Supercharged M3

Our good friend Mike (owner of Eurowise in Charlotte, NC) is the person responsible for introducing us to the owner of this super clean, supercharged M3. Brenton West was looking for some decent pictures of his car, and we were looking for a feature, and the rest is history.
We met Brenton in the NoDa area of Charlotte, NC which, for those who don't know, is a young hip area right outside of the city. Brenton is the epitome of the great people that we meet through the car world, nice, helpful, and just all around fun to hang out with. The shoot took place in two separate locations and was more like just hanging out with some great friends.
But enough about the person and on to the car...

SPECS: Can you say Dinan? We're impressed.

Engine
Dinan Vortec Supercharger (~6-7 psi)
Dinan Chip
Dinan Exhaust
Dinan Big Bore Throttle Body
Active Autowerke LTW Flywheel
Active Autowerke Stage 2 Clutch
Cold Air Intake
Short Shifter

Suspension
Dinan Front Strut Bar
X-Brace
B&G RSR Coils

Wheels/Tires
Forgestar F14 - Piano Black (18x8.5F ET38, 18x9.5R ET42
Falken FK452 (225/40/18F, 245/35/18R)

Appearance
BSW Stage 1 Upgrade
Viper Keyless Entry
FormulaOne 35% Tint

We asked Brenton a few questions about himself...

How did you get into cars? I can't remember when I was first interested in cars/motorcycles/boats, but I do know it was well before I could get my learner's permit. My in-depth interest probably began when I got my first car, a Silverish-Gold on Tan '96 Honda Prelude SI. I had it for a couple of years before I sold it to get the M3. In that 3 year period of trial and error, it had transformed into a JDM ride with an H22A1 engine from Japan, 16" Royal Gunmetal Rota Circuit 8s, 5Zigen Fireball Angled Exhaust, and Neuspeed Sport Springs with KYB AGXs shocks/struts.

Future Plans? I don't have any big future plans for the M3 as I think I like it where it sits today - just need to stay on top of the maintenance. I plan on putting on a roof rack soon as I get more into road cycling, and eventually triathlons someday. I may also upgrade the swaybar system at some point and/or go with wider tires in the back, but that's about it.

Where are you from and what do you do for a living? I grew up in Chapel Hill, NC and moved to Raleigh, NC to attend NC State for engineering. I am now a structural engineer for nuclear power plants, part-time MBA student at UMass, and part-time entrepreneur (when I have time).

Dream Garage? My dream garage? Blacked-out White Land Rover Supercharged Sport, Blacked-out White BMW Alpina B7, Blacked-out White Porsche GT3, a Honda CBR1000RR or BMW S1000RR, and a Moomba wakeboard boat. Guy can dream, eh?

All photos courtesy of Sid Fligel

Shout outs: big shout out to the fam for putting up with me, Jeff Sweemer and Hunter Whitt (buddies who helped me with my cars along the way), Jordan Russ at MPowered Automotive (Cary, NC) and Mike Ngo at Eurowise (Charlotte, NC).