BMW SA Showcases a F30 BMW 335i Race Car

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BMW South Africa, in collaboration with ADF Motorsport, has unveiled an F30 BMW 335i racing car, which will compete in the SA Production Car championship in 2012. According to the company, this is the first F30 3 Series racing car in the world and it will debut at Wesbank Super Series race meeting at Killarney in Cape Town on March 31st.

ADF Motorsport was responsible for the development of the car which will have behind the wheel the 2010 Production Car Champion Anthony Taylor and Etienne van der Lindec.

Team principal Donovan van Heerden said it took the team less than two months to build the first race car, at a cost of R2 million or $260,000 US dollars.

The F30 335i racer weighs just over 1360 kg and is powered by the N55 TwinPower turbocharged engine.

No power upgrade was given to the 335i due to the SA Production car regulations which stipulate a 40mm restrictor plate on the turbo inlet and no more than 0.7 bar of boost. However, thanks to a modified engine management system, exhaust and turbocharger have been, it still delivers more than 300kW and 600Nm of torque.

To keep the weight in check, ADF Motorsport used plenty of carbon-fiber parts from BMW’s new M Performance aftermarket catalogue, including 370mm M Performance front disk brakes, 18” BBS rims and a very authoritative Akrapovic exhaust system.

“The partnership with ADF Motorsport represents a big step for BMW South Africa in showcasing various BMW M Performance parts available for customers to fit in their cars without compromising on their warranty, especially those who appreciate performance parts in their vehicles and are eager to have these parts fitted in the new BMW 3 Series. We are excited to partner again with Team Afrox and anticipate a successful season together,” says Rod Baxter, general manager of Aftersales supply chain at BMW South Africa.

“In addition, we installed a MoTeC engine control unit featuring the new M1 system which makes this car the first in the world to run direct injection on a production based race car. We have also fitted a GPS data logging process system, which draws data from the engine management system to warn the driver of any electronic faults during racing,” says van Heerden.