A few weeks go, YouTuber Alex Kersten decided to make some very special lemonade out of a couple of lemons. After he bought the cheapest E46 M3 in the UK, which actually ran surprisingly well, he found that it had some serious structural damage that would have cost more than the car’s value to repair. So he had a choice, either eat the money and ditch the car or make something out of it. So he decided to take the shockingly well-running, high-mileage S54 engine out of it and swap it into the body of his E46 3 Series Touring, thus creating the car that BMW never did.
During the first video, we learned of Kersten’s situation and saw the beginnings of the project. They just started to take the engine out of the E46 M3 in the first video but now we get to see the second update to might be the coolest project of any car YouTuber.
After pulling the engine out of the M3, they took it to a shop that specializes in rebuilding BMW M engines and making race engines out of them. That shop was tasked with rebuilding the S54 engine and maybe even giving it a bit more power than normal. Thankfully for Kersten, he brought them the engine just in time because it was about two trips to 8,000 rpm away from turning into a Bavarian grenade. Every single rod bearing was on its last legs, the head gasket was basically a cracker, and the water pump was only holding on by a hope and a prayer. What’s remarkable is that Kersten initially though the engine was fine, as it actually seemed to rev smoothly, make all the right noises, and it handled track days just fine. Turns out, he was one track session away from catastrophic failure.
Once the engine was being rebuilt by pros, it was time for Kersten to take off the E46 M3 bits that he wanted to migrate to the Touring. So the hood, the front fenders (“wings” if you’re in the UK), side mirrors, seats, and steering wheel. Most of those parts will need modification to fit onto a normal 3 Series Touring but will likely be worth it, as the end result will look incredible. We can’t wait to see this project completed, as it’s going to be the dream car of many enthusiasts and likely the only one of its kind in the UK.
