Vijay Pattni looks at the world’s hottest modified BMW M3s – including one named ‘Darth Maul’.

Modify a BMW M3 and what you’re saying to the world is: “I’m hard.”

Either that or you’ve got a few screws loose, because the BMW M3 is one of the finest sportscars in the world. It practically invented the small sports coupe segment back in the 80s with the track-honed E30 M3.

And today, the fire-breathing M-Sport Beemer packs a 4-litre V8 engine spewing out 400bhp of creamy metallic goodness and enough wizardry to let you abuse every single pony.

It certainly looks the part too, with its ‘are-you-pleased-to-see-me’ bonnet power bulge and quad-exhaust pipes.

But that hasn’t stopped Canadian tuners MW Design from adding a little more ‘Menace’ to the sensational super coupe.

May the force be with you

This is the BMW M3 ‘Darth Maul’ – named after the famous villain from Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.

MW Design has also decided to nick a few styling cues from the film’s Jedi-destroying light-sabre wielding enemy, by decking the whole thing in black and adding orange highlights.

MW Design says this is just stage 1 – they’ve fitted an Amuse Ericsson Front Bumper with custom orange highlights, a rear diffuser and CF side vents with custom orange highlights and CF side mirrors.

They’ve also fitted this dark destroyer with matte black 20-inch alloy wheels complete with orange accents and H&R sports springs.

The Canadians are preparing for stage 2 of the ‘Darth Maul’, which will include exhaust modifications and performance tuning.

A 400bhp+ BMW M3, named after a Jedi-killer and decked out in black – we like. Very, very much.

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G-Power BMW M3

G-Power has a habit of creating ballistic BMWs – we reported on an astonishing 750bhp G-Power-tuned BMW M6 and they’ve also turned up the heat on the M5.

And this is what happens when they start fiddling with the BMW M3 – a 635bhp monster.

Obviously not satisfied with the tyre-shredding 414bhp of the standard M3’s V8 (I mean, who really is?), G-Power bolted on a supercharger and added a few bits and bobs to produce a headline-grabbing 635bhp.

And for customers who want even more, they’ll happily fit the modified 730bhp 5-litre V10 unit they use for their M5 ‘Hurricane’.

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Vorsteiner BMW M3

To complete our trio of modified M3’s, we have this white knight: the Vorsteiner M3.

Apparently, BMW aren’t going to knock out a hardcore road-rocket CSL edition of the current M3 because there isn’t enough demand. We reckon there is – so BMW, if you’re listening, build the thing. Now.

In the meantime however, Vorsteiner has sought to plug the gap in the market by offering their version of the CSL. They’ve replaced the M3’s body panels with lightweight carbon-fibre versions and fitted a carbon-fibre interior trim, together with a titanium exhaust system which shave 35lbs and adds up to 14bhp.

Vorsteiner has helpfully remapped the engine to produce 460bhp and 328lb/ft of pulling power (up from 295lb/ft), and derestricted the beast so it tops nearly 200mph.

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