Rogue short shift kit, and BMW Performance shift boot and knob.”

The teaser photo of the Dakar Yellow E92 M3 that we posted last week, received a lot of attention and appreciation from the BMW fans. As they promised, our friends and sponsors at IND Distribution are back with the entire photoshoot catalog showing us one of the best looking mod jobs we have seen in a very long time.

While yellow has never been a favorite color of ours on any car, the Dakar Yellow is just another story. From time to time we still see an E46 M3 sporting this color and it’s quite stunning.

So, let’s see what IND Distribution has to say about this new project:

“The most exciting time in an IND Portfolio project’s development is the day I fly out to inspect our work in person. Making a Portfolio build go well involves so much more behind the scenes planning than many people can understand.

From consulting with Grand Am Cup winning race teams to determine the perfect ride height, to debating for hours about tiny, subtle details like the color of the finishing pieces on the car, to coordinating a completely one-off set of Brembo brakes directly with Brembo, to obtaining a set of HRE wheels designed specifically for the Fall Line motorsport program, completing an IND Portfolio project like Scott’s Dakar Yellow E92 M3 is no easy task. That’s exactly why those few hours spent on the airplane are both so exciting, and so nerve-racking. You think about each modification, each part installed just one more time. Will the ride height of the KW ClubSport coilovers work well with the 275/35/18 Nitto NT05 race tires sitting at each corner of the car? Will the higher spring rate at the front of the car work well with the extra grip available because of the hugely wide front tires? How will the gloss black mirror caps, side markers, grilles, and Vorsteiner front lip work with the Dakar Yellow paint? No matter how many hundreds of hours you spend thinking, planning, and researching, nothing is proven until you meet your client and see the car in person- this is the real moment of truth.

I met Scott in a busy airport parking lot after a long flight from Chicago. Portland’s busy airport could do nothing to conceal this M3, and even though there were cars and SUVs strewn about the parking area, my eyes were instantly drawn to BMW’s classic yellow color. As striking as the car is at first sight, it’s amazing how perfectly the details come together. When designing Scott’s car, Nate and I kept two themes in mind- the car is to be competition inspired, and the car is to be subtle and mature. The gloss black Vorsteiner lip, IND sidemarkers and grilles; the fully painted Vorsteiner bootlid- all of these details work together to give the car a put together appearance that hides the performance that lurks underneath the sheetmetal. The only real giveaway to the driver’s sporting intentions are the strangely huge Nitto NT05 tires and the custom powdercoated Brembo calipers, designed in collaboration with Brembo to mimic the brake calipers used in Brembo’s racing program.

Our first task was to leave Portland for the mountains of Oregon. With thousands of turns, sheer drops, and some of the smoothest road surfaces available in the US, the roads leading up to Oregon’s famous Mt Hood are at least as frightening as they are beautiful. Watching the Dakar M3’s competition proven components work together in harmony over the turns and constant elevation changes leading up to Mt Hood was truly amazing. The Brembo brakes never failed. The KW ClubSports and square 275 tires provided sure footed handling with perfect steering response, and eliminated the understeer inherent in the stock E92 M3. Being able to hear the sonorous exhaust note of the Eisenmann Sport exhaust as the M3 powered through the mountain roads confirmed things for me- this car was absolutely perfect. Watching Scott drive the car, I could tell that the Dakar project that we’d built together was perfectly in tune with his tastes, both visually and with regard to the car’s awesome handling and braking performance.

The amount of beautiful scenery in Oregon is really too great to describe adequately here, and I hope that these photos by my friend Johan can express the feeling of awe that these mountain roads impose on anyone who can make it all the way to the top. I truly felt on top of the world as we had dinner at the Timberline Lodge, looking over the snowy peaks of Mt Hood.”

And since we love you so much, we’ll be working on getting some higher resolution photos, maybe some of you would like to use it as a desktop wallpaper.