The F32 435i Is Set Become the Next Spec Racing Hero

In this year’s BMW CCA Club Racing season opener at Virginia International Raceway (VIR), there were 38 entries in SpecE46. As the name suggests, spec classes feature cars that are built to a precise specification defined by the rules, with limited modifications allowed with the engine, chassis, and suspension. This formula produces close competition within reasonable budgets, making club racing more accessible to a larger group.

Spec E46 has long been established, but now a newer model has the potential to become the next big thing in spec racing. The F32 4 Series coupes and F30 generation 3 Series sedans, specifically those powered by the N55 turbocharged six-cylinder engine mated to the ZF eight-speed automatic transmission, are what’s next. This was evident at VIR, as the F32 435i debuted in the PWR3 class, winning two races with cars driven by Phil Wurz and Evan Levine.

BimmerWorld makes a strong case for a potential spec class with F32/F30 435i and 335i cars (SpecF3x).

“The 435i is like four or five seconds faster than a Spec E46, which is a great reference point,” BimmerWorld owner/driver James Clay said after an earlier shakedown of the race car at VIR. “What I like about this car is that it’s paddle-shift and is a proper racing transmission with a tune, and there are readily available donor cars. It’s not like there were 200 cars brought in by BMW Motorsport minus however many were crashed, that will all eventually need $10,000 fuel cells. The F32 435i is a car that is around $40,000 in parts to build and it’s really fast.”

BimmerWorld built both race cars that were at VIR, and the goal from this project is to make a fast and reliable race car on a lower budget than buying a Motorsport-built race car. As good as cars like the M235i Racing, M2 CS, and M4 GT4 are, there aren’t too many of them around and as Clay said, they’re going to all need an expensive fuel cell update at some point. With good used 435i and 335i cars available at relatively low prices, a prospective racer can put more of their money into building one of these cars from the ground up rather than buying a used race car.

BimmerWorld loaned me an in-progress 2014 435i build to participate in the BMW CCA Club Racing School at VIR. The car I drove was still usable for road driving, but it had upgrades that were nearly the same as the race cars that competed at VIR. My car still had most of its interior, so it weighed a lot more, and had a bolt-in roll cage versus the full welded roll cage of the race cars.

There’s a long list of upgrades that were made to the 435i I drove to prepare it for the track. Handling was improved with an MCS single-adjustable suspension package and MCS camber plates, but the race cars also had swaybars installed. Springs were 850 lb. in front and 750 at the rear. Braking upgrades included an M Sport Brake Retrofit Package (which includes Brembo calipers and larger rotors), Performance Friction brake pads, brake cooling deflectors and stainless-steel brake lines. A Diffsonline four-clutch limited slip differential was installed, along with a plethora of other smaller upgrades like solid differential and engine mounts, moonball tension strut bearings up front and an adjustable and reinforced rear toe arm. Again, all the same as the race car.

The engine and transmission on both cars were stock (part of the spec racing value proposition), but the race car was given an ECU reflash on the transmission for quicker shifting, which my car didn’t have yet. There were also some specific upgrades done to the 435i to protect against known issues with the N55 engine, including a BimmerWorld oil pump with a pickup at the front and rear to prevent oil starvation when transitioning from heavy braking to getting hard back on the throttle, as well as aluminum charge pipes (rather than plastic that tend to crack) and upgraded cooling. Clay says that it’s better to start with donor cars that have the BMW M Performance Package, which includes a bumper that brings in more air for better cooling. The hood was also vented to allow more air into the engine bay.

The F32 435i is still a great looking car, and it looked more purposeful with the lower suspension and BimmerWorld TA16 forged wheels. It also felt more focused on the road, with much of the softness of the original car removed with the suspension upgrades and solid mounting points. It was great fun to drive on some of the twisty Virginia roads between BimmerWorld HQ and VIR, but it was still comfortable enough for highway use. Even the OMP racing seats were comfortable over two plus hours of driving, though getting in and out of them required some dexterity.

At the 3.27-mile, 18 turn VIR circuit, the 435i proved to be a very capable track car. BimmerWorld’s upgrades made it a lot of fun to drive. The car put the power down really well coming out of turn one, which was helped by the sticky Continental Extreme Contact Force tires. You could feel the weight in the tight section through turns four and five, but the car felt really stable and confident through the uphill esses, which were taken at over 100mph. Most of the driving in the racing school was with the paddle shifters, and the transmission performed flawlessly. One issue I had during the track sessions was that with the exhaust that was on it, the 435i was just too quiet, so it was hard to anticipate shift points based on the engine sound. Of course, that is easily fixed with a louder exhaust.

The 435i proved to be very fast on the back straight, where it was topping 130mph before braking for the downhill turn 13. I was a little concerned about weight when going downhill through turns 13 through 17, but the 435i was predictable and well controlled. The brakes also held up well over two days of track driving at the school, which included open lapping sessions. At the end of the two days, I could see why this car could be the next popular spec class in Club Racing, but it also gave a strong impression that it would make a really good street-legal track day car as it was.

Phil Wurz was also impressed with the 435i he raced over the weekend, which was the first event for the car after BimmerWorld spent months of working on the project and shaking it down. “The car is really coming alive and I felt like I could push it a lot more,” he said. “The brakes, suspension, everything is working really well together. We’ve got it dialed in pretty good. I’m pretty thrilled with the lap times we’re doing in the car, and there’s been a lot of interest and conversations in this platform.” Phil had a fast lap of 2:01 over the course of the weekend and was setting race lap times that were nearly the same as the Motorsport-built M2 CS (F87) that won three of the four races in the M2 Spec class.

For now, the idea of eventually forming a SpecF3x class in BMW CCA Club Racing is centered on the N55-powered cars, rather than the later B58 cars. As James Clay commented, the cars with the B58 are newer and more expensive on the used car market, but he also pointed out that there were different variations of the B58 engine in the F30/F32 cars, which makes it more complicated to set rules. BimmerWorld chronicled the building of its first 435i race car on YouTube. It’s pretty interesting to watch, especially if you have interest in having one of these cars built for the track. You can also watch a video that includes a lot of on-board running at VIR in the race car at this link.

—David Haueter
[Photos by David Haueter and Kevin Adolf, lead photo by Kevin Adolf]