Bmw e36 battery relocation

[Mackmaine]

Hi i am wondering if somebody has relocated the battery from the original mounted place? from the trunk to right in the middle och rear shocktowers? Have been thinking about this for some time but im interested in how people has gotten this done. Found tons of info about relocating from engine to trunk but not from trunk to middle of trunk. Anybody willing to share some info on this?

[samy01]

why would you want to do that ?

fabricate brackets and relocate wires ? if you have to ask you're probably not going to to it

[MParallel]

You didn’t find anything, because no one saw the need for it.

Me included.

[gdavid]

It would be easy to do, the positive cable runs right past there, moving the weight to the center of the car is good but placing it higher is bad so it wouldn't be helpful unless your battery well is rusted out or you are trying to run exhaust to both sides if the car for some reason. Running a lightweight lithium ion battery behind the passenger seat would be more beneficial.

[samy01]

moving the weight to the center of the car is good

you do realize why BMW put it in the rear right corner ?

[gdavid]

you do realize why BMW put it in the rear right corner ?

Yes, I am familiar with the weight balance of these cars, however if these cars, or any cars are that sensitive to weight, please explain how the euro engines weight 30-40 pounds less than the US engines or that you can run the car with a nearly empty gas tank and it will handle fine. Moving weight away from the corners will make a car handle better, replace the stock muffler with something lighter than a boat anchor or lose a few driver pounds if you are that concerned about keeping the balance perfect.

[samy01]

please explain how the euro engines weight 30-40 pounds less than the US engines

the euro engines don't weigh less, the US engines weigh more. The balance was calculated for the aluminium blocks, BMW didn't care about the iron blocks cars balance too much, since they weren't to be sold in their home market (europe).

or that you can run the car with a nearly empty gas tank and it will handle fine.

i can tell if the tank is full or empty by the way it drives.

it's about probabilities, how likely are you going to drive with an empty tank, and how likely are you to drive with a full one. BMW probably just took 75% full as their standard to do the calculations. Cars are full of compromises.

Moving weight away from the corners will make a car handle better

In general yes, but in this case BMW saw that in most cases you're driving alone, that means additional weight is in the front left seat, that's why they put the battery in the rear right. Now we could debate if the benefit from the battery mass closer to the middle is bigger than the disadvantage that it can't help balance out the drivers weight that much anymore, since it's now in the middle, and not to the right. i guess bmw did a good job on balancing these cars.

but i agree on the exhaust one, those things are really heavy

[gdavid]

the euro engines don't weigh less, the US engines weigh more. The balance was calculated for the aluminium blocks, BMW didn't care about the iron blocks cars balance too much, since they weren't to be sold in their home market (europe).

I acknowledge that I'm just being argumentative at this point, however, the chassis started off with a cast iron block m50 in every market and I don't know of any lighter parts used in the back of the m52 cars versus the 325's. It is all academic until the PO shares his purpose but I doubt the weight at each corner of the 20 year old car with a random driver is even to begin with. They guy is considering relocating the battery, who knows what else he has already changed.

[JDStrickland]

Hi i am wondering if somebody has relocated the battery from the original mounted place? from the trunk to right in the middle och rear shocktowers? Have been thinking about this for some time but im interested in how people has gotten this done. Found tons of info about relocating from engine to trunk but not from trunk to middle of trunk. Anybody willing to share some info on this?

The North America market has the battery in the trunk, in the well behind the right side tire. Why would you want the battery to be where the spare tire goes? Where will you put the spare?

[spyderg0d]

Id put it in the passenger seat spot inside a sealed box with insulation. Essentially replaceing the passenger seat weight with the battery.

[pbonsalb]

I have not carried a spare in 10 years unless I go on a trip. My E90M3 did not even come with a spare.

[pizzaman09]

Sounds a bit like the stock location on an e39 M5 where they had the battery in the center of the trunk below the floor at the back where the spare would have been.

I'd have much rather had the spare tire with how quickly that car ate through rear tires.

[dominator293]

In general yes, but in this case BMW saw that in most cases you're driving alone, that means additional weight is in the front left seat, that's why they put the battery in the rear right.

Us Aussies drive on the right hand side of the car and the battery is still in the rear right on the E36's...how do you explain that? By your theory the right hand drive models should have had the battery relocated to the rear left

[samy01]

how do you explain that?

I explain that by BMW not caring about right hand side driving markets. The cost of changing it would be too high.

[dominator293]

I explain that by BMW not caring about right hand side driving markets. The cost of changing it would be too high.

Or your point is invalid, on a $95k AUD car brand new, i sure they could've spent a bit to move the battery to the other side of the car if that was the case. Don't worry, not having a go at you, just being devils advocate.