crankandpiston.com hits Raad Auto Tuning in Lebanon to find out what happens when a brand new BMW M4 meets Liberty Walk.
Personally, I love the automotive scene in Lebanon, as it has always surprised me: supercars, American muscle classics, drift cars, you name it. Today though, we’re here for Raad Auto Tuning.
Being official Liberty Walk dealers, the company has built a couple of very cool BMW E92 M3s over the years, and when Shadi Raad – one of the brothers who own the Beirut-based garage – mentioned they had ‘something special worth shooting’, we didn’t need asking twice. Wissam, a long-time customer of Raad Auto Tuning, now owns one of those E92 M3s, but figured it to be a bit out-dated, and since the new M4 was on sale, he was looking for an upgrade.
Enter the Liberty Walk BMW M4 by Raad Auto Tuning. Shadi was right: this was something SERIOUSLY worth shooting.
This after all is not something you see everyday. The M4 is still relatively new to the Lebanese market, and one wonders what level of madness is required to take one straight from the showroom (with zero mileage) to an underground shop, and start cutting it and painting it. Hurtful image, yet a beautiful outcome.
Indeed, so new was the M4 to the market that three months had already elapsed before the car arrived at Raad, aftermarket parts ordered from Japan appearing a couple of weeks later. Following its arrival, it took the guys only three weeks to finish and complete the Liberty Walk kit, complete with overfenders, and a full repaint (inspired by Ferrari, no less). The engine has been left untouched – for now – though an Arma Carbon Fibre Air Intake has been installed, as have special custom-made adjustable KW Competition coilovers with a front lift system and an IPE valve controlled exhaust system. The whole package sits on a unique three-piece ADV1 05C wheels (10.5in at the front, 12in at the rear). After the car’s completion, the team behind it grabbed some chairs, sat around the car and looked at eachother nodding their heads in approval, to later on calling this M4, the Fantastic4.
Perhaps most interesting though is the competition-level suspension that has been installed, as opposed to an air bag or hydraulic system. As Shadi explains, “we don’t make show cars, we make race cars,” and judging by the tail-happy nature of Wissam’s new Liberty Walk M4 – reminiscent of the E30 and E21 days – it’s difficult to question that.
The owner’s only complaint?: “it doesn’t sound as good as the E92.” Perhaps not, but Wissam can at least be assured that the latest Liberty Walk addition to his collection is no longer ‘out-dated’. In fact, it’s quite possibly the most mental overfender project I’ve come across yet. And given that we’ve recently been introduced to a Widebody Mercedes C-Class and Liberty Walk Nissan GT-R, that’s saying something…
