318 vert's heavy booty

[series88]

So my vert has the battery in the front rather than the front. Since theres nothing back there so i never bothered checking. Today, i decided to bang out the rear valence that the p.o banged. Im checking the part where the battery would.have been and to my surprise a big block was put into place. Its a BMW part and is really heavy.

So my question is, asside from being annoyingly heavy, what purpose does it serve?

[Vivek]

Damper for cowl shake. Although I've heard that it's unnecessary in a 318i because of the lighter engine, so it's not needed for weight balance. Haven't quite gotten around to removing mine yet though.

[dnguyen1963]

BMW is obsessed with 50/50 distribution.