Image: Vorsteiner
Image: ADRO
NewsBy: Ryan De Villiers Mocked and belittled, the G8X was said to have a face only a blind mother could love. Spawned out of pure vitriol, aftermarket tuners have been hard at work developing cosmetic enhancements to make the G8X’s design more palatable.
The G8X generation of the M3 and M4 introduced a new standard of performance that pushed the M3/M4 badges into a new era. However, alongside performance came some polarizing design elements that are still a talking point to this day. Among the torrent of criticisms towards the G8X’s design, the large kidney grilles garnered the most hate and seemingly, the most reworks.
The G8X snout is dominated by the presence of the large kidney grilles and has garnered so much attention that aftermarket tuning companies like ADRO and Vorsteiner have undertaken the task of beautifying the controversial front end but the question is, who did it better?
Image: VorsteinerG8X
Vorsteiner was the first brand that would receive mass attention for their take on the M3’s face which saw the removal of many of the horizontal lines in the grille in exchange for a single, larger horizontal bar composed of carbon fibre accompanied by segmented air inlets constructed using cutting edge aerospace autoclave systems. While Vorsteiner altered the design of the G8X’s face, the kidney grille’s proportion remained the same.
Building on this redesign, Vorsteiner unveiled the third iteration of their GTS-V offering for the G8X front face which introduces a myriad of bumper changes while including a different bonnet design and other carbon fibre accessories which Vorsteiner claims that the kit aids in weight reduction, airflow and cooling performance.
Image: ADRO
ADRO however, went into a completely different direction and unveiled a stout front end that reduced the size of the kidney grille and drew it further outwards. A dramatic offshoot from the OEM look, the ADRO G8x offerings range from carbon fibre splitters, swan-neck wings, etc. While it may be a noteworthy enhancement, the ADRO front bumper will set you back roughly R53 000. Already distinguishing itself from its competitor’s offerings, there may be a race-inspired kit on the way.
Keyword: ADRO and Vorsteiner BMW G8X facelifts – but which is better