E90 M3 gets sexy velocity stacks

MISCONCEPTION: engineers are boring odders that only like Bovril, store coats and design functionalism. Need proof? Check out this incredible velocity stack system for the BMW E90 M3.

As well as looking insanely cool, the setup from Fluid MotorUnion means you can run your car on meth. Not the sell-all-your-possessions-and-live-in-motels type - it injects a water/methanol mix to cool the inlet charge and help to prevent detonation problems (when the fuel/air mix explodes in the cylinder instead of burning as it should. Which is bad. And breaks things).

See more pics of the Fluid MotorUnion velocity stacks here

Now, our inner Tech Nerd says that you won't gain massive power unless the compression ratio's insanely high or it's running forced induction. Which it isn't. Yet.

But our inner Lover of All Things Awesome says fair game. As FMU says, ‘We wanted something totally trick, something that immediately grabs the eye and makes you wonder more and more about it.' And FMU's definitely achieved that.

Hold on to your sideburns, because we're about to get techy.

The setup's made entirely from 6061-grade aluminum and incorporates an Aquamist water-methanol injection system. The mix runs from a tank in the back to a specially-designed manifold that splits up the 6mm inlet to eight 4mm direct-injection nozzles, which are placed at the ends of the arms that stretch over each individual stack (the trumpety bits).

Still awake? Excellent.

The tubing from the manifold to the nozzles is fed through specific channels in the arms themselves. Eagle-eyed engineerists may notice that a couple of the nozzles are missing, but these are mere development pics. And aren't they pretty? We've also chucked in a pic of the standard engine for comparison.

Seen a sexier piece of engineering, TopGear.commers?