SP Rides: Doing It Right In White
BY MICHAEL KITCHENS
Name: Ricky Jordan
Age: 28
Occupation: Computer Analyst
Hobbies: Cars, photography, hanging out with friends
Year, Make, Model: 2013 BMW 335i
Engine: JB4 Stage 2, VSRF catless Downpipe, VSRF Intercooler, VSRF Chargepipe
Exterior: Full KPMF vinyl wrap in Iridescent White with Trent Blue and carbon fiber
Suspension: Airlift Performance Suspension
Wheels and Tires: Niche wheels M129 (19-by-8.5 front and 19-by-9.5 rear), Toyo Proxes T1 Sport 225/40ZR19 front and 245/40ZR19 rear
Born and raised in Hilo, Ricky Jordan’s first taste of cars was a Honda CRX owned and driven hard by his father. With so much room to play, it was quite common to open up the taps everywhere they went. Unfortunately, the Honda was t-boned resulting in its sad demise. However, this left an impression upon Ricky who decided that one day, he’d build a car just like his father.
As Jordan got older, he started off with a fairly basic Mazda3, however, his enlistment into the military opened up more funding which prompted an upgrade to the Mazdaspeed3. Jordan fell in love with it — the mechanical aspect of working on this car thrilled him. It was his favorite car yet the military sometimes doesn’t play well with such things. Shipping off to Korea meant that he had to say goodbye to his passion.
With his expected return to Hawaii, Jordan began to save for his future and his dream car: a BMW (hopefully an E46). As fate would have it, this 2013 BMW 335i dropped in his lap after an almost-uneventful trip to the car dealership. Fresh off a write-off lease, Jordan jumped on the chance to own this incredible car.
Like all auto enthusiasts, he had the urge to make the car his own. Jordan started off slow with the gorgeous luxury branded Niche Wheels sized 19-by-8.5 in the front and 19-by-9.5 in the rear. These were wrapped in Toyo Proxes T1 Sports sized in 225/40ZR19 front and 245/40ZR19 rear respectively. After that, some springs were thrown in to give it a slight drop.
Within a year he was already pushing the boundaries of his ride, and his wallet. “I felt I needed to go faster. I thought, I need to do this and that,” said Jordan. With momentum, Dom Branstad wrapped his car in a gorgeous Iridescent White vinyl by Kay Premium Marking Films (KPMF). A lustrous blue sheen is seen when hit with the light in just the right way which matches the Trent Blue wrap on the lip and grill, as well as the carbon fiber wrap for the roof.
After entering some shows, Jordan found that he was catching a bit of heat for having too much space within his wheel wells. This required the installation of a full Airlift Performance Suspension. This was handled by his own hands with help from friends. The result is a BMW that can get so low you’d be hard-pressed to fit anything other than a hand-width beneath it.
With such good looks, power was needed soon after. Thanks to a JB4 Stage 2 Tune, the car was upped by an additional 60 ponies of horsepower initially. With the addition of a set of VSRF modifications that include a charge pipe and intercooler, this baby now has some guts!
Getting to this point for Jordan was definitely not a quick process, especially with the air suspension. For him, it’s important that the appropriate research is done while taking time to do it right. “Just keep at it,” concluded Jordan. “And don’t go with the cheap stuff!”
