ABRAHIM TAHIR

AGE: 33 LOCATION: AUCKLAND

NZPC: Hey Abrahim, what’s your history with cars?

Abrahim: With my dad owning a workshop and working on cars, it came naturally to me when I was young. I’ve always had a big passion for cars — building and modifying them — and I always will. Cars are literally part of my life. I still remember the first car I owned. I’ve owned quite a few cars. Of course we progress, and the passion becomes more and more expensive as you get older.

Why did you build/buy this car, and what’s its history?

I’ve always been into Japanese cars. I’m currently building a supercharged Honda S2000. It gets driven on the weekends, though. At the time I was looking to buy something different. I’ve always liked Euros — BMWs especially — but nothing really caught my eye. Then I saw this beautiful, rare BMW E90 M wagon with a six-speed manual — I don’t think there’s another one in New Zealand. This one had been imported from the UK. I did my research on these cars and I found out these 3.0-litre N54 twin-turbo motors were called the Euro 2JZ over in the States — reason being, it’s so easy to make power with a simple bolt-on or a tune set-up if you’re wanting to go next level with a single turbo or upgraded turbos. They really are known to handle a lot of power. In NZ we’re just starting to learn about these cars and how easy it is to tune them and make big power, without having to build the motor. So it brings me back to when I found this car. I pretty much knew right there and then I wanted it, even before driving it. Driving it is something else, really — the way the car handles and the way it delivers the power; I had already fallen in love. I mean how could you not be in love with a manual BMW M E90 wagon! It has the boot space, it has the performance, the luxury, the looks — it’s really everything all in one. Before purchasing the car I had a vision of how I wanted to build it. At first parts were hard to get from the States, but fast forward to now and the opportunities are endless for the platform, which makes it a lot easier to build one.

Any interesting stories about why you have done certain things?

I think the one thing I could say that was a bit of a hard choice and a bit of stress was taking the risk of putting Japanese wheels on a BMW. Spending that money for wheels, then their potentially not suiting it was worrying. I think it being a Euro makes it more difficult to find the right wheel — something that stands out and suits the car. I think I’ve chosen the right ones, though.

Do you have any future plans for the car?

Future plans are continuing with EuroLab NZ. We’re going to an upgraded twin turbos stage two-plus set-up from Dynamic Autowerx. We’re going to be running a water/meth injection system, to allow us to really get those bigger horsepower numbers. I want to take the car on track just to see what it’s capable of. I don’t think I’ll be letting this car go any time soon.

Thanks for talking with us, Abrahim!

WE’RE GOING TO BE RUNNING A WATER/METH INJECTION SYSTEM, TO ALLOW US TO REALLY GET THOSE BIGGER HORSEPOWER NUMBERS

ENGINE: N54, Tune Injen intake, VRSF three-inch exhaust, VRSF three-inch downpipes, B58 Supra coil packs, VRSF intercooler DRIVELINE: Six-speed manual, Exedy clutch, LSD INTERIOR: Braum Racing seats, M Performance carbon fibre steering wheel with Alcantara M colour stitching, Alcantara shift boot, Alcantara handbrake boot, carbon fibre trim EXTERIOR: Carbon fibre front lip, carbon fibre rear diffuser, rear carbon fibre spoiler lip, GTS carbon fibre bonnet WHEELS/TYRES: 19x10-inch and 19x10.15-inch Work Emotion CR-2P/ Nitto NT05 SUSPENSION: BC BR series coilovers, Hardrace adjustable toe arms, Hardrace adjustable camber arms, BMW M3 front control arms POWER: 335kW on 18psi FUEL TYPE: 98 octane TUNER: Custom tune THANKS: I would like to thank my wife, first, for having my back and having the patience with me and putting up with my expensive build. I want to thank EuroLab NZ — one of the best Euro experts out there; they have always had my back and have always helped me with this build and getting it to where it is now, even though it’s still not finished. There’s still more to come for this car. I want to thank Autostance for all the work they’ve done, especially all the suspension work. They made it so simple to order these custom wheels that weren’t easy to fit.