TONY GOVENDER

A hybrid monster with a heart of gold

OVER the years, BMWS have made their way on to the list of most car owners’ “needful things”.

The BMW E90 in particular has been designed to be a cerebral car. It is quiet, refined, efficient and packed with technology. This story, however, is not about that car but its Germanjapanese hybrid alter ego.

Tony Govender is a 57-year-old automotive mechanic with almost four decades of experience working on Ford motor vehicles. Govender, of Phoenix, is a car enthusiast who has owned a multitude of popular Ford Escorts and Cortinas. His most recent project was not another fantastic Ford but a beast of German origin, which he had modified to bear the heart of a Japanese Samurai.

His BMW 320i is no mild-mannered machine. Under the hood, the original 320i engine, gearbox and management system were removed to make way for a roaring Lexus 4.3-litre V8 power plant, matching Lexus automatic gearbox and original Lexus engine management system.

“We used the original Lexus management which everyone said wouldn’t work out, but it’s been done,” said Govender’s son-in-law, Dwayne.

The car has a custom-built stainless steel performance branch and exhaust system with four tailpipes.

The suspension system was kept standard, while the original BMW alloys were upgraded to larger Connoisseur VS Works 19-inch mag wheels mated to 245/35/19 Continental rubbers.

Govender elected to keep the car’s interior and sound system standard, which is nothing to scoff at considering this is a BMW after all and “standard” on a 3 series includes the luxury of factory leather seats and trim as well as a decent “out of the box” acoustic system.

It was not disclosed how much was spent on this build.

Govender would like to offer special thanks to his wife Vanessa, daughters Kailene and Celeste and his neighbour Denzil and his sons-in-law Kumarin and Dwayne. SERVICE PROVIDERS USED: IXS Performance Exhaust CT Racing