Visiting Custom Creations : BMW Specialists in Vereeniging

In a quiet street off one of the main roads of Vereeniging the BMW M-coloured pillars of Custom Creations are clear and immediate pointers as to what cars you will find inside.

Words and images: Wilhelm Lutjeharms

Walk through the doors and on your left a cupboard proudly shows the magazines which have featured some of the cars Luis Malhou has restored. Most notably, he is probably the main guy in South Africa to sit down if you want to know anything about the very rare E12 BMW 530 MLE. After all, he was tasked by BMW South Africa to source and restore such a model for their heritage collection.

In the foyer of Custom Creations you will find no less than two such examples parked, an E30 convertible as well as a BMW 1M – covering a number of decades of some of BMW’s finest.

Restorations

Walk into the workshop and apart from a number of classics, there are also a number of modern cars and even a Mini. Custom Creations have clearly branched out in the recent past. However, Luis never set out to become a BMW specialist, he explains his story.

“Several years ago I had a couple of BMW 2002s as well as two 530 MLEs. I stored them at the back of the building we are sitting in now. At the time I was involved with a Nando’s, but then my brother gave me some advice. He said I should finish the restorations on some of my classic BMWs and sell them. I started with a black 1602.”

That was around eight years ago. 

“A friend told me I should post what I'm doing on Facebook, so other owners and collectors can see. Then I opened an Instagram account where I could post about the cars. And then owners started phoning me, saying they had a 2002 and that it needed some work done to it. Or they would ask for some advice regarding where to find parts. That is how all this started.”

Throughout his life Luis has always been working on cars in some way. In the past he was also responsible for building oil camps in Africa. To keep things interesting, Luis studied industrial design. One thing is clear, he likes to work with his hands. 

“My first BMW was an E12 518i that my dad bought me many years ago. The car was in a terrible state though. I drove it while I was studying. One thing led to another and after a flirt with a Japanese car I bought my first E30, a 320i sedan. I overhauled its engine and changed the car to a 325i.”

530 MLE to modern BMWs

After a long and complicated sequence of events, Luis managed to find the 530 MLE that belonged to his father in 2007. The car was in a terrible condition and over the next few years Luis restored this car at home before he completed it in 2011. Throughout this period of time he went to look at another few cars in South Africa to source the necessary spare parts to finish his father’s car. 

The public and enthusiasts’ focus on the 530 MLE in South Africa came when Luis was given a 530 MLE that was a complete wreck. At the time BMW SA was looking for one to add to their collection and when Luis told them that he sourced car number 100 (chassis number 770100), it was decided to fully restore the car. 

“Peter-Kaye Eddie gave me this car and he helped put my business on the map. He said he knew I would be able to do something with the car. And so, the project started. When I finally got the car, which was a wreck, in my workshop I actually didn’t know if it was restorable. Money and time, however, can fix a lot of things and fortunately BMW South Africa had set aside a decent budget for this project.”

As Luis owns number 21 and number 13 of the Series 1 530 MLE cars, Malhou was also grateful for the assistance of BMW Classic during the restoration of number 100.

Malhou is quick to point out that without his workshop assistant, Isaias Machaieie, they would not have been able to finish the project on time. “Isaias completed most of the stripping work, as well as the labelling and safe storage of the various parts. He also assisted in putting the car back together. He is just as much a part of the car as I am.” 

“We only know of around eight Series 1 cars left, most are still here in South Africa. These cars were 525 and 528s when BMW pulled them off the production line and started to modify them by hand, so a lot of the parts are the same as the base models. An interesting fact is that all of the weight-reduction holes were drilled by hand, so no two shells are identical.

In 2019 the 530 MLE restoration was completed and today the car still forms part of BMW SA’s heritage collection.

Over the years Luis has become entrenched in the BMW community. Whether it is for a simple service of a classic BMW, sourcing parts or even more significant work, he will be able to assist owners. 

At the same time Luis realised that only doing restorations won’t build the business, so he invested in equipment and staff and is now servicing more modern BMWs as well.