Driving a well-maintained E36 BMW 3 Series—it doesn’t even have to be an M3— is the kind of experience that can make many contemporary performance vehicles seem like they could use some help in the feedback department, such is the intensity of the analog experience the modern classic has to offer. What about the appearance, though? Well, you’re looking at one of the most impressive widebody kits to have landed on the tastefully restrained factory styling cues of the iconic 90s Bimmer, which has just arrived courtesy of Live To Offend (LTO).
“But this is just a rendering!” I hear you saying. Of course it is and yet this pixel piece is… quite real, as its creator, digital artist Khyzyl Saleem (a.k.a. the_kyza), states in the first Instagram post below: “Renders shown have actual CAD [Computer-aided design] data applied, so what you see, is what you’ll get [once the kit enters production], minus the turbofans [wheels],”
The Brit, a self-taught pixel master who’s been at it for the better half of a decade, has found inspiration in the tons of Instagram comments that see purists pointing their fingers at the eccentricity of his designs, which is how he came up with the said LTO label for his real-world widebody kits, which have been around since the 2018 SEMA show.
In fact, I first came across his… ahem… intention to play with the legendary lines of the E36 Coupe in the summer of 2020—as you’ll notice by comparing the production version, seen here in yellow, and the original (displayed in the second Insta post below), the kit has maintained most of its bits and pieces, albeit with certain details being further chiseled for the real build.
Just like the LTO E30 kit, this E36 effort builds on the factory M3 look
It’s no secret that the starting point was the all-mighty M3, but things get wilder the closer you look at the result, from the racing-sized front splitter to the side vents—these are no longer penetrated by side exhaust as was the case with the original kit, but if you’re really into it, you might just be able to work something out.
Meanwhile, the standard-like exhaust, headlight eyelids, and slightly upgraded headlights (cold air intakes are rad!) portrayed on this car, keep things real for those who wish to also have the budget under control.
While the overfenders, which add a delicious 90mm/3.5 inches on each side (make that 135mm/5.3 inches for the rear) somehow follow the factory design, elements such as the rear diffuser or the wickerbill adorning the wing further sharpen the design.
The first finished cars? We should lay our eyes on them early next year.
