America has dangerous street takeovers and France has… rodeos? We spotted an interesting campaign called “Fight against the rodeos” going on on the media pages of the national police in France, and two vehicles have recently been crushed as a result of illegal drifting. The most notable victim: a yellow E36 BMW 3 Series which now looks like an art car after being half-squished down.
The official statement only shows the cars that were crushed, a colorful E46 sedan and a lovely E36 coupe. Both these German cars were renowned for their handling in the 2000s, making them popular drift cars, not only with amateurs but also with professional teams.
Obviously, street takeovers are bad, endangering the lives of pedestrians and other motorists. However, that may not be what’s going on here. According to the owner Alann (@alann_abt), he was drifting in an empty industrial area. That doesn’t necessarily make it legal, but at least nobody could get hurt.
Alann says somebody took a picture of him drifting at the industrial compound. The police were notified and they turned up to his work a couple of days later. He was arrested right in front of his boss.
Is crushing a car legal?
The owner is having a hard time processing the whole incident. After spending countless hours on the car, it’s hard to know what to do next. Even though crushing a car without a trial seems illegal to an American, many European countries have such hard line approaches to what they consider illegal motorsport or racing. And even if the drifting can’t be proven, the E36’s mods and engine swap are still illegal.
As for the E36, which is nicknamed “Lemonne”, it was crushed after less than a week. The French authorities have done something we haven’t seen in a while. Instead of crushing it all the way, they just collapsed the roof and turned it into what looks like a piece of art, a tribute to the 1990s era of tuning and German car design. NFS Most Wanted meets the Louvre, if you will.
In theory, some of the parts could be saved, especially the engine, which probably hasn’t been damaged too badly. Some of the wheels might also be straightened on a new BMW build. The car community is pretty supportive of Alann, and these photos are spreading like wildfire. The idea of somebody’s prized build being crushed in such short time and without a trial is angering many.
People who don’t understand enthusiastic drivers may feel justice was dealt. The French Police in Seine-Maritime crushed the E36 BMW, and their communities have been made safer. But that’s not necessarily the case. Drift cars are often way too expensive to build and maintain, so their owners usually can’t afford to hoon them on a daily basis. Heck, in some cases drift cars are impossible to use.
The E46 looks pretty stock, but there are several indications of the E36 being an expensive build and not a daily driver. For starters, the wheels are in the style of the RAYS Volk Racing TE37. These are probably the most famous design in the world of Japanese cars and tuning in general. Due to their construction, the TE37 alloys are also very expensive.
There’s no way of knowing if these are real TE37s, but even replicas are expensive. Drift cars also consume tires quite fast. At a highly competitive level, it can be only a matter of minutes. But even an E36 328i with a mild tune can shred rubber. E36 Lemon also has a cosmetic package, probably the Vert Aero kit.