Looking for a BMW IT car...what class should I pick?

[sfoster13]

New to IT. Currently race in Porsche club and NASA with a 1982 911 but ITR doesn't look that appealing - my car doesn't look competitive and I would imagine the fields are still pretty small. Figured I try a BMW and race SCCA and BMW. Which IT class are the BMW's competitive in? Are they the class killer in any particular class? I was thinking about an e30 platform. Looking for a full field with tight racing. Thanks for the help.

[JeffYoung]

E30 325e is competitive in A.

E30 325is is still fairly competitive in S.

Not sure about 318ti in A, looks like it could be competitive.

E36 325is is competitive in S even with the restrictor.

E46 323 is competitive in S.

1.9 Z3 is getting competitive in A.

320i and 2002 in B I don't know much about.

[JoshS]

ITR is still fairly small, but it's not going to get bigger unless people bring cars! If you don't want to bring your 911 but want to race a BMW, I'd suggest an E36 325i, E36 328i, or Z3 2.8 in ITR.

[Doc Bro]

In the Northeast the classes to be in are ITA and ITS. They have the largest fields. ITB isn't too bad either. I tried to list them by car count #'s. A seems to eek out S in #'s but not by much. S has the highest # of BMW's with e36's and e46's consistently up front. A has the e36 318is and the e37 Z3. B has 2002's and a random e30 318 every once in a while.

Welcome to the region and the Northeast BMW racing community.

R

[sfoster13]

Thanks for the help. I might try my 911 in R, but the other Porsches in the class are in higher classes in PCA. I know I would have a pretty tough time with them because I race against them out of class right now. They are all a class above me in PCA.

Besides, I'm looking to get more local races in so being able to run BMW and SCCA would be a plus in addition to NASA and PCA.

[Andy Bettencourt]

My choice in R would be the 2000 E46 325ci. You get the nice weight of the 2.5, the nice E46 rear suspension, the well developed I6 platform all in a tasty coupe...

[Ron Earp]

Sean, glad you came over to the IT forum to have a look around. You'll find some good advice here.

You won't find so many "class killers" in IT since the ITAC has done a pretty good job of taking care of that. R, S, and A all have multiple cars that can win those classes so you'll have plenty to chose from.

I think you will find (just comparing the cars, not the drivers) that if your car is competitive in IT, then it'll be slightly under prepped in BMW Club Racing. And, if prepped for max effect in BMW Club racing, it'll probably be illegal in IT. However, you'll get more racing in the SCCA it appears.

Ron

[sfoster13]

Hey Ron

Thanks for the link and the info. Getting some good stuff over here. I know what you mean about BMW...in PCA you can spend as much money as you have to be competitive.

Sean

[Ron Earp]

It isn't the money thing, it is the rules set. BMW Club allows throttle body changes, cam changes, and some other things while IT doesn't. IT allows spherical bearings and some other modifications I don't think the BMW set does (going on memory from discussions here, I've not looked at the BMW rules).

I think the reverse happens with Porsche Cup cars in the 944 class - they'll be underprepped for IT and IT would be illegal there. Don't they allow minimal mods?

It'd be nice if PCA/BMW Clubs would adopt a similar rules set to SCCA. I think you'd see car counts go up on both sides, but I think they fear an exodus maybe, I'm not sure. I remember this being discussed some years back.

I'd like to have an IT car that was legal to run in PCA or BMW racing for the additional track time. For me I don't care so much about being competitive in a series I'd only run occasionally.

Ron

[sfoster13]

Gotcha. I think the knock on running scca for the PCA guys outside of 944 is the fear of contact. It's pretty well mitigated in PCA with the 13/13 rule. The guys with the expensive cars just don't want the risk. Even with similar rule sets you might not see a lot of 911 guys coming over to scca.

I agree about not getting too worried about being competitive, but it is racing :)

I'd like a car that would be more competitive in scca than BMW.

[lateapex911]

The E36 is a good choice, as it seems very much competitive in ITS form, with the narrower wheels and the restrictor, and it could be moved to ITR easily with minor changes. Off the top of my head, if ITR and ITS were in different run groups, you might be able to race the same car in both classes in one weekend.

One other observation I've noted is that the SCCA guys who do cross over to BMWCCA with their ITS cars often seem to do very well there, even if their cars are less than full prep for the BMWCCA class they are running in.

Food for thought....

(You're right about the 911SC in ITR...it would be a long uphill battle to get it competitive...might not be possible, except where car counts are low)

[JoshS]

BMWCCA allows IT cars to run in their Prepared classes, in IT trim. ITR cars are all allowed to run in JP at their ITR weight. Can't mix-and-match rules -- you are either prepared to the IT rules or prepared to the Prepared rules (i.e., if you put cams into your IT car, then you are a Prepared car, and must meet all of the prepared rules, including weight).

Makes crossing over pretty easy ... thanks BMWCCA!