M3 weight balance

[EstorilRoc3060]

I'm curious, has anyone taken the time to do the math on keeping BMW's near 50/50 weight distribution?

Like if someone takes out the spare what would the weight bias be then, if you were to add a CF hood, would that "balance" it back out?

Just curious

[ptldM3]

Even without the spare the rear would be slightly heavier.

[giterdone]

I'm curious, has anyone taken the time to do the math on keeping BMW's near 50/50 weight distribution?

Like if someone takes out the spare what would the weight bias be then, if you were to add a CF hood, would that "balance" it back out?

Just curious

it is like 49.7 and 50.3 I believe (I'm at work, so don't have the article in front of me). The car is said to weigh 3175 I believe. So 50.3% of the stock weight is 1597 in the rear and 1577 in the front. Weigh the spare tire (lets jsut guess and say it is 35 lbs). So 1597 - 35 = 1562. That is now 49.2% which would make the front 50.8. Now these numbers are just examples of how you can do the work. It all comes down to you weighing your own individual vehicle before you start modding, (or now as your benchmark) and then weigh every thing you do from here on.

It gets tricky when you get to parts near the middle, like say the sunroof.

[Eric98Sedan]

Yes, that's very simplified.

You must account for the distance from the location of the weight from the centerline of the axles. Closer to the center = less effect on F/R balance.

Example: since the sunroof is 'almost' exactly centered between the two axles, removing it would have nearly zero effect on actual balance.

[EstorilRoc3060]

ahhh I see, thanks. I was just curious if someone had actually been anal enough to knit pick this kind of thing to keep his car as perfectly balanced as possible

[reborn]

ahhh I see, thanks. I was just curious if someone had actually been anal enough to knit pick this kind of thing to keep his car as perfectly balanced as possible

Yeah, I think a lot of folks do that. :D

[PseudoRealityX]

Lighter is better. Balance should come second to overall weight. You can tune around a different weight balance. You can't tune around 'heavy pig'.