Culture Clash

JDM Style Meets European Engineering In This Track-Inspired BMW M3

- John Krueger

Tom Nguyen is the sales manager of Speed Image USA, a shop located in the Bay Area of Northern California. Specializing in JDM parts, Tom knows a thing or two about the high-quality and distinct styling of Japanese parts manufacturers. So, you’d think when the time came for Tom to build a demo car for the shop, he’d choose something along the lines of a GT-R, 370Z, STI, or 86 to build. If that were the case, though, this whole intro would be really confusing, and we wouldn’t be sharing photos of his stunning ’18 BMW M3.

Why an M3? Tom has been a BMW fan since his teenage years, and the interest really sparked in 2011 when he saw an E92 M3 from another shop rolling on TE37s. It made him believe it was OK to run JDM parts on a Euro, and it looked damn good, too. His time to shine came seven years later when he was approached by Mackin Industries to build a car for the RAYS booth at the 2018 SEMA Show. He picked up the M3 of his dreams, and the rest was history.