Watch How Tom Tang Tackled Pikes Peak In His E46 M3 Race Car ‘Ursula’

“It’s not that you’re fearless, it’s that you carry the right amount of fear,” said Tom Tang in his new video about tackling the legendary Pikes Peak in his E46 M3 racer. “How much risk do you want to take?”

Pikes Peak is easily one of the most dangerous races on the planet. The 12.42-mile road course snakes up 4,720 feet to the mountain’s 14,115-foot summit. It ain’t called The Race to the Clouds for no reason. Countless corners feels like flirtations with death, as putting a wheel wrong can mean going off the edge. Understanding the risk, and pushing past that fear, is what helped Tang record his best Pikes Peak run yet this past June.

Tang’s rookie Pikes Peak race was in 2024, in which he recorded a 10:31.372 time, good for 7th in the Unlimited Class and 17th overall. The following year was an odd one, as 85+ mph winds at the summit shortened the race to just past the Glen Cove section, meaning his 4:20.729 time and 6th place in the Unlimited Class weren’t what he’d really hoped for. However in June, 2026, Tang returned in his E46 M3, nicknamed “Ursula,” and had a much, much better run.

Unlike most of the drivers at Pikes Peak, Tang isn’t a pro driver with a big team and even bigger budget. He wasn’t the only self-funded driver there, but tackling the legendary mountain race, and risking not only his car but his life, is personal for him, not his profession. And what made that risk even higher this time around was the news that he and his wife were expecting a baby. “That means the stakes are higher.”

The car that needs to be quick and keep Tang on the pavement is a special one. Ursula is far from a stock E46 M3. It packs a custom-built supercharged S54 engine, making 608 wheel-horsepower at sea level (it’s unclear how much power it makes toward the top of the mountain), and has a 125-horsepower shot of nitrous. The transmission is a Drenth six-speed sequential unit, it has JRZ PROactive dampers with Eibach springs, and has loads of aero. And that’s just the half of it. Ursula is a proper race car.

Tang’s time of 10:06 wasn’t what he’d hoped for, as he wanted to sneak under 10 minutes. However, he likely would have had he not accidentally put two wheels off the pavement at one point. Quick hands and even quicker thinking prevented that from being catastrophic, and he still recorded an outstanding time, so he can feel confident that breaking the 10-minute barrier is within his, and his car’s reach.

Even still, Tang took 2nd place in the Unlimited Class, behind only Romain Dumas, the current Pikes Peak record holder, in a factory Ford “Super Mustang Mach-E.” And he finished 15th overall, out of 75 drivers, which is a remarkable achievement and his best overall placement yet.

The full story of Tom Tang’s run at Pikes Peak was featured in the Fall/Winter 2026 issue of BimmerLife Magazine.