Kee’s first introduction to the BMW world was actually one of BMW's more flagship and less enthusiast models; a hand-me-down E60 525i. Although not the ideal model for having "fun" behind the wheel, it was a stepping stone that would lead Kevin to finding a car he would have maybe otherwise never considered purchasing.

It wasn’t until a few years after the E60 that Kee was looking for more of an enthusiast chassis. Not knowing how to drive manual at the time of owning the E60, in 2018 Kevin picked up a manual E30 sedan for himself as a 21st birthday present for the progression he made in his career field, which inevitably opened the floodgates to the forums and an endless pool of useful information.

"There's definitely a sentimental thing in learning how to drive a manual while learning more about the heritage of BMW" says Kee.

For Kee the E36 never stood out to him like other cars until seeing some stellar builds go public on social media. However, Kee’s introduction to BMW was not through the E36 chassis.

One evening while making the normal rounds in the online classifieds he saw an attractive looking Avus Blue 1995 BMW M3 coupe. After reading over the sellers description of the car along with some photos he instinctively messaged the owner and set up a time the following day to take a look at the car.

Come the following week Kee was the proud owner of this beautiful Avus Blue E36 M3.

"The driving experience. It's currently serving as a daily for me and that feeling I get every time I have to errands or commute to set constantly reminds me I made the right choice in picking this chassis up. I think I'm past the "honeymoon phase" that we all experience, but from the moment I start it up it just invokes a feeling that not many cars have - especially modern ones. A lot of people have spoken about this feeling in older M cars, but there's this certain type of connection that you have with the clutch, shifter, gas pedal, that feels so surreal and different to all the electronics that are in cars after the 90's generation. Coming from still owning an E30 3er, in my opinion it's a really fantastic balance between analog and modern."

At heart, we are all enthusiasts at some level; whether you build racecars or simply enjoy the connection your car gives you to the road, we can all relate to one another in the community.

So we asked Kee, "why BMW?"

"The heritage. I love when brands have a deep root in culture and I think BMW has had a very large impact in the motorsport world and of course culturally. I'm naturally attracted to nostalgia and I appreciate each generation and iteration of all the chassis' BMW has had up to this day."

Thoughtful yet specific period-correct modifications line this car to bring Kee closer to nostalgia. A set of Recaro SR3 seats and a Renown Chicane steering wheel replaced the original vader seats and air-bag steering wheel. Still in the process of moving to an OEM+ look and feel there are still a few things in order. Awaiting further euro spec Bosch headlight assemblies and proper amber side markers. Recently the M3 received a front and rear end refresh to maintain exactly what this car was designed to bring to the driver.

Future plans may include a proper supercharger or even swapping in the successor of the S52B30; the S54B32 from the later E46 M3 model.

Kee’s wheel choice being a set of BBS LM089 in 18x7 Et40 in original 90’s configuration really make the car stand out amongst most modern BMW’s produced today.

“I think my taste resides in that OEM+ world”