400HP BMW 435i A Review with T.H.
Category
🤖
TechTranscript
00:00What you are looking at is a BMW 435i.
00:23If you were a fan of these cars, you might notice that this one doesn't exactly look
00:26like it did when it came from the factory.
00:30That's because it's been tuned by Boost Customs and AMT Performance.
00:35So on top of all the silky-looking carbon fiber bits, it also has a few things done
00:39under the hood.
00:42So where a factory 435 makes about 300 horsepower, this one is making 400, and over 400 pound-feet
00:51of torque.
00:53And if you know your BMWs, you might have realized that's around 100 more torque than
00:58the previous generation, M3.
01:07Why thank you, seatbelt thingy.
01:10Let's take this thing for a drive.
01:13Okay, let's see what we got.
01:17Okay, so the stock 3 435, sorry, can't think, does 0-60 in 5 seconds dead.
01:38I don't know how fast that was, because I wasn't counting it in seconds.
01:41I was counting it, and thank god I didn't stuff it.
01:44There's been lots of mods done to this car to turn out that 400-and-something pound-feet
01:48of torque.
01:49We've got a custom exhaust by Boost Customs with the M Performance boxes still left in.
01:54There's a custom downpipe, a custom charge pipe, all those things you can find on the
01:57Boost Customs website.
01:58They sell them all for tons of different cars, including Saabs, actually.
02:02And there was a ECU tune done by Jim from AMT Performance, so they worked in conjunction
02:07with each other, and that has completely transformed the car.
02:18I drove a 335 very recently, and this is nothing like that at all.
02:22It's a completely new car.
02:24That's fourth gear.
02:30The different modes, it's been set up so the Sport and the Eco mode actually change the
02:34exhaust dynamics.
02:37And what that does is it allows for insane backfires.
02:40It literally spits flames.
02:42Not figuratively.
02:43It literally spits flames.
02:59So I'll expect this car out right, in my opinion.
03:02We have rear-wheel drive, none of that X-Drive nonsense, and a manual gearbox.
03:08That's how it should be done in a BMW like this.
03:12Now the 435 itself is a fantastic car.
03:15BMW did a sensationally good job with everything.
03:19And probably the most exciting thing about this car, I'm going to skip right to it.
03:24In the past, BMW only allowed limited-slip differentials on their M cars.
03:29The E36 generation, I'm pretty sure, was the last generation to allow a limited-slip
03:34option.
03:35I'm happy to say, though, that that option is back because this car has a limited-slip
03:39diff.
03:40I just got a thumbs up from a dude in the car.
03:41That doesn't happen to me very often in my 325, I won't lie.
03:45So now, one of the things, I drove an E92 M3 last year, speaking of which, and it blew
03:50my mind a little bit.
03:52One of the things that really stayed with me was the unbelievable sound that it made.
03:59It has a naturally aspirated V8.
04:02This car has a turbocharged inline-six.
04:05And one of the problems with turbocharging is that it kills the sound a little bit.
04:09Now, that problem has kind of been solved with the setup of this car.
04:14Because part of the software tune, if I push this little button down here and switch it
04:18to sport mode, it spits flames.
04:29Oh, I'm going to get in trouble.
04:48I'm going to have to get it out of that mode now, yeah.
04:51That is awesome.
04:52It just, it roars.
04:54I've got this little flap here on the sunroof open, and I'm getting the most amazing sounds
05:00ricocheting off the trees, the signs, the little walls around.
05:04It's filling my ears, even with the windows closed.
05:07I'd have the windows open to hear it, but you wouldn't be able to hear me.
05:19So sound has been taken care of.
05:22Turbocharged or not, who cares?
05:23This thing makes as awesome of a sound as any car I've ever driven.
05:27Now, BMW did a fantastic job with setting up all the parts of the chassis of this car.
05:34With the limited-slip differential and the sport suspension in this car, there's nothing
05:38that I can really say bad about it.
05:41It feels flat, there's a massive amount of front-end grip.
05:49The rear feels incredibly planted, and with the limited-slip diff, I'm getting awesome
05:57translation of the rear wheel's traction as I go around corners.
06:04It's not, I was honestly thinking I was going to be a little bit afraid driving this car
06:08because of how much power it has, 400 horsepower, but I'm not.
06:12It's very accessible.
06:14The tune that's been done on it has not ruined the smoothness of the BMW, it's complemented
06:20it.
06:21So now we're getting this massive package that just means big power, big excitement.
06:27I've got nothing bad to say about it.
06:29Whose Customs has done lots of really cool other stuff to it.
06:32He even chuckles himself about kind of how silly some of the things are, but they're
06:35not silly.
06:36It adds to this whole package and experience.
06:38It's got these awesome headlights that I can change with a little controller to make them
06:42different colors.
06:43Childish yet amazing.
06:45And there's these awesome tire stickers that are done by Treadware Russia, and they say
06:49Boost Customs on them.
06:50You can get them written with anything, so shout out to them for doing a good job because
06:54they look really cool.
06:56You could get them done if you had Michelin tires, get them done in Michelin.
06:59Alright, so one of the big complaints that people had with this new generation of BMW
07:03is that we've moved away from hydraulic steering.
07:07This is electric power steering.
07:09I'll be honest, I find it a little bit light.
07:11They have sacrificed some feel, but I can't argue that it is translating what's happening
07:17on my tires to my hands, so I don't really have any complaints about it.
07:21I could do with it being a little bit heavier, to be honest.
07:23It is, the ratio is fantastic.
07:25Yeah, it goes exactly where I want it to, exactly with the amount of lock that I would
07:30think that it would put on.
07:33And it's communicating what's happening in the back end very, very effectively, actually.
07:39If I get a little bit of slip or the back starts to go, I'm feeling the translation
07:43of the grip of the tires through the steering wheel.
07:45I don't really know what more you'd need.
07:47Alright, so this thing also has the M Performance brakes, so we're coming up to a series of
07:52sweepers here.
07:53Let's see what they got.
08:00A lot is the answer.
08:09Yes.
08:21Now, I remember driving a regular 335, I'm going to put my window up, and I remember
08:26it being exciting.
08:27I remember going, ooh, wow, this is a quick car.
08:31I remember it being very refined and flat.
08:34The tune that's been done to this car has just absolutely awoken a monster.
08:39Like, I'm not saying that this thing is like Ferrari fast, I'm not saying that it is like
08:43crazy M4 fast, but I'm saying that it is fast.
08:47If you drove it, you would go, yeah, that's a fast car.
08:51It's not going to change your life, but it'll let you know what you had for breakfast.
08:57So, if you're a car tuner, you'll probably know that the manufacturer does not make it
09:06easy to tune.
09:07Alex has run into some problems with BMW Canada not really supporting the tuning culture,
09:14which is really unfortunate, because all we're doing is trying to engage more with the vehicle
09:19that they've given us.
09:21And it is a little bit disappointing when you take it into the dealership and they give
09:25you warranty threats and they make it difficult for you to want to do exciting things with
09:30your car, to really get involved with the brand and get involved with the vehicle.
09:36But when all is said and done, it's your car, you do what you want with it, and he's done
09:41what he wanted with it.
09:43So, this is not a naturally aspirated car.
09:47With naturally aspirated cars, you get really snappy response and there's no lag.
09:52I don't want to say that there's lag in this car, but there's a pause between when you
09:57put your foot down and when you feel boost build, but it's not significant, it's not
10:01something that you'd go, oh, this must be turbocharged.
10:05It's almost like you put your foot down and then it punches you in the chest, which is
10:10actually a little bit more exciting, to be honest.
10:13You feel boost come on, it's progressive, it's smooth, and then it just crushes you
10:18into the seat, which is a really exciting part of driving the car.
10:22And I don't think that I would change that.
10:23If you could tell me that right now you could make this car with kind of a naturally aspirated
10:28engine response, I would say, no, I like it exactly how it is.
10:31It's got an incredible amount of character.
10:33I don't know if you can hear it coming through the speakers, but when I put my foot down,
10:37you can feel and hear the turbo spinning, and it goes, and you let off and you hear
10:47the afterwards, right?
10:50Very, very engaging.
10:51Very exciting.
10:52One thing that I really do like, oh, a tunnel.
10:56We're in sport mode.
10:57Oh, my God.
10:58Oh, okay, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, it's okay, it's okay.
11:09All right, so I only thought that it was fair that my camera helper had a chance to experience
11:15the car too.
11:17So here's a little second gear pull.
11:24Oh, my God.
11:28Oh, that doesn't get old.
11:34Now, in case you haven't noticed from some of the outside video, this car is stunning
11:39to look at.
11:40It's got all of the carbon fiber goodies all around it.
11:44It has the carbon fiber rear spoiler that an unnamed BMW dealership seemed to have a
11:49hard time installing.
11:50You can see some of the glue.
11:51That's all I'll say about that.
11:54But the rest of it looks fantastic.
11:56It's got a few little flaws here and there, but that just tells you that Alex wants to
12:01drive it.
12:02He told me, I said, like, don't worry, man, I'll be careful with your car.
12:05And he's like, no, no, no, no, drive it, right?
12:08Which that's a really valuable thing.
12:10If that's what my tuner says about his own car, then I think that's kind of the place
12:15that I'd want to go back to.
12:18So the thing about this car, with these crazy backfires, that, okay, shh, shh, shh, okay,
12:29back in comfort mode, the thing about it is that it's still a 435.
12:35Even with all this insane tuning and the fact that it spits flames with literally the
12:40push of a button, it just becomes a normal BMW.
12:43There's a few gurgles to remind you that you've got some, uh, you've got some horsepower,
12:48but other than that, it's just a very smooth car to drive.
12:51I have absolutely no complaints.
12:53The ride is still very BMW, even with the few suspension modifications that he made.
12:59But other than that, there really isn't anything that I can say about it that would be a compromise.
13:05It doesn't feel like any compromises to just a regular driving car have been made for all
13:10of this performance, which I don't really know what more you can ask for, I suppose,
13:14when it comes to tuning a car.
13:15See, I feel like with my 325, I'm making compromises left, right, and center with the lightweight
13:20flywheel, the stiff sway bars.
13:21I'm going to put, you know, heavier dampers and springs in it all to like get that, that
13:26really heavy track car feel.
13:29I think that this thing would just lunch a regular car on the track and then on the drive
13:34home, you wouldn't even know.
13:36So that's pretty much all you want in a daily driver that you take to the track occasionally.
13:44You know what?
13:45After all the tuning that Alex has done, I, yeah, I think it pretty much feels like an
13:51M car.
13:52And that's about the highest praise I can give it.
14:52Thanks for tuning in.
14:53I'll see you next time.
14:54Bye.
15:22Transcribed by https://otter.ai
15:52Transcribed by https://otter.ai