lightening the Ti

[graphik]

any ways to make my car lighter? are there any spots with a lot of sound deadening material i can remove? thx for the help!

alex

[1996 328ti]

Carpet, sound deadening in the trunk and doors.
Change to lighter wheels, aluminum control arms.
Remove rear seat, tools and spare.
Remove AC. You can probably replace the electric windows with manual. If you have a sunroof, remove the motor and seal up the roof.

Eventually it will be undrivable on the street unless your idea is to turn it into a racecar.

[ClubSport]

Spare tire + toolkit is about 40 lbs.
Rear seats, bolsters, and insulation underneath about another 40.
Probably another 15 lbs of carpeting and insulation in the trunk.
Rear floormats - don't need those.

[graphik]

thanks for all the tips guys, im not looking to turn this into a race car, just looking for a few ways to lose some weight. This car is so quiet compared to my e30 and 2002.

alex

[drollywally]

The standerd exhaust system is unbelievably heavy, i have replaced it from the manifold back with a stainless de-cat and system off ebay which was feather weight in comparison, de-cat was £125 and exhaust was £175 and both are still available. The cat can be easily swapped back for mots. The weight saved here is at a guess 25kg(no ****!), also another awesome mod is source a second hand solid flywheel off a non aircon car(ebay 25quid) get it lightened at a local engineering shop(45 quid). duel mass was 13kg and the machined one was 8.2kg. these mods made the car so much more responsive and saved a massive chunk of weight.

[ti3]

besides the things already mentioned (and I'm not sure if the same can be done on the M44, but I did it for my s50) radiator fan delete, but it takes some changing around of the thermostat, water wetter, etc... to make it work well, otherwise you run the risk of overheat in traffic and stuff. CF hood, CF sunroof I believe they even have a cf trunk lid, but its crazy expensive. lightweight flywheel, if you are looking for a little more pep, you can go with the aluminum underdrive pulleys which will also decrease weight very slightly. Front seat delete(this one is fun for driving people around) Sound system delete. headliner, carpet delete. Hatch cover delete(that plastic piece over the trunk area) antenna delete, rear, and possibly even front wiper delete, wiper fluid resevoir(sp?) delete, steering pump delete, cruise control delete, LTW battery, ltw exhaust/manifold... should I continue? it all depends on how far you are willing to go.
Some of us don't mind loosing a few creature comforts for maximum lightweight, it also depends on how much you want to spend for aftermarket things such as CF/fiberglass parts. Some things are easier to part with than others... some don't affect anything, because you never use them anyway. But at least here is some stuff to get you thinking... you have to decide where to draw that line on what stays and what goes.

[cooljess76]

It's not so much as how much weight you remove, as is where the weight is removed from. For instance, any type of rotational weight reduction such as wheels/tires, brake rotors and driveline will have a more significant affect on how well the car accelerates. Weight removed from the front of the car will affect steering and braking while weight removed from the rear of the car may affect traction. Weight removed from the top of the car will help the car handle better than if weight was removed from the bottom of the car.

Ideally you want your car to have a low center of gravity, meaning all of the heavy stuff positioned as low as possible and towards the center. You need weight over the rear wheels, but not so much that it bogs them down as they're the driving force of the vehicle. You need weight over the front wheels, but not so much it turns your car into a plow.

These cars come from the factory with an excellent f/r weight distribution. Not sure the exact specifications, but it's very close to 50/50. They were engineered this way on purpose as this is why they have such awesome handling characteristics. Also keep in mind, they were designed mainly for comfort and practical street use, so it should be a fair assumption that improvements can be made.

However, it should be noted that removing certain items, while they may seem heavy and uneccessary, can weaken the structual integrity of the vehicle and compromise the safety of the occupants. If you're using this vehicle on the street, you have to take into consideration the consequenses if you're involved in an accident.

For example, I removed my spare tire and it's carrier since the tire scraped on driveways, the rubber was rotted and the carrier was rusted. I thought I was doing good by removing weight, but now that I think about it, I was removing weight from the worst possible spot. Remember, you want weight distributed low and evenly. Even worse, now my car is vulnerable in the event of a rear end collision. The car may not crumple in the exact way it was intended and my fuel tank may be susceptible to some sort of rupture or contact with the exhaust.

Most of the interior trim is not only designed to be cosmetic, it's also there to protect you by absorbing impact. While the plastic covered pillars don't exactly feel like cushions, trust me, they're a lot softer than the steel structure they're covering. I used to think that a rollcage was the ultimate safety measure. Fact is, if you're not strapped in with a proper harness and wearing a helmet, a rollcage can kill you if your head bounces off of it in a 20mph impact. The door panels, dashboard, even the pillar covers are safety features designed to protect you.