Lose 30lbs on the bumper craig diet

[ClassyCrusader]

Not sure if this is common knowledge but apparently there's 30lbs of secret weight that can be taken out in the rear bumper. Tbh we know that bmw make different panels out of different materials for weight distribution so it was probably put there to make it more balanced (the trunk is heavy as f***!). Between battery, tools, spare, and this i could lose 100lbs just in the back, but I havent just because thatd mean id have to lose 100lbs in the front. Anyways enough of my banter heres my source, check it out:

View: https://youtu.be/qclozBiIjqk

 

[Sean d]

Yes and it's there for a reason, bmw didn't spend millions fitting these to every z3 for no reason, just go on a diet and lose a bit of weight

 

[the Nefyn cat]

Cruel. But fair.Although I did find a weight jiggling around on the silencer on mine shortly after buying it and took it off, and the car still works. Obviously BMW had their reasons, but it was pretty much hanging off anyway, and I've noticed a drop in standing quarter times and a gain in top speed. Or I could be lying.

 

[Dino D]

Bmw spend lots on lol sorta of stuff, doesn’t stop me from improving it with my infinite wisdom and R&D budget

I think the weights were only there to counter crap build quality that caused vibrations anyway...

 

[Stevo7682]

The weight is there to achieve the 50 / 50 weight distribution and to provide more downloads load on the rear tyres.
And as the E30 rear end didn't exactly have the best of records for wet handling ( bit twitchy like a number of rear drive cars of the day ) I would be wanting to keep the right load on the tyres .


As already said BMW didn't just hang them there because they just happened to have some spare metal hanging around this is something that is still used on modern bmw vehicles so must serve a purpose in my opinion.

 

[Dino D]

The weight is there to achieve the 50 / 50 weight distribution and to provide more downloads load on the rear tyres.
And as the E30 rear end didn't exactly have the best of records for wet handling ( bit twitchy like a number of rear drive cars of the day ) I would be wanting to keep the right load on the tyres .


As already said BMW didn't just hang them there because they just happened to have some spare metal hanging around this is something that is still used on modern bmw vehicles so must serve a purpose in my opinion.

I believe these are vibration dampers not just dead weight to cancel out some vibes.
Hence apparent in all the cars regardless of engine size.
You’ll notice more effect by having the wrong tyre pressure or different tyres than these weight.

BMW engineer all sorts of things for mass made cars that may or may not suit the actual owner -luckily I own mine so I do what I like to make it mine

now imagine they oust as much thought into the boot floor welds...

 

[the Nefyn cat]

Being as BMW refer to them as vibration dampers then there is a fair chance that they are, indeed, dead weight to cancel out some vibes. And, as for the boot floor issues, BMW didn't expect people to hang on to their cars for this long. How are manufacturers to make a profit if owners keep putting them back together every time something goes wrong? There'll be a few names from on here on an official BMW hit-list.

 

[Delk]

Has anyone on here driven without them?

Mines lowered on poly bushings and poly engine mounts. A bit of vibration to loose 30 pounds doesn't sound bad to me.

 

[the Nefyn cat]

30 pounds off a car that weighs well over a ton? That's about five gallons of petrol.

 

[t-tony]

Close, but not quite?

Petrol weighs 0.7489 gram per cubic centimeter or 748.9 kilogram per cubic meter, i.e. density of petrol is equal to 748.9 kg/m³. In Imperial or US customary measurement system, the density is equal to 46.75 pound per cubic foot [lb/ft³], or 0.4329 ounce per cubic inch [oz/inch³] .

Tony.

 

[ClassyCrusader]

If you go full race car its worth it. Especially if you add a roll cage, with all the extra stuff near the trunk you can lose itd almost be like its not there

 

[the Nefyn cat]

Close, but not quite?

Petrol weighs 0.7489 gram per cubic centimeter or 748.9 kilogram per cubic meter, i.e. density of petrol is equal to 748.9 kg/m³. In Imperial or US customary measurement system, the density is equal to 46.75 pound per cubic foot [lb/ft³], or 0.4329 ounce per cubic inch [oz/inch³] .

Tony.

If we're going to be pedantic, and why not, temperature and pressure will have an influence on weight of any fluid. But I'm not too concerned about that, in the same way that I'm not too concerned about the possibility of losing 30 pounds from a car that weighs well over a ton. I gave up smoking a couple of years ago and gained roughly half that, it's going again but it takes a while. And if I wanted to race or track-day something I'd build one of these, not hard given some tubing and a motorbike engine, and laugh at all the people with their fat cars.

Lose 30 pounds.

 

[GZed]

If we're going to be pedantic, and why not, temperature and pressure will have an influence on weight of any fluid. But I'm not too concerned about that, in the same way that I'm not too concerned about the possibility of losing 30 pounds from a car that weighs well over a ton. I gave up smoking a couple of years ago and gained roughly half that, it's going again but it takes a while. And if I wanted to race or track-day something I'd build one of these, not hard given some tubing and a motorbike engine, and laugh at all the people with their fat cars.
View attachment 139639
Lose 30 pounds.

That looks like a Lotus. Wasn't Colin Chapman's mantra to "add lightness"?

 

[the Nefyn cat]

"Add lightness and simplify", I think. There's plenty of Lotus 7 lookalikes around, somewhere I've got a copy of https://www.amazon.co.uk/Build-Your...90W65392HPX&psc=1&refRID=26943XTJK90W65392HPX , never built it, built something else instead, along the lines of

 

[Dino D]

That looks like a Lotus. Wasn't Colin Chapman's mantra to "add lightness"?

+ dodgy electrics, glue, water leaks etc etc

 

[the Nefyn cat]

+ dodgy electrics, glue, water leaks etc etc

You can add self-dismantling engines to that. How do I know?

 

[Steve Medlock]

Lots Of Trouble Usually Serious...

 

[Pingu]

I'm not saying that it was the only cause, but I have a car in my garage that didn't have these weights fitted. I have another one on the road that does .

 

[Jack Ratt]

Close, but not quite?

Petrol weighs 0.7489 gram per cubic centimeter or 748.9 kilogram per cubic meter, i.e. density of petrol is equal to 748.9 kg/m³. In Imperial or US customary measurement system, the density is equal to 46.75 pound per cubic foot [lb/ft³], or 0.4329 ounce per cubic inch [oz/inch³] .

Tony.

Who remembers the old rhyming quotation from our schooldays? ........"a pint of water weighs a pound and a quarter" so a gallon of water weighs 10 pounds. On this sort of quantity 30lb will equate to 3 gallons of petrol, give or take a spit