With the incredible range of cars competing and on show each year, Gatebil events always amaze me.
Whether it’s an 800whp Volvo Amazon or a BMW-based Hudson hot rod, there’s always something unique lurking in the paddocks. At Gatebil’s 2024 Summer Festival I stumbled across Johan Person Ehlin’s 1992 BMW E36 325i coupe. Leaving Mantorp Park without a feature simply wasn’t an option.
Johan, a 33-year-old service technician from Halmstad, Sweden, has poured his blood, sweat, and tears into this wild build. His fascination with how things work began in childhood, often leading him to dismantle things. This interest soon expanded to mechanical objects, starting with mopeds and eventually progressing to cars – a path commonly followed by many Swedish builders.
Johan’s foray into car modification began with a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution V time attack build before transitioning to drifting. In 2010, he acquired this BMW E36 but sold it soon after due to its high power relative to his drifting skills at that time. In 2017, he repurchased the car with plans to use it as a donor for a friend’s project.
However, this plan quickly changed; Johan kept the 3 Series and proceeded to build it up into one of Scandinavia’s craziest E36s.
Externally, the BMW has undergone a complete transformation with a factory M-kit, although the front bumper is a replica due to damage from a minor accident. The front also benefits from an M3 GTR-inspired hood while the rear end is equipped with an M3 GT wing and a Maxton Design rear diffuser.
Fitment Lab’s Phase 2 front fenders and Phase 3 rear fenders pull the whole look together, and the car is finished off in Lexus Matador Red Mica.
The rear wheel arches have been extended by approximately 100mm forward and backward, and 170mm inward, to accommodate the upsized wheel and tire combination. The new mounting points for the arms offer more adjustability than the original setup.
Up front, the car rides on 18×10.5-inch Kansei KNP wheels with Pirelli P Zero tires, while the rear features 15×10-inch Weld Prostar drag racing wheels wrapped in Mickey Thompson ET Street slicks.
Yes, although the car had originally been built for drift, it’s now an allrounder, with just a few small adjustments needed between the straight-line drag/half-mile and sideways setups.
The chassis has undergone extensive modifications with a blend of BMW components. Johan has also customized the E36 M3 control arms for wider wheels and tires, while the upper and lower camber arms are from T-Parts. The rear suspension bridge extends across the entire floor to the strut towers, which are reinforced and connected to the 8.5-point roll cage.
For the shocks, Johan chose BC Racing Extreme Drop coilovers with 12kg springs in the front and BC Racing RH coilovers with 8kg springs in the rear.
The braking system includes BMW F22 M240 calipers paired with 340mm brake discs from a Volkswagen Transporter at the front, and dual BMW E34 M5 calipers at the rear – one for the handbrake and one for the foot brake – along with BMW E34 M5 Brembo discs and pads.
Inside, the cabin is all business. It’s outfitted with a Toorace TR02 seat for Johan and a Bimarco Futura seat for the passenger, both secured with RRS 6-point racing harnesses. The roll cage from Finess enhances chassis rigidity and safety.
Additional components include a Coolerworx handbrake and a custom intercom system. All critical information is displayed on an ECUMaster ADU 7-inch display.
What truly sets this E36 apart, however, is its monstrous engine…
The S50, from a BMW E36 M3, features a 3.0-liter block partly filled with concrete that’s been bored out to 87mm and features new cooling channels. It sits 25mm lower in the chassis than it normally would, thanks to the adapted M3 subframe.
The engine also benefits from a 3.2-liter BMW S50 crankshaft, forged rods from DP Engine Parts, and CP forged pistons. Furthermore, the cylinder head was lightly ported by Erland Cox, and fitted with PPF valves and uprated springs.
What initially caught my eye in the Gatebil paddock was the absence of the right headlight, in its place a Reverselab air intake. This feeds air into the Precision Turbo 82mm turbocharger, mounted on a wild tubular exhaust manifold. A 66mm Precision external wastegate controls the boost.
A custom intake system features two rows of 1,500cc fuel injectors, plus an additional 1,000cc water/methanol injector to cool the charge and lessen the chance of detonation. An innovative burst valve prevents damage from intake backfires, and a pre-filter ensures the oil system’s integrity.
Finally, the exhaust system – a 4-inch stainless steel setup, exiting through the right-side sill with a 5-inch stainless muffler from Speeding. 1,126hp never sounded so good.
Gear shifts are managed by a Mid Valley NC500 shifter with a Hurst knob, paired with a Mid Valley NC500 H-pattern dog box transmission and a twin-plate clutch from Tenaci. The rear axle came from an E36 M3, with the differential housing from an E32 740.
While the car hasn’t seen any quarter-mile action yet, Johan has raced it at the Nordic Half Mile (0-804m) where it placed 11th outright, crossing the finish line at 298.8km/h from a standing start.
For the past three decades, Gatebil has been bringing out Scandinavia’s wildest builds, and Johan’s E36 most definitely falls into that category. What an absolute weapon!
Alen Haseta
Instagram: hazetaa
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