CHALLENGE - F30 335 / 328 Product Development Begins! - Progress Thread
Over the weekend we started to tear into our F30 335i sport to see what improvements we can make to the cars power train and other mechanical systems. Naturally, we got her up on a lift so we can give the car a good look over to see what stands out as needing improvement over the stock equipment. We plan on offering a full line of performance and cosmetic enhancements for both the F30 335 and 328i models, with some parts crossing over between the 2 models. F30 M sport and M3 parts will of course follow once the car is released. We took a handful of photos so you guys can see what your new car looks like and have a reference to what we'll be developing moving forward.
Exhaust and Down Pipe ( Cat )
The factory exhaust is actually already a full 3inch unit minus a few small areas where its pinched down a bit here and there. The main restriction point is the rear canister it would seem. The valve system on the canister also help keep it on the quiet side and restricts flow for most of the low to mid RPM range. New on the F30 is the valve system, is now electronic. The previous was a vacuum based system. A bottle style resonator is also used in the mid pipe for keeping sound in check
The F30 now uses a single inlet, single outlet catted down pipe. The E90 N55 used a single in, to dual outlet design. This new design gets rid of the previous unnecessary exhaust split. The cat is typically huge as its the only cat now on the N55. Previous N54 and N55 1 and 3 series used a primary and secondary setup. We should see some nice solid gains once we fit our catless downpipe.
Intercooler
Like the E90 generation car, the F30 uses an aluminum core with plastic end tank design intercooler. There is plenty of room in front of the fans to add another few inches of intercooler core size. We plan to take over this additional space! BMW uses a special clip in style connection at the intercooler hose joints on both sides. We'll be sure to include similar machined edges on our upgraded intercoolers so that stock hosing can be reused with no hassle.
Intake system
The F30 has a relative low restriction intake with a straight path to the drivers headlight area and small ducting that leads to the center grill openings. We'll be looking at ways to maximize the stock configuration, as well as a high flow full replacement in testing.
Oil Cooling
The F30 uses a single passenger side oil cooler stock mounted ahead of the front wheel. The oem bumper has a good sized opening to feed this cooler, but there is room for improvement in the size of the oil cooler core. We'll be exploring a single larger cooler as well as adding a second. We expect the M sport model will also use 2 coolers, or a larger core once released late summer. This has always been an import area for the N54/N55 cars to address for those that want to take the car to the road course.
Just got some of the prototype machined parts for the down pipe and exhaust for the 335 as well as the aluminum ends for the intercooler. These aluminum couplers will allow the use of the OEM special clip in quick connectors for an OEM fit!
We'll be updating this thead with further development and testing photos/videos/dynos. Check back often!