Custom work is the core of a true gearhead’s motto: “built, not bought”.

Fitting off-road gear to a machine never designed to turn a wheel in anger off the beaten path is one of the greatest trends to ever make their way into a custom shop.

This compilation video,  uploaded last summer, shows a few builders who have taken this idea to the extreme. Big-tired Benz? Yup. Extra-wide Trooper? Sure. A Volga with verve? You got it!

Your author’s favorite – by far – is the unholy union of custom off-road kit and a late ’90s BMW 7-Series. Shown above in the video thumbnail wearing a mash of camo patterns and tires taller than most kids, its driver takes the thing over and right on through obstacles that would flummox most other rigs this side of a Sherpa.

Check out some more footage of this big and brutish BMW beast tearing up the snow in this Russian-language video.

A quick Google translation of the video’s description teaches us the owner of the account apparently runs a BMW repair business. We’re just glad they decided to take one and build this epic machine.

As for the rest of the rigs in that first film, to which one would you grab the keys for a day’s wheeling? We won’t judge anyone who decides to select the Smart car.

Well, maybe a little bit.