Ok here’s my backstory: Long-long ago, little Ben Ivy was 4-years-old & his mom was an ASE certified BMW technician at the local BMW dealership. They had numerous bring your kid to work days, which exposed me to BMWs very early on. One day my dad yelled, “Ben come to the garage!” And there sat an alpine white E34 530i in all its German-chiseled glory. When my dad popped the hood BACKWARDS… my tiny 4-year-old brain exploded. And just like that, BMWs suddenly became the coolest thing ever to me.
Fast forward to those awkward middle school years…
And I was obsessively playing Need for Speed: Most Wanted on a daily basis, just to unlock the E46 M3 GTR at the end. During school, I would read car magazines like they were gospel. Super Street, Import Tuner, PASmag, and of course S3 lol. I’d subscribe to any tuner mag I could find, and I read ‘em all cover-to-cover. I desperately wanted to be a part of the car scene. Everything was so unique & cool! Gone were the days of Road & Track boring cars. I was inspired by the lifestyle side of it… the cars that someone took the time to make stand out.
The articles that sparked me the most, were the ones about drifting…
And MAN did that make me want an S13. Go figure, right? The style & attitude of drifting was so rad, I had to be a part of it. I made my dad take me to FD ATL… because I didn’t even have a license yet.
Ok so now it’s my 16th birthday…
My mom got a new car. And my dad handed me the keys to her old E46 323i base model & said, “You owe us $6,000”. That was my birthday gift & my first car!
Initially, I hated the E46…
Because I wanted a 240SX like all the cool drifters in the magazines. I was so abusive to the car, because I wanted a drift car… not a BMW lol. It’s funny to think about now, but as mean as I was to the E46, it never cared. It took everything I threw at it and shrugged it off.
Probably because the 323i motor didn’t make enough power to hurt itself…
I remember telling myself “Ok I have this car, I know what I want to do with it, but it’s not gonna fit in. I guess I’ll just have to make it work somehow.” But then… along comes Chelsea Denofa campaigning an E46 in Formula Drift! And all the sudden, BMWs started getting some spotlight & energy in the drift scene.
I drove this E46 323i every… single… day.
It took me to every day of high school, college, my first date, my first track day, my first car meet, and my first drift event. Hell – I even learned how to drive stick and took my driver’s license test in this car. For my high school graduation present, my dad got me a track day at Road Atlanta. And after that – I was hooked on getting on track. Motorsports was all I cared about. I even went to college for Motorsport Vehicle Technology. And the more I learned about cars, the more I was able to modify my own. I had to get involved with racing in every way.
My first job through my college, was a corner marshal for Road Atlanta…
I got to see all kinds of cars get pushed to their limits, and got a paycheck in the process. But the best part about that job was the skid pad in the back of the track. During my lunch break almost every day, I would sneak over there and just turn laps. Since I worked there, I was the only one that could tell me no (so long as the boss didn’t find out). And I taught myself to drift on that skid pad with an open diff and no guide… other than YouTube videos of Andy Sapp drifting his E46 at Turner Field. Around that time, drift events started happening regularly at Lanier Raceplex. I knew that was it. I needed to finish school… and pursue that.
Then my BMW blew its head gasket…
The E46 had 297k miles on it at the time. And keep in mind, I got it with 130k miles… if that tells you anything about how much I drove the car (hard). Absolute unit. Being a college kid, funds were low & I couldn’t fix it right away. But conveniently (for me) though, my mom had an E46 330i sport package. She let me borrow that car while I saved up money to fix my 323i. But then she bought a new Jeep, and before she could trade-in the BMW I was like, “HOLD UP.”
So mom let me save my money for the BMW 330i I was borrowing. Problem was: It got so boring. Being a bone-stock car, I just couldn’t stand it. So after weighing all the options, I decided…
My best plan-of-action was to swap the BMW 330i drivetrain into my 323i…
So that’s what I did. And I got the car that I loved back on the road, but now with more power. Ok! Awesome! After graduating, I bounced around different mechanic jobs, learning & leaving with knowledge I could apply to my own build. I always wanted an E46 BMW that stood out in a paddock of S-chassis cars.
I modded this thing from the inside-out knowing that one day, the E46 would have its era in drifting…
It’s too good of a car not to. So I pushed through all the criticisms & peer pressure… just to remind myself & everyone else that drifting was born from nonconformity. Along with creativity, style, standing out, rebellion, and modifying to inspire… not to collect clout. Nah – no influencer crap here. This is just homegrown, organic, free range, Southern style.
It seemed like the odds were always stacked against me with this E46 sedan…
From limited aftermarket, to the unsolicited opinions of others. But I never let it keep me down. Nothing was going to stop me from riding low with my spirits high.
This BMW has never been trailered to a drift event…
Sometimes I wish I had that luxury lol. But I street drive this thing everywhere… road trips included. Heck I drove it all the way to Gridlife, ran it, then drove it back home! That oughta be worth some decent street cred lolol. The car still has heat/AC, ABS, traction control, cruise control, radio, hands-free calling, and all the creature comforts that were standard when it was made. In my mind, drifting isn’t an excuse to have a crappy car.
I’ve had this E46 for 14 years now, and I intend on having it for many more…
It’s been a long journey & learning curve. But I’ve had some of my most unforgettable life moments behind the wheel of this car. You wouldn’t believe half the things I’ve seen through this windshield. It’s the car that taught me everything about the car world… and I know it’s not done any time soon.
A turbo is in the future plans…
As well as custom livery along with some more baller wheels. What can I say: I’m a product of American drifting that was broadcasted through the lens of print magazines.
Photos by Doss Media, Gamo Roads, Matthew O’Conner, and Stylish Crew
2000 BMW 323i
The current motor has 200k+ miles, and the chassis has probably around 400k at this point.
Affiliates: TeamLegCramp (drift team) & Carolina Motorsports Park
ENGINE / Drivetrain
Complete 330i drivetrain swap with 240hp (supposedly)
Koruworks dress up hardware
Custom tune by TRM Tuning
CSF radiator
Synchro Design Works RTAB bushings
Welded diff
Revshift solid engine/trans mounts
ProTuningLab catless headers
Custom exhaust with 6-1 collector
Magnaflow muffler
SUSPENSION / STEERING
SLR Ultra angle kit (-8° front camber -1° rear) & front sway bar
M3 steering rack
External power steering cooler
Solid steering bushing (out of a nascar cup car…one of my favorite mods)
Bilstein B16 coilovers (soon to upgrade to FEAL)
Bavarian Autosport caster/camber plates
Parts Shop MAX front & rear strut/subframe brace
AKG solid rear subframe bushings
Sponsored by PROAUTO in Columbia, SC
WHEELS / BRAKES
Apex ARC-8 wheels: 17×9 +30
(hopefully will be on white TE37s or SSR Minervas soon)
Falken Azenis FK510 tires in 245/40/17
330i front calipers (painted red)
Stoptech rotors
EBC pads
Wilwood dual rear calipers
SeemsLegitGarage dual caliper kit (I hid all the lines under the carpet for that OEM+ feel)
Scotidi hydraulic handbrake
EXTERIOR
Don Musk widebody kit
eBay front lip & M3 style led taillights
OEM roof rack
Facelift hood
865 Retrofits custom headlights with halos
M3 front bumper & side skirts
Custom carbon fiber roof wing (the first part I ever made myself out of carbon fiber)
Many stickers of all my friends, car accomplishments, and noteworthy events the car’s taken place in
Bass boat glitter-black wrap on the roof
Drift stitched front bumper (this car gets used)
INTERIOR
Sparco EVO II plus seats with old ATL drifting t-shirt inserts
BMW M3 carbon fiber steering wheel
E60 M5 shift lever (oem+ bolt-on short shifter)
Vans Shoes custom shift knob
Scotidi hydraulic handbrake
Shirtstuckedin phone pocket, shift boot, & cup holder
Garage Moon Power floor mats
Dynavin N6 head unit
(the boot-up screen says “DANGER TO MANIFOLD” and I keep F&F Tokyo Drift in it because it plays movies lol)
Alpine speakers
DASAI MOCHI with handmade carbon fiber bezel
Dynamat sound deadening
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