Six cool M cars we saw at ///Malaysia Day 2020

Avid followers of our Instagram page ought to know by now that we were on the ground – and behind the wheel – for last week’s ///Malaysia Day 2020 drive and gathering.

Organised by the BMW ///M Owners Malaysia club and supported by BMW Group Malaysia, the event attracted of 70 BMW M cars in total to successfully take over the main entrance foyer of the swanky Pavilion KL shopping haven on Malaysia Day.

Part of this included a brief convoy drive that started from the swanky new BMW Auto Bavaria showroom located at the newly established Sime Darby Auto City complex in Ara Damansara.

Though the current-gen M4 Coupe made for a sizable chunk of the cars that turned up, there were a handful of other M cars that were present too, some much cooler than the rest. Well, to that, we’ve narrowed down six of our favourites from the day…

1. This specially wrapped M4 Coupe

We’ll kick things off with a wrapped M4 Coupe specially commissioned by BMW Group Malaysia to commemorate the event. The special livery this M4 donned was the work of Chan Wen Bin, a local BMW enthusiast winner of the recent BMW M4 GT4 livery contest held internationally by BMW.

Though it wasn’t wrapped on the racy GT4 version of House Bavaria’s staple coupe offering, the meticulous attention to detail at reproducing Chan’s design was admirable to say the least, thus making it a fitting show-stopper when presented alongside a selection of current M models BMW Malaysia had on display too.

Notably, BMW Group Malaysia stated that this specially wrapped M4 Coupe was to go on sale as is too. Reckon the eventual buyer would be chuffed in acquiring a true one-of-one that was both locally inspired and produced too…

2. This 'replica' BMW M4 GT4

Speaking of ‘homages’, this one takes the cake. As you can see, this M4 Coupe’s exterior has undergone a rather extensive transformation from its regular base form to look – and perhaps ‘feel’ – like the M4 GT4 customer race car.

To top things off, it even came dressed in a special racing livery wrap mirroring said race car, complete with a unique ‘///M-alaysia Day’ twist in its finer details too. A lot went into making this GT4 replica happened, and it paid off with the ‘Best Wrapped //M Car’ award for the owner – one of many contests organised during the event.

3. This track-ready E36 M3

Whilst the last two were mere ‘homages’ this blue E36 M3 stood out as the most race-ready M car of the lot we saw during ///Malaysia Day 2020. That’s because this E36 has undergone countless amounts of tuning and tweaking, all honed by its owner to solely to conquer trackdays.

Key mods present include passenger seats delete, the addition of a roll-cage, a full race bucket seat and harness setup swap for the driver, not forgetting trackday necessities such as beefier brakes, adjustable suspension, lightweight wheels, sticky semi-slick tyres, as well as a plenty of DIY mods done by the owner himself.

Best of all? This track-bred – and built – E36 M3 still packed a stick-and-three-pedal setup, arguably making this one a pure driver’s machine of sorts too. We reckon the smiles-per-miles this one gives its owner doesn’t eclipse the joy of winning the day’s ‘Best Modified’ trophy in any way…

4. This original classic E39 M5

Amidst the sea of rather ‘new’ and heavily modified M cars, it was also refreshing to see a number of original classics present during ///Malaysia Day 2020. But amongst the handful of which that turned up, it was this E39 M5 that stood out as our favourite of the lot.

Apart from its originality, the owner of this original classic deserves plenty of merit for his spirit too. We say this given how this M5 was the first amongst all the M cars to turn up at the Pavilion KL meet up point, and the fact it had to be transported on a flatbed to and from the event – you can thank its blown clutch for this.

Nevertheless, the fact that the owner went through all the effort of transporting it on a flatbed for the event was admirable, as is the fact that it’s no garage queen. The owner admits that it’s been driven quite a lot, and it was a shame that his replacement clutch assembly didn’t arrive in time for him to join in on the convoy drive into town.

5. This rare ‘Widow Maker’

Coming in a close second to the E39 M5 mentioned earlier as far as ‘original classic’ goes was this rare and rather pristine (read: un-crashed) E86 generation Z4 M Coupe. The latter was a very surprising fact indeed given this Bimmer’s reputation as a ‘Widow Maker’ of sorts.

Well, when the recipe involves the E46 M3’s S54 straight six with 335bhp plonked up front and paired with a rear-wheel-drive (RWD) setup, a really short 2,495mm wheelbase, plus an exclusive 6-speed stick-and-pedal transmission setup, this Z4 M Coupe’s reputation as a notoriously snappy and unforgiving car is justified.

Again, to see one as clean and as pristine as this was a treat. Our only curiosity lay in how many pairs of underwear the owner goes through whenever he/she takes this one out for a spin – we’re sure it isn’t short of ‘code brown’ moments…

6. This ‘slammed’ M4 Coupe

Our last pick should perhaps tell you just how wide a variety of personalities are there amongst the current crop of Malaysian M owners. In fact, this slammed M4 Coupe just missed out on claiming the 'Best Modified' trophy that was up for grabs during the gathering.

What we loved about this build was just how clean and neat it turned out. No overzealous widebody kit or GT3-shaming rear wing here, just a stellar paintjob, tasty use of carbon fibre lips and skirting, as well as the choice of just big enough deep-dish wheels, all of which to complement this M4’s slammin’ air-suspension kit.

A chat with the owner revealed over RM20,000 went into the air-sus kit itself, and we can only imagine how much more went into the rest of the car’s mods inside and out. Again, given the end result, the effort was nothing short of admirable to say the least.