Almost as an afterthought, BMW elected to enter Class B of the Wesbank Modified Saloon Car series in South Africa late in 1990. The marque had recently retired the successful M5 from Class A of the same series, and its star driver, Tony Viana, had been concentrating on the Group N series held for nearly standard production cars. Its fleet of 325iS machines was doing battle with the brawny Opel Kadett Superboss contingent in spell-binding events all over the country.
When BMW South Africa’s newly formed Motorsport division opted to re-enter the modified fray with a pair of BMW 535is in Class B, the decision was made to entrust the build of the two cars to Cape Town race- and rally-car wizard, Owen Ashley.
Operating out of his workshop and design office at Killarney racetrack near Table View, Ashley came up with an ingenious