When you’re involved in the BMW scene it’s expected that you will own a BMW, and depending on how heavily involved you are that will likely reflect in the sort of car that you end up building. So, for example, if you happened to be the CEO of Schmiedmann Sweden, with access to a veritable treasure trove of modded parts, then it’s very likely that you would be a) driving something rather nice and b) that it probably wouldn’t be stock. So if we were to tell you that Viktor Ortegren. who just so happens to be the CEO of Schmiedmann Sweden, drives a modified M4 you wouldn’t be very surprised. Even so, the extent to which his M4 has been modified is pretty breathtaking and the resulting machine is seriously spectacular. That’s saying something as it takes a lot for us to be impressed by an M4 when you consider how many we’ve seen and featured, so you can trust as when we say this is a mighty build.
“We were the first to get the Flossmann GT4 aero kit delivered. This kit includes a front splitter, bonnet, vented front wings, boot lid and rear wing – all in carbon fibre”
Before we get stuck into this M4, however, we need to get stuck into Viktor himself to see what makes him tick when it comes to cars and just how long he’s been worshipping at the altar to Bavarian metal. “Since I was a kid I’ve always been interested in cars and especially BMWs.” Viktor tells us as we chat. “My father used to work for a German company when I was younger, so we travelled there every now and then. When we were in Germany we always stopped at BMW dealers, looking at cars, dreaming about getting older and getting a driver’s licence. I remember when I was about seven years old I saw this really nice Hell red E36 M3 and from that point the E36 was – and still is – one of my absolute favourite models,” he grins. “My first BMW was a 1994 BMW 325i Coupé E36. In 2006, when I turned 18 and got my licence, I used to sit and look for BMW models on German car sale sites.
So, I found this BMW E36 325i Coupé with a manual gearbox, M Tech front spoiler, Sport seats, KW suspension and 17” wheels with way too small tyres. Back then these models were relatively cheap to get from Germany and since my father had some experience with importing cars for himself, he of course helped me to contact the seller and not long after I was driving my first car home from Germany,” he says with a smile. That E36 introduced the young Viktor to the wonderful world of BMW ownership and, with that, modding them and now that the floodgates had been opened there was no going back. “I worked on my E36 325i for a few years and put on a VF Engineering supercharger kit,” he tells us. “In 2009 I got my racing licence and started to get more involved in the BMW Sport Club Schweden so I sold my E36 and got myself an E46 M3 that we rebuilt into a track day car and then later into a pure time attack racing car.” Viktor enjoyed his hardcore E46 M3 for a few years, but when the M4 appeared he was smitten and realised he had to have one; “I loved the design and everything about it.
“Running on E85 it makes over 700hp, which is an insane amount of power, a huge gain over stock and has transformed this M4 into an absolute beast”
I sold the E46 and in August 2015 I found a nice 2014 M4 from BMW’s Premium Selection. Me and a friend went to the dealer to have a closer look at it and the papers got signed the same day,” he grins. So was there a plan? Oh yes, there was a plan… “We decided that if we were going to do this project it was going to be one of the fastest M4s in Europe and by far the most insane one in Sweden,” he grins. “We wanted to keep it drivable for road but still a track day/race car that could compete with supercars on track,” and we’re going to say that Viktor has achieved that and then some…
Having bought his M4, Viktor wasted no time in getting stuck into this build and the mods began on day one. “The same day that we got it we took it in to install a cat-back Supersprint exhaust system and a JB4 tuning box,” he says, “and after this we installed Supersprint downpipes,” and that’s a very healthy hit of serious mods right there. The MVP among that lot is the JB4, because that’s the key to unlocking the S55’s vast performance potential, and it’s enough to take power up to around the 490hp mark, and that’s without any supporting mods. Throw in the Supersprint downpipes and free-flow Supersprint system and Viktor had over 500hp on tap right away, but he and the Schmiedmann team were only just getting warmed up… “We did the engine mods almost all at the same time during the first winter. We had heard about the spinning crank hub problem that some M4 owners had experienced, so we decided to develop our own lock system for the crank hub in co-operation with Mad Performance in Sweden,” explains Viktor. “At the same time as we installed the new crank hub we exchanged the turbos to new upgraded Schmiedmann Stage 2 hybrid turbos, also the air filters and charge pipes were exchanged when putting it all together.
To be able to handle the power we were chasing after, we upgraded the DCT clutch to a new one from Dodson Motorsport right away,” he says and that finishes off a serious selection of performance upgrades that have endowed this M4 with some monster power. Just how much?
Well, running on E85 it makes over 700hp, which is an insane amount of power, a huge gain over stock and has transformed this M4 into an absolute beast. The M4 is not a slow car out of the box, but with the serious under-bonnet work that’s been carried out here, Viktor and the Schmiedmann crew have taken this M4 to another level of performance.
With that much power on tap, it’s no surprise that Viktor jumped straight on the chassis upgrades after that. While any of the many high performance coilover kits available for the M4 would have been a significant step-up from the stock setup, with this M4 destined for the track Viktor needed something suitably hardcore.
“We went for a KW Clubsport suspension kit with adjustable top mounts at the front. We wanted to have a kit with high availability on adjustments but still road legal,” and this combo is perfect, with the KW Clubsport kit designed for track day use, while still being supple enough for the street, exactly what Viktor needed for his M4 build. “The suspension is definitely my favourite modification on the car,” he adds.
“As a stock car the M4 is too comfortable and you can’t get that real feeling of the car on the road. With the new suspension the feeling is completely different.” Not only is it the right setup for the car in terms of performance, it’s also resulted in the M4 getting a purposeful drop and, as a result of that, it looks even meaner when sat that much closer to the ground and that also really brings out the best in the stunning wheels. Lush as they look, these splits might seem like a strange choice for what is primarily a hardcore track car, but here in the mag we’re seeing the car in looks – rather than performance – mode, and Viktor has two sets of equally sexy wheels to swap between as and when he needs to. “Since the car was to be both a show car and for track days, we ordered two sets of wheels immediately,” he explains, “one set of 20” splits for show and street and one set of 19” forged monoblocks for the track, and both sets are from BC Forged. I had the idea of how the wheels were supposed to look before we even bought the car,” he adds and that was definitely the right idea as these wheels look killer. They are BC Forged HCS 01S splits with polished stepped lips and brushed black centres, and not only are they seriously nice wheels but they look so good on the M4, suiting the car’s ultra-aggressive styling perfectly.
The next step in the build process was the aero parts, and this M4 wears a whole selection of Flossmann components that have given it a complete visual overhaul and it looks absolutely awesome. “We wanted to have it all, the best of everything,” Viktor grins as we discuss the M4’s full-on appearance. “We were the first to get the Flossmann GT4 aero kit delivered. This kit includes a front splitter, bonnet, vented front wings, boot lid and rear wing – all in carbon fibre. The issue with the Flossmann front splitter was that the car got extremely low with this one, so it was hard to use on the streets. After this we got side skirts and a rear lip for the trunk from 3D Design Japan mounted and a rear diffuser from Varis and later we exchanged the front splitter for a more street-friendly one from Vorsteiner,” he says. The Flossmann GT4 kit looks absolutely spectacular and transforms the already aggressive M4 into a full-on beast – we love those vented front wings, that spectacular bonnet and the massive wing, and then the additional carbon elements that Viktor has added really take things to another level, like that seriously aggressive diffuser, which fits perfectly with the whole track look. It’s all so good, and the carbon contrasts perfectly against the stunning 3M Canyon Copper wrap, while carbon kidneys, mirror caps and black side vents add the finishing touches.
To go with that full-on exterior, this M4 has been fitted with a suitably hardcore interior that’s perfectly-suited for track driving, while at the same time ensuring that this car gets all the attention when it’s repping for Schmiedmann at shows. “When we had just bought the car the first images of the M4 GTS were released,” says Viktor, “and I just loved that interior, so we decided to go for a similar concept, with Recaro Pole Position seats in black leather and suede, a roll-cage and a rear partition covered in suede. We even bought the original fire extinguisher from the GTS and placed it behind the passenger seat. We kept the standard seat belts and also installed six-point racing belts from Schroth. Even if we wanted to save some weight we kept the door cards and so on to keep it more quiet and comfortable for longer journeys,” he says. The cage and Pole Positions look awesome and the finishing touches are the acres of BMW M Performance carbon trim and matching carbon gear selector plus the Schmiedmann alloy pedals and floor mats.
Of course, impressive as those mods may be and as awesome as this M4 may look, it was built with a goal in mind and the proof of the performance pudding is in the driving. “With these mods we competed in the Swedish Time Attack series Pro Street class in 2016,” says Viktor.
“In our class we were competing against some really fast cars like the Porsche 911 997 GT2 and Audi R8 GT, for example, and we ended up with a final place of fifth out of 30 cars in our class, which we are very happy with,” he grins. That’s definitely a result to be seriously proud of but you can rest assured that Viktor and the Schmiedmann team are far from finished with this monster M4. “We’ve had the car for three years now, and even though we did most of the mods immediately we are constantly upgrading and testing new products for it,” he says. “We will do some more modifications to the chassis this winter to improve the lap times for next season.” This is a car that is going to keep evolving until it totally dominates out on track – as well as looking spectacular enough to make everyone who sees it go weak at the knees – and you know that Viktor’s passion and the expertise of the entire Schmiedmann team will make that happen and then some.
DATA FILE F82 M4
ENGINE AND TRANSMISSION 3.0-litre twin-turbo straight-six S55B30, Schmiedmann Stage 2 turbos, CSF chargecooler, Schmiedmann crank hub reinforcement, BMS JB4, air filters, charge pipes and PI controller, Supersprint downpipes and full Race exhaust system, BootMod3 back-end flash, Fuel-It stage 4 E85 fuel system. M DCT seven-speed gearbox, Dodson Motorsport Sportsman’s clutch, BMW M4 GTS software
CHASSIS Road wheels (as pictured): 9.5×20” ET10 (front) and 11×20” ET35 (rear) BC Forged HCS 01S two-piece splits with brushed black centres and polished lips, 255/35 (front) and 295/30 (rear) Vredestein tyres; track wheels: 10×19” ET20 (front) and 11×19” ET40 (rear) BC Forged RS41 monoblock wheels in Crystal Burgundy with 265/35 (front) and 305/30 (rear) Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R tyres, KW Clubsport suspension, carbon ceramic brakes
EXTERIOR 3M Canyon Copper wrap, Vorsteiner carbon front lip, Flossmann vented carbon front wings and DTM carbon bonnet, BMW M Performance carbon mirror covers, carbon kidney grilles, and black side vents, 3D Design carbon side blades, Varis carbon rear diffuser, 3D Design boot lip spoiler, Flossmann carbon boot lid with wing reinforcement, Flossmann GT wing, Schmiedmann wing brackets
INTERIOR Recaro Pole Position seats in leather/suede, Wiechers Sport roll-cage, rear seat-delete, Schroth six-point harnesses, BMW M4 GTS fire extinguisher, BMW M Performance carbon trim and carbon gear selector, Schmiedmann alloy pedals and floor mats
THANKS Thanks to Schmiedmann Group, our mechanics and the rest of the staff who worked hard to finish the project in time, Daniel “Epa” Eriksson at Mad Performance, Behnam Tayebi at Ad Coat, Steve at Fuel-It, Halim at HCP
BMS JB4 has been fitted Stunning 20” BC Forged HCS 01S wheels. Engine mods include Schmiedmann Stage 2 turbos. Recaro Pole Position seats and Schroth harnesses. Wiechers Sport roll-cage. Flossmann vented carbon bonnet Supersprint Race exhaust. Massive Flossmann GT wing.
