What project cars lead up to your BMW ownership?

What really lead me to BMW was when I had my first car, which was a Honda Accord, I always tried to fix it up and make it nice, and I thought it was the fastest.

One day I had a really bad accident — totaling the car and injuring myself in a head-on collision. After that, I never wanted to drive again, because I was too fearful. Until one day, my pops told me he couldn’t keep taking me to school because he needed to be early to work. I said fine and started looking up cars.

One post on craigslist came up for a BMW 1995 4-door 325i. Something just told me, get it! I followed my gut feeling, went to check it out, was black, the shape of the car and how it sounded got me so in love with it. When I test drove it with my pops, he was smiling, and I was smiling with him. My dad looked at me, said: “Son, you work hard and you’re going to be an airplane mechanic, you deserve something good”. I looked at my dad with tears and told him “thanks,” and we ended up buying it.
I loved that car so much. The BMW brand grew so much on me. I worked on it so much, made it look nice, and kept it for 2 years. What made me fully certain BMW was suitable for me was when I decided to buy other brands of cars like Volvo, Mercedes, and Saab, none of them satisfied me. I was sad and frustrated. It was hard to work on them and everything about them bothered me.

That’s when I decided to go back to BMW. I went through a couple of them to gradually work my way up to the BMW M4. I know car accidents suck, but I’m happy it happened because it led me to loving BMW and having the ability to work on them.

What lead you to SOUL and how do you like your system?

Some people had other brands, but their styles from other exhaust companies are very basic. I wanted something that would attract my eyes and ears more. I saw Soul Performance on Instagram and saw how detailed their exhaust products are and how prestigious they looked. That grabbed my attention.

 

I did research on the different BMW exhaust systems available day and night. On YouTube, SOUL’s BMW exhaust system stood out because of how nice it sounded, but I had never heard it on anyone’s car before where I live. I just gave in and said let’s get it done. I stopped in and the guys showed me their product and what was going on, that blew me away. They treated me so well and explained everything and how it worked and what the best sound was for my standard. I gave right in, no question asked with no doubts.

 

I have had their Valvetronic M4 Exhaust for a while, I don’t like it, I LOVE IT. The tone is so clean, and the way it sounds when the valves are open makes you want to go faster and faster. When you accelerate and release the gas pedal, the sound that comes out of the exhaust is so aggressive.

Current mod list / Future plans for your car?

Current mods I have are vrsf charge pipes, vrsf front mounted cold air intakes, a catless downpipe, full Soul exhaust system, and bootmod3 flash tube. Cosmetic work includes the front lip, side skirts, rear diffuser, rear spoiler, full tint, full Air Lift Performance air setup with custom trunk, Ferrada F8-FR5 wheels, carbon fiber vinyl wrap on some parts of my car. I reupholstered the steering wheel cover myself with some nice stitching and changed the interior from black to red.

I might go with Stage 2 Pure turbos, an upgraded intercooler, and an upgraded clutch to handle the power. Cosmetic wise, I’ll be changing my front lip, getting a rear gt wing, front carbon fiber gt hood, and full carbon fiber mirrors. I’m going to get back seat covers in carbon fiber and change my shift knob and emergency brake handle.

What are your passions?

My passions are cars, mechanical things, speed, creativity, and working on planes. I love to drive — feeling the adrenaline through my body is amazing. Hearing the motor and exhaust roar is just satisfying. It keeps you smiling, makes you want more. I love cars I can’t be without them, love working on them, always something new I can learn about them and how they look just astonish me a lot. Being creative towards something is a great passion to have. When your mind gives you these ideas and then you see how well it comes out – that’s a great feeling. Planes are my passion as well. I love how they are made, love working on them.

If you could own any car, what would it be?

Either a classic BMW 2002 or the new 8 series BMW.  If not the new one, I’ll take the old one as well. Next car –  X5M.

Gallery photos by Vlad Shurigin for Ferrada Wheels