Had my car weighted today

[Jean]

This is with full interior, no spare and no jack. No sound or weight reduction. On 15x6 bbs ra with 205/50 bfg g-force tires, corbeau seats, drum to disk convertion etc.

2500lb with half a tank of gas, no driver in the car.

LF 703 RF 741
LR 530 RR 526

I am fairly happy with the results, battery will need to be moved back.

[E30SPDFRK]

Damn the 318i chassis is real light. My 325e when it still had the m20 weighed 2675 without me in it.

[Japandrew73]

I can't wait to finish my swap to have a power to weight distribution like this :D

The weight is actually much lighter than i expected. I was estimating more of 2800

[CharlesDickens]

The 325e still kills my Ix's weight.... Tips the scale at about 3000

[Jean]

Terry Fair recently posted a weight of a 325e http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1343977

"This 2436 pound weight is with everything stock, at full weight, A/C installed, full interior, heavy stock exhaust, etc. Well, it does have a lighter than stock battery, and the radio is missing, but that's it. Big cast iron straight six isn't super light, and we've got several weight savings mods in the works, so we think we'll meet or exceed our target weight even with the interior and glass. "

[Holland]

What do you need to transfer the battery in the back on an early car? Just the battery tray out of an early 325?

[Lurker27]

Isn't the major difference from 318 to 325 weightwise the sound deadening?

[Brian D]

Terry Fair recently posted a weight of a 325e http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1343977

"This 2436 pound weight is with everything stock, at full weight, A/C installed, full interior, heavy stock exhaust, etc. Well, it does have a lighter than stock battery, and the radio is missing, but that's it. Big cast iron straight six isn't super light, and we've got several weight savings mods in the works, so we think we'll meet or exceed our target weight even with the interior and glass. "

He took a bit of crap for it here: over analysis galore. It's interesting what a spread of weight people report getting.

Good for you Jean, thanks for posting it up!

[Jean]

What do you need to transfer the battery in the back on an early car? Just the battery tray out of an early 325?

Won't fit... the opening on the right rear side where you would normally find a battery isn't big enough. You'll need to rig something up custom or use a small battery.

I plan on putting the battery dead center against the rear seat, I just need to run the battery cable from the front to the trunk. Another thing is, I don't believe early cars with front mounted batteries even had the 2nd hole in the firewall for the battery cable. Little differences, but they are there.

Isn't the major difference from 318 to 325 weightwise the sound deadening?

Well, the drivetrain is one. then you have all the power options (glass, sunroof), thicker carpet, trunk tar, tar under the rear seat for starters.

[fiftytakedowns]

how is the early chassis so much lighter?

edit: saw post above

I have a 318is and it is still like 200 lbs heavier than your car...

[Jean]

early chassis ftw :)

it will be a little heavier once I add the m-tech stuff and a/c compressor, but everything else is there. full interior..dash/glovebox all door/rear panels/rear shelf, headliner,premium rear speakers/trunk carpet even.

[Japandrew73]

but everything else is there. full interior..dash/glovebox all door/rear panels/rear shelf, headliner,premium rear speakers/trunk carpet even.

That's what I love about your car. It isn't stripped and raped to get every last ounce of weight reduction. The car is already light enough.

[Good & Tight]

Awesome info Jean as usual.
I have both the 84 & 85 318 bodies.
Yes the early 318i (84) had the smaller trunk space were the battery would sit, the 85 318 has the larger space to fit the battery.
The early car has the hole for the battery cable up front, just lift the insulation and the perforation for the hole is there, just knock it out.

[M-technik-3]

No mention of fuel quantity? There should be a standard amount in the tank we weigh a car at. Say half a tank on the indicated that way given the early/late we can figure pounds per gallon and subtract that.

Next question is how accurate was their scales? Truck scales or were these wheel scales for corner weighting a car and even those have a + and - percentage.

Edit: Missed the Half tank of Fuel in the edit before I read the post.

[Jean]

These were corner weight scales (similar to longacre type scales), they were turned on and zero'ed before putting the car on them. Not sure what %, but this same shop builds spec e30 cars everyday.

Like these, but wireless :