In June 1996, Frank Kohn first became aware of the BMW M3 model that inspires him most to this day: the BMW M3 Compact. When the then 13-year-old found out that the car was merely a prototype, he even wrote a letter to BMW asking them to put it into series production. The request remained unheard.
It was not until October 1997 that some good news arrived: the BMW 323ti Compact was introduced, and shortly afterwards Kohn was able to admire the car in Techno Violet with the M package at a local dealership.
Kohn acquired his driving licence in 2001, and one year later he bought a BMW 320i E30 with his last savings – at that time he could not afford anything more. In 2006, by chance Kohn discovered a BMW 323ti Compact E36 with individual equipment in Techno Violet and M package for sale on the internet. The fact that the seller's place of residence was some 700 kilometres away didn’t matter in the slightest. Kohn bought the car and decided to use it as the base on which to build his own personal BMW M3 Compact E36.
From the beginning, Kohn was clear that the conversion should be as close as possible to the original. In 2008, he acquired a second 323ti in Techno Violet, intended for use as an everyday car.
But it then transpired that the chassis number exactly follows the first 323ti Compact, which led to Kohn's brother deciding he would buy this car from him so that he too could convert into a BMW M3 Compact E36.