Aside from a certain favoritism going on towards BMW, I do love a set of tuning companies that really know what they are doing when it comes to this kind of cars.

Since it was the Germans that brought us fast business and luxury saloons it only seems fitting that they fulfill our modifying needs.

In the case of German specialist Hartge, they’ve shown their work on numerous occasions.

With the F10 BMW M5 they didn’t come up with anything remarkably new or innovative. Nobody saw any major changes in what they had planned and that’s just great.

When it comes to buying stuff like this you don’t want surprises, you really want something distinctive and special without looking like a clown version.

That’s why Hartge fitted a new front spoiler, a rear silencer, carbon fibre mirror casings, 21 inch multi-spoke alloys with Michelin or Continental tires.

Inside you can have a few similar tweaks such as custom aluminium pedal sets and branded floor mats made from velour.

There is one thing that’s considerably special about the Hartge F10 BMW M5. It has had a bit of tweaking under the bonnet.

It seems that under the business suit, this pretty lady is wearing some really sexy underwear as the 4.4 liter twin-turbo V8 engine develops more grunt.

Pinch it, and you’ll see a reaction worth 642 horsepower and 597 lb-ft of torque. That’s borderline porn excitement levels.

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The guys at Sportec in particular are the ones we can be thankful to for this. They couldn’t escape the sensible nature of their nation so they didn’t go overboard.

The body kit remains the same as the original, the BMW X6 SP6X looks a lot like the standard model, apart from the wheels and paint scheme.

A new black paint was required and mixing it with traditional BMW racing stripes produced a pleasant result. No world changing has happened but there’s a clearly distinctive presence.

Under the bonnet, Sportec have focused on being annoyingly considerate by offering a tweak for only one of the engines available.

It’s the 3.0 liter inline six cilinder diesel. When that version of the X6 leaves the factory, it’s pushing out 300 horsepower and 300 lb-ft of torque.

Nice round figures which have been described as some of the best delivered in the business. The tuner then went on to offer some boost up to 370 horses and 553 lb-ft of torque.

We’re hoping there’s still some reasonable smoothness but that extra performance does sound like a lot of fun. Having 70 extra ponies does give the X6 an improved pace.

Particularly, the BMW X6 SP6X can manage 0-62 mph in just 5.4 seconds (1.1 seconds quicker) and the top speed goes from 130 mph to 164 mph.

It also lost some 88 lbs thanks to those massive OZ 20 inch lightweight alloy.

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Meant to showoff how much the E92 could be improved upon just as its soon to become a “second hand available only” model, the “Sporty Drive TU” makes it feel much fresher.

In some aspects, it might actually turn the car into something better than the M3’s upcoming replacement. As the Bavarians will need to look at fuel economy, G-Power do not.

Without such an annoyance, or even that of the entire carbon emissions rating, G-Power really turned the bolts up on the 4.0 liter V8 engine by fitting a supercharger.

If it’s merely the entry-level SK I supercharger system you’re opting for, things are alright. It’s going to be fitted with a modified air intake and a larger air filter and an output of 520 horsepower.

The ASA T1-523 supercharger package is included in the SKII kit and bumps performance up to 580 horsepower. What really makes things interesting is the SK II CS pack.

It features a custom ECU and an additional fuel pump to turn the E92 BMW M3’s V8 into a 610 horsepower vehicle. I know plenty of cars produce more than that, but how many can genuinely use them?

Helping you with that, the guys at G-Power fit a GM3-RS coil-over suspension system, 20 inch alloy wheels and Michelin tires.

Whichever option you’re going to want on your E92, it will cost about as much as some second hand E9x models with plenty of miles on them.

The cheapest package starts at 11.500 euros.

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Interestingly, lots of changes have occurred, so the new exterior appearance is actually justified. Since it also looks great, it’s a welcome one anyway.

On the technical nature however, things as as familiar as before, all of the performance details remaining the same as initially announced.

The S63Tu powerplant remains the star under the bonnet. It would be a little foolish to go for any engine swap but the performance was actually enhanced by quite a bit.

Depending on how much you want to have at your right foot’s disposal or how much you want to spend on a Manhart Racing M5, you get different power outputs.

The 4.4 liter twin-turbocharged V8 engine can be tweaked from 560 horsepower to one of three packages but in this particular case it is 646 horsepower and 570 pound-feet of torque.

That’s enough to hit a top speed of 196 mph, now that the limiter was removed. Staying on the road if you hit a bump at those speeds is tricky.

That’s when you’ll be relying on the fully adjustable MHR by KW Clubsport chassis frame to do its job. The body’s aero kit generates more downforce, but it’s not enough for such conditions.

All this amazing work goes into the Manhart Racing F10 BMW M5 yet what I’m focused on is how great the MHR08 Deep Concave 21 inch alloy wheels by ADV.1 is what I’m focused on.

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As their name suggests, these fellas don’t really get too bothered about fitting ostrich skin on the upholstery or tinted windows.

In keeping with the stereotype we all have build up around the Germans, Manhart Racing stuck to the important serious bits of the tuning process.

Their take on the four wheel drive version of the V8 powered BMW 6 Series Gran Coupe gets engine upgrades, chassis tweaks and braking improvements first of all.

Some minor tweaks to the bumpers, the skirts and the exhaust tips tell us just how serious they are. They didn’t even change anything about the looks that wasn’t very low down on the car anyway.

Under the bonnet, its 4.4 liter twin-turbocharged V8 engine goes from 450 horsepower and 479 pound-feet of torque to a much beefier 543 / 538.

The change is achieved by punching up the boost levels and so the exhaust system itself needed a lot more work in order to keep everything top notch.

Now that acceleration and speed has been tweaked, it only felt natural for the tuner to give the braking system a serious upgrade.

This is why the used the F10 BMW M5 brake package, albeit with a few modifications and then fitted the M Division’s 20 inch wheels around them.

Finally, the chassis receives a bit of sharpening up with an adaptation package from MHR. All that acceleration and braking will bring about some more stress to the entire thing so it had to be dealt with somehow.

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We don’t get to see them release a new car pretty much all of the sudden and enjoy it properly. Oh no, we now have to go through the annoying teasing scene.

Enter a set of spyshots caught of the F30 BMW 3 Series. Yes, I know it has been released for a long time now but this is the Alpina version, the B3.

Judging by the low amount of camouflage on the body of the car, the F30 Alpina B3 probably won’t receive too many styling updates.

As the previous version got us used to, the exterior look will be simply enhanced.

The alloys will also be swapped out for some Alpina specific units and there are a few other traditional details we expect to see happen on the new B3.

We’re almost certain to only see the automatic transmission used in the B3 and we’re also expecting the performance tune-up to be seriously consistent.

There’s no interested party that rates the future output of the N55 3.0 liter turbocharged engine at less than 400 horsepower.

We also know the upcoming F80 M3 won’t have that much more than 400 horsepower so the engine output should be quite similar between the two.

These two cars won’t be rivals by any measure. The Alpina B3 will make performance more accessible whereas the the M3 will make more performance accessible.

Source

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And when it comes to tweaking such an impressive car, there’s so many options out there it feels unbelievable to keep track of.

Today’s version comes from Mode Carbon, a company that took so much pride in their work that they’ve renamed the vehicle BlackJack.

Not a bad name given the overall color of this car. Having murdered out the car entirely, the street cred of it went through the roof.

Just like all M Powered BMW models, there’s no messing about and no excess showing off. The best way to describe a car like this is ‘menacing’.

The look itself is pretty nice and knowing that under the black paint there’s a lot of carbon fiber bits to list makes it better, but the performance effect on that is pretty marginal.

Mode Carbon took things seriously and fitted an Active Autowerke midpipe, an Eisenmann race exhaust and an ECU mod from Dinan.

Sadly, no figures are thrown at us. The power will be kept well in check as the shocks have been upgraded, the springs are from H&R Suspension and the new alloys are wrapped in Michelin Pilot Super Sport rubber.

Overall, things are looking as serious as the car. Could this have been intentional, could the secretive attitude of the car been the whole point of not releasing any figures?

Source

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The M division prepped version is also a big hit with the specialist tuner so it is pretty much impossible to ignore. The basic cars may be related, but the AC Schnitzer makeovers seem to be completely different.

There’s a generally familiar look but the details are much more focused on this version. The X6 M doesn’t have the Falcon’s compromised exterior.

Everything here is styled as form dictates in order to achieve the best type of performance and aerodynamic efficiency. The paint and alloy wheels sum up what you can specify in terms of looks.

AC Schnitzer have setup the car for a blistering performance by revising the aerodynamics, the suspension setups and so on yet they aren’t ready to tell us what’s in store with the engine.

The S63 4.4 liter twin-turbocharged V8 engine has been out for quite a while now and we thought they had sufficient time to produce a remarkably fast car by now.

We’re willing to cut them some slack because of the recent performance they managed in the 2012 DTM season but as that’s over now they should chop to it.

It’s not like the X6 is an unpopular car and it’s certainly not that the X6 M is the sort of car that rich punters don’t want to have one that’s faster and more aggressive looking.

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A-Works are probably the least responsible of the lot. They decided to tune up the BMW 1 Series M Coupe. We had one cheap-ish sports car on the market that was brilliant and they’re taking it away.

Granted, they’re giving it back in better shape if you’re willing to pay for their package but really, there is a time when cost cutting needs to be heard of.

If you’re that rich, or that oblivious, A-Works do make a good case for themselves when it comes to upgrading the car, particularly for performance addicts.

They’ve fitted a new air filter, a new downpipe, larger intercooler and then they remapped the ECU. All of these really ring out the 3.0 liter twin-turbo straight six cylinder.

As a final tweak, they can run the biproduct of all this extra speed through an Akrapovic Evolution Titan exhaust system which has a remote control valve and carbon fiber end pipes.

Summing everything up, the BMW 1 Series M Coupe now produces 450 horsepower and 405 lb-ft of torque. It’s a boost of nearly 120 horses but there is just one nagging thing to consider.

No mention has been made about the torque curve. We need to know things like this in order to find out what smoothness is available or what kind of lag we can expect.

Still, having more power than an F30 M3, maybe even as much as the next generation F80, in a car that’s this light does sound tempting.

As seen on TS

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The company is renown for using superchargers to obtain more power from their cars while still maintaining a nice beautiful delivery.

If its smoothness you’re interested in, it has to be a BMW you’re looking at and there’s a good chance at the aging M3 is the likely candidate.

As everybody waits for the F30 to amaze us, there’s a lot of people interested in getting more more and torque out of the E92’s engine.

VF offer a variety of kits but the one they’re announcing today is the VF540 Streetsport package. This is the reasonable price option, the one that provides more power but doesn’t force any major work on the car.

You do get an ECU remap and there’s even some work being done to the throttle but overall we’re looking at a bolt on type of upgrade.

It may be in an unpleasant category but the final result takes the power of the M3 up from 420 horsepower and 295 lb/ft of torque to 540 horsepower and 370 lb/ft of torque.

More than a reasonable gain that obviously come with a loss of some fuel economy levels. At the same time you’re watching that, there’s a loss of $8.295 from your account to get the thing in the first place.

Money well spent, it’s likely given you a car that has more performance in a straight line than the upcoming M3.

Source

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