Ronnie Renaldi’s 2004 Silver Gray BMW M3

Article: Terry Ng
Photos: Ronnie Renaldi

Story

The E46 BMW M3 currently in it’s third generation, has been refined to be one of the finest and most fun high performance cars on the road today. The M3 is fitted with a 3.2 liter, inline six-cylinder engine that produces 333hp and 262lbs/torque. Apparently that amount of power wasn’t good enough for Ronnie Renaldi, and a Dinan supercharger was installed to boost the power to a whopping 440hp. Definitely enough power to rumble the pants off your next date. The M3 is beautiful in its stock form, but subtle carbon fiber accents and a CSL like transformation has set this M3 apart from its stock counterparts.

Interview

K: You chose CSL components for your route of modifications. What was your reasoning behind going with the CSL kit?
R: I chose the CSL kit because it’s not over the top, it has a clean and classy look.

K: The Kinesis F110 is a fabulous looking wheel, not to mention it’s one of the lightest on the market as well. Were there any other wheels you hand in mind before making your final decision?
R: Yes, I was considering to get a set of HRE wheels, especially the HRE 540R with brushed aluminum center. But ultimately I bought the Kinesis F110 wheels instead because they are light for 19″ wheels (18 lbs for 19″x8.5″ and 19 lbs for 19″x10″ compared to HREs that usually weigh around 25 - 26 lbs). And since the spokes on these Kinesis wheels are pretty widely spaced, they show my yellow Brembo calipers nicely.

K: Alot has been put into the car, but if you had to name one mod that stands out from the rest, what would it be?
R: It’s the Dinan supercharger. Not many people have this supercharger kit. It puts down about 110 more hp (at crank/flywheel) than a stock E46 M3 but from outside, you can not tell that my car has a supercharger.

K:What’s next in your mod plan?
R: Some interior mods and ICE. Or maybe skip these and get a new car ;)

Pictures

Modifications List

Exterior:
- Vorsteiner CSL front bumper
- BMW OEM CSL trunk
- CSL style CF rear diffuser
- CF Kidney Grilles
- CF Side Grilles
- CF Headlight trim set
- Smoked front corners
- Black Roundels
- Silvervision turn signal bulbs
- Umnitza Predator Chromium DDE
- ProLumen 6000K HID bulbs (not installed)

Wheels & Tires:
- Kinesis F110 19×8.5 (18 lbs) and 19×10 (19 lbs) wheels
- Bridgestone S03 245/35-19 and 275/30-19 tires
- Turner Motorsport 8mm spacers

Suspension & Braking:
- Brembo GT 4-piston front calipers (custom painted yellow) with 14″ front rotors
- Brembo 4-piston rear calipers (custom painted yellow) with OEM 12.9″ rear rotors
- Goodridge stainless steel braided front brake lines
- Hawk HPS F+R brake pads
- KW Variant 2 coilovers
- Dinan front swaybar
- Quattro CF front strut bar (not installed)

Engine:
- Dinan Vortech Supercharger (4.6 psi Boost Pressure)
- Dinan high flow cold air intake
- Larger capacity fuel injectors
- Racing-Style aluminum radiator
- Dinan engine management System
- Dinan high flow throttle bodies
- Evosport headers with ceramic coating
- Evosport high flow cats
- Milltek section 2
- Milltek exhaust
- UUC Stage II lightweight flywheel
- UUC UltraSmooth Cerametallic clutch kit
- Rogue tranny mounts
- UUC EVO3 SSK
- UUC DSSR
- Defi control unit & BF gauges (Boost, Oil Temp, EGT)
- Modified CDV from Zeckhausen.com
- CF engine cover and other parts

Interior/Audio:
- Silver CF steering wheel
- UUC RK Shadow CF shift knob and CF e-brake
- LeatherZ alcantara shift and e-brake boots with red stiching
- LeatherZ Gauge Panel
- Valentine One radar hardwired
- OEM homelink
- Silver CF interior trim set (not installed)
- Tru Technology T-2.100 amp (not installed)
- Seas Excel 6″ midbass speakers (not installed)
- Phass AT28 tweeters (not installed)
- Custom passive crossovers (not installed)
- JL 10W6v2 subwoofer (not installed)
- JL 500/1 mono amp (not installed)