Editorial - BMWCar 'Just Right' - F22 M235i - Dec 15
This article refers to the Southern BM (our Australian partner) demonstrator M235i.
JUST RIGHT - BMWCar Magazine
It seems like the M235i is loved the world over and here we have a subtle but stylish machine from Australia using a blend of M Performance and Dinan upgrades.
The M235i is, as has often been stated, the Goldilocks car of the BMW range. In terms of price, power, handling, practicality and even history, it hits the spot. This is especially the case in Australia, where
BMW list it at $55,000 in base form. In a country where a standard Cayman (the car’s natural rival in
the UK) sells for double that, it has no real rivals. The new Mustang isn’t there yet, the local Holden and
Ford performance heroes are much larger (and four-door), and none of its Japanese or European rivals
are rear-wheel drive. It kind of explains why, when it first launched in Australia last year, there was actually
a waiting list.
That price also makes it the perfect base for tuning. Recent economic conditions in Australia mean that
while the rich get richer (as they do elsewhere) and order ever more supercars, most people aren’t in a
position to spend huge sums on modification. So an already fast and affordable base is a great starting
point. But what to do? Obviously there’s a limit, given most people’s budgets, so it’s probably best to just
make it look nicer and go a bit faster. But here again, there are options. Do you go aftermarket for
everything, or do you go factory? After all, unlike some manufacturers, BMW does offer a large number
of add-ons via its M Performance program. Perhaps a mix is the best way – combining the factory fit and
finish of OEM parts and using aftermarket where the manufacturer doesn’t offer what you want?
This is exactly the path Southern BM, one of Australia’s largest BMW specialists, decided to go
down with its own M235i build. It realised there was room in the market for an affordable modification
package to this popular performance car, and having gone the ‘all-aftermarket’ route for many of its other,
more extreme builds, it wanted to offer something cheaper, simpler and easier to put together for its
M235i customers.
Given body and interior modifications are one area where hassles (namely fit and finish-related) almost
always occur, the first order of business was to order extensively from the M Performance catalogue for
these parts. On went almost the entire range of available exterior components, including front and
rear lip spoilers, rear diffuser, carbon mirror covers, black kidney grille inserts, side skirt flashes and even
decals, as well as the lovely 19-inch forged, double-spoke wheels. Inside, the excellent, hi-tech M
Performance Alcantara wheel with race display replaced the standard tiller, not only adding some
cool looks and a great steering feel, but also extra information for the driver. Many of the plastic
components and panels were replaced by Alcantara and carbon ones, too.
The results were, even after this round of alterations, profound. Decals aside, the exterior changes are subtle, but work together to help give the car a more planted, solid feel. Indeed, the extra aggression is something that many would probably argue the M235i needed from the factory. Andrew Brien, Southern BM’s co-founder, agrees, saying the looks were his team’s favourite part of the car. “We like the styling. BMW really changed up the looks with the introduction of this car and with the additional BMW M Performance parts, it really is a head-turner.” Inside as well, the seemingly small changes all come together to make the cabin a much more inviting and pleasant place to be. Slipping into the supportive leather seats, there’s an air of not just quality (as you’d find on the standard model), but genuine sportiness thanks to the carbon cladding and Alcantara coverings. It makes the M235i really feel like a driver’s car, and it’s an interior you don’t want to get out of.
Initially, Southern BM also fitted an M Performance exhaust and brake discs to try and add some extra
sportiness, but while the exhaust fitted perfectly and sounded great, Brien and his team also wanted to
offer something more for customers, so as part of fitting a Dinan P1 Power Package (the aftermarket part
of the mix), the M Performance system got dropped in favour of the included Dinan Free Flow stainless
steel exhaust.
Moving the car around for the shoot, it became obvious how different the Dinan exhaust was from the
M Performance one, too. Listening to a YouTube video Southern BM posted of the factory version prior to the
shoot, it’s clear the OEM pipes added a great bark on start up, a throaty burble on idle and a harder-edged
metallic sound when revved, but the Dinan version steps it up a notch. You still get the bark on start up
and burbling idle, but you get an even harder metallic kick on revving and it’s noticeably more baritone in its
delivery. Southern BM has videos of both exhausts on its YouTube channel so they’re worth checking out for
yourself if you’re planning to make such a move.
The rest of the P1 package includes a carbon fibre cold air intake and Dinantronics Stage 2 tune, and
fitting it all together was a smart move. Not only are all the parts designed to work in unison, in keeping
with the whole ‘no fuss’ concept Southern BM wanted to offer, but attempting to tune things itself didn’t
make much sense anyway. “With the introduction of the F-series cars, the tuning market changed a lot. These cars are no longer easily tuneable by means of flash tuning via OBD. We
are Dinan dealers and the software development team at Dinan have great resources and talent to
achieve a more enjoyable driver experience,” says Brien. The fact it also offers high-quality, ‘no
compromise’ parts is just icing on the cake, so it’s no wonder Southern BM went with this kit.
It’s hard to argue with the results, too. A quick chassis dyno check showed the components added
50whp, and while that’s less than the 56hp claimed by Dinan, as we all know, dyno differences, the
weather on the day and other factors always come into play, so the claim seems solid.
Interestingly, Brien argues that “the most impressive part of the tune is the increase in torque (a claimed
84lb ft), which allows you to pull hard when you open up the throttle”.
As they say, though, power is nothing without control, which is why the final step in building this machine was fitting a Quaife ATB diff. “What is lacking on modern BMW cars is mechanical grip,” says Brien. “As you pull out of a corner, you want the throttle to respond, not react to traction control, so the Quaife LSD is a must-have.” For the unfamiliar, Quaife’s ATB series uses a helical, torque-biasing unit (as opposed to the more common clutch packs such as the BMW option) which may not provide the same aggressive lock-up, but is much more usable on the road. Indeed, it’s likely you won’t notice it at all during daily driving – there is no clunking or recalcitrance. As with the rest of the build, it’s essentially like it was there from the factory.
While it wasn’t possible to try the diff out at speed on the day of the shoot, riding along in a highly tuned
135i with one fitted a few weeks beforehand gave some insight into how much of a difference it makes.
Not only does it work with the factory DSC, but when you turn the electronic aids off and slam the throttle,
instead of traction control limiting things, both wheels spin up at equal speed and you get to enjoy the full
accelerative force of the fettled N55 engine. It’s sublime. There’s also a very noticeable increase in
turn-in, which, combined with the extra grip from the 19-inch Pirellis on the M235i, would no doubt
transform it from being a nice, fast daily to a much more enjoyable winding road weapon. Indeed, Brien
says that is exactly the case: “Not that the original car is in need of upgrades – they are nice cars out-of-the-box – but with these upgrades it makes this a really nice car and more enjoyable to drive.”
Interestingly, despite the ever-increasing popularity of track days, Brien says he hasn’t taken it out on track
just yet to truly test its limits, but then, that wasn’t ever really the brief for this car. “We weren’t looking to
build a track car. To us, they are different beasts, looking to achieve different results. This car is a road
tourer that you can have some comforts in if you are out cruising, but performs if you want to take the car
to task up in the mountains.” Brien says they have considered building a “more extreme version”, and for track use would recommend Dinan anti-roll bars and Monoball kit, as well as performance pads, but for now, he’s happy with where the car is. “This build is to show the road user what can be achieved when looking for a clean road tourer,” he says. That ‘clean’ part is actually worth mentioning for those who might perhaps be unaware how important a low-key car is in Australia, especially the state of Victoria, where Southern BM is based. That’s because Australia in general, and Victoria in particular, has very restrictive laws when it comes to car modification. Bar some very small freedoms (mainly wheels, suspension and engine tuning mods
that result in no more than a 20 per cent power gain), almost any aftermarket performance tuning needs to
be certified by approved workshops, and given the truly serious stuff will likely never pass certification
anyway, most people don’t even try. Even when they are approved or within legal boundaries to begin with, poorly-trained police can still pull your car over if they think it’s illegal and stick a nice, yellow defect notice on your windscreen that can’t be removed until you show them proof or get things recertified. This is why Victorian enthusiasts these days often try and go unnoticed and avoid police attention in the first place, and while this M235i is only lightly modified and therefore completely legal, the fact it’s relatively subtle means you’re likely to avoid being pulled over unnecessarily. Actually, the fact it can fly under the radar means
this M235i ticks another box on the Goldilocks list. Right price, right performance, right practicality level
and even right amount of tuning to be legal and avoid scrutiny. It really is just right.
CONTACT:
Southern BM
Website: www.southernbm.com.au
Southern BM F22 M235i
ENGINE: N55 3.0-litre turbocharged straight-six
POWER: 308rwhp (230rwkW)
ENGINE MODIFICATIONS: Dinan P1 Power
Package (carbon fibre cold air intake, free
flow stainless steel exhaust, Dinantronics Stage
2 tune)
DRIVELINE MODIFICATIONS:
Standard ZF eight-speed Steptronic automatic gearbox
Quaife ATB LSD
CHASSIS/SUSPENSION MODIFICATIONS:
Standard M Performance adaptive dampers
Standard suspension arms and anti-roll bars
WHEELS AND TYRES: M Performance double-spoke 624
forged wheels (7.5x19-inch front, 8x19-inch rear), Pirelli
P Zero RSC tyres (225/35 R19 front, 245/30 R19 rear)
BRAKES: Stock M Performance Brembo aluminium
brake callipers (four-piston front, two-piston rear), M
Performance cross-drilled and slotted s (370mm x
30mm front, 345mm x 24mm rear)
EXTERIOR:
M Performance front splitter
M Performance carbon fibre rear spoiler
M Performance rear diffuser
M Performance carbon fibre mirror caps
M Performance side stripes kit
M Performance Rocker Panel film set
M Performance gloss black grilles
INTERIOR:
M Performance Alcantara steering wheel with carbon trim and race display
M Performance carbon fibre and Alcantara interior trim set
M Performance carbon fibre shifter console
M Performance carbon fibre selector lever trim
M Performance carbon fibre and Alcantara handbrake handle assembly