The idea of a bagged M car is enough to send hardcore enthusiasts into a furious frenzy, but this modified E93 M3 drop top effortlessly combines air ride with open-air thrills, and it’s a seriously sexy machine that delivers ‘bags’ of visual drama.
The M car family represents the pinnacle of BMW performance machines. Each car is the halo model of its respective model range, the zenith, the peak of what BMW is capable of doing. They are cars to be driven, cars that demand to be driven, cars for true performance enthusiasts. The idea, then, of bagging one on air ride is enough to send most M enthusiasts into a meltdown, but Colt Powell (@coltpowell01) doesn’t care about that. He’s all about enjoying his cars his way, and ultimately, that’s what matters.
Colt’s car history
Before we get to his sacrilegious M3, we need to meet the man and find out a bit more about him and his motoring past. “I’ve been interested in BMWs for as long as I can remember, and this is most likely due to the fact I grew up playing the Need for Speed games and ended up absolutely falling in love with BMW as a whole,” Colt tells us as we chat. “As a kid, I always dreamed of having one of the cars pictured on the front of the game (M3 GTR) and I guess my taste has been shaped by this,” he grins.
While his first car didn’t wear a blue and white roundel on its bonnet, it was still part of the BMW family, being an R53 MINI Cooper S, and Colt turned it into a full-on show build, complete with – you guessed it – air ride. However, the call of Bavaria had to be answered, and Colt popped his BMW cherry in style. “My first BMW was an E38 728i. I bought this car as I can’t get enough of the iconic shape of this particular model,” he enthuses. “I was also drawn in by the luxury of 7 Series, as well as their ability to stand the test of time, not just with the way they look, but the fact that the features included 20 years ago are still up to par with other modern vehicles today,” he reasons.
Buying the BMW M3
The 728i ended up on hydraulics, and it was exceedingly cool, but Colt wanted more. “I wanted something fast and stylish as opposed to my low and slow E38,” and the M3 ticks all those boxes. “I was also drawn in by the V8 engine, it was the biggest engine I’d had, up until now,” he adds, and that’s because his M3’s stablemate is a bagged 760Li. “I found the M3 five hours up north on Autotrader. Luckily, the car was in great condition when I bought it,” he smiles, and Colt was now a proud member of the M car club.
He also had a plan for it; “I knew exactly what I wanted to do from the beginning and ended up doing it,” he grins, and with his MO being air ride, it was inevitable that the M3 would end up touching down and delivering maximum drama. And that it does, as you can see in the photos – this E93 Cab looks spectacular aired out, but achieving that perfect drop was no mean feat. At the heart of the chassis sits the Air Lift Performance 3P air suspension setup, but the wheel arches have also been shaved for Colt to achieve maximum lows.
Choosing the wheels for the bagged E93 M3
Just dumping your car on air isn’t enough, because if the arches are going unfilled and your wheel choice is weak, it’s going to ruin the whole build. Luckily, Colt is a seasoned wheel addict who knows a thing or two about fitment, so this M3’s wheel game is absolutely on point. It is wearing a set of custom-built BBS RF splits that have been stepped up to 19”, and that means absolutely glorious polished stepped lips and dish so deep you could drown.
They’ve got silver centres, while the BBS centre caps have gold text on a white background to match the bodywork, and we love that level of attention to detail. And to top it all off, the fitment is absolutely majestic, with the stretched tyres and millimetre-perfect offsets allowing the arches to rest between lip and rubber, and you could not ask for more than that. Unsurprisingly, it’s the wheels that are the pinnacle of this build for Colt; “These wheels have been on a few of my cars now, and I intend to keep them forever. They’ll always be my first choice of wheel, and they are my favourite mod on the car – they completely transform the look of the car to another level,” he enthuses, and we can only agree.
Exterior modifications on the E93 M3
The E9x M3 is a fantastic-looking car out of the box, but Colt’s example is serving up rather more visual flair thanks to the styling touches he’s added. “I’ve always liked the clean look,” he explains, “and a friend of mine works in a bodyshop, so he did all of the bodywork over a weekend for me,” which is handy. Up front, the bumper has been smoothed, and beneath it sits a custom GTS-style lip, which has been painted white to match the body and comes to rest a hair’s breadth from the ground when Colt airs out, and it makes the M3 look awesome. Body-coloured side blades add to the visual drama and also help to make the car look that much lower in profile, there are also body-coloured trims, and it all combines perfectly to give this M3 so much more road presence.
Bagged E93 M3 interior
Colt has left the interior alone, aside from adding Apple CarPlay, but, to be fair, the red leather is eye-catching enough on its own, and we love that sharp contrast of interior and exterior when the roof is down. The engine has also been left standard because, as Colt says, “The 420hp was enough for me!” though he has added a custom exhaust because the S65 V8 is far too quiet in stock form, and with the roof down, it means he can really enjoy that glorious eight-cylinder symphony.
Bagged BMW E93 M3 verdict
In just two short months, Colt took his totally standard first-ever M car and turned it into a head-turning show build. Regardless of how you may feel about air ride, and especially air ride on M cars, you can’t disagree that Colt’s creation looks spectacular. And, unlike so many modified builds, this one is well and truly done. “I’m happy with all the mods I’ve done, I wouldn’t add anything else to it, and I couldn’t be happier with the car” he grins, and we’re not surprised. And with one air ride project wrapped up, Colt can now focus his attention on that aforementioned E66 760Li Jap import, and we’re expecting visual flair, with killer fitment because when it comes to bagged BMWs, Colt’s a pro.
Photography: Ade Brannan.
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