While it may seem like a new trend in the automotive enthusiast community, widebody conversions, overfenders, and extensive body changes have been around for quite a while. Widebody conversions stem from the motorsports arena, where bigger tires, a need for passive aerodynamic improvements, and, of course, aggressive looks were paramount. What the widebody cars of famous series’ like DTM and Group B inspired was a subset of automotive enthusiasts who customized their cars’ exteriors extensively with aftermarket bumper covers, fenders, quarter panels, side skirts, rear wings, and totally transformed their ride into a one-of-a-kind version of an otherwise ‘normal’ car. In recent years, the widebody trend has once again come back in vogue. SEMA is full of widened cars sporting either exposed hardware or molded wide bodies that attract tons of attention with their unique and intimidating look. There are almost countless producers now, some higher quality than others, but StreetFighter LA sticks out to us as one of the most aggressive, motorsport-inspired, and well-designed manufacturers of overfenders and widebody kits.
One of our Summer Drift Series stars, Kevin Ferraro, recently had the pleasure of fitting the StreetFighter LA E36 Coupe kit on his supercharged 328is. Often, kits like this are used predominately for shows. Kevin, however, needed it to cover the extra track width from his angle kit and beefy tires. Some folks may argue there is nothing functional about a wide body kit, but on this E36, they’d be completely wrong.
While SFLA isn’t the only one to produce kits in the style featured here on the E36, we certainly think they put their spin on the panels. The fitment, despite Kevin’s wall-tapped rear quarter panel under the new overfenders, is incredible. Clearly, the guys behind SFLA are detail-oriented and enthusiasts themselves with penchants for E36 and E46 generation BMWs. It would come as no surprise, then, that those cars were where the small company got their start designing kits.
Now, kits and more are available from SFLA with a broader range that extends beyond the Euro community. The aggressive style, extreme track width extension, and impeccable fitment make these kits attractive to anyone looking to stand out. Of course, you can find all the StreetFighter LA body kits right here at ECS Tuning. While you’re there, be sure to check out our Summer Drift Series and follow us along as five of our employees drive and spark some friendly internal competition on the local drift courses as we round out the Summer.
