can I cut out my spare tire well?

[JGood]

Cut it out if its in the way... Also, remove that 40-50 pounds of sound damping.

+ 1

If you're not worried about classing or using it as a street car, go for it. And PLEASE remove that sound deadening.

I'm willing to bet welding in a flat panel the same thickness as the rest of the sheet metal, in the same horizontal plane as the rest of the trunk floor, will actually add structural integrity to that area. Simple leverage and physics tell me so, anyway. I think it will be insignificant either way though.

[E30QC]

i want to run e28 center exhaust, so do this so i don't ruin my dd if it goes horribly sour.. lol, seriously if you do , post some pics,..

[kishg]

I was only suggesting to check the rule book before making such a mod...

but was that in german?

[lateracer]

Just an update. Cut the well out and removed all the sound deadening. That sound deadening stuff is ridiculously heavy! I had no idea.

Made changing the rear end significantly easier because it gives a lot more head room to work on things. Especially now that the car is lowered. I actually climbed in through the trunk to bleed the brakes, which is a different story that didn't go nearly as well as this project. Because of this, I've put in a piece of sheet metal using bolts instead of welds or rivets so I can have the room to work again if/when I need it.

A quick note about cab noise. Wow....seriously louder now. Removing the deadening material and the sheet metal made things a lot louder than I thought it would. It's not deafening or anything like that, but it's way more noise than I would be OK with if this were a DD or something like that. In cabin conversation on the highway is no longer possible. Just an FYI.

Thanks for all the feedback everyone. I'll try to post pics when everything is cleaned up and painted.

[!kid]

what did you use to cut it? looks like a nice clean cut.

[E30Idea]

I cut mine out and I love it. Makes changing the diff's, diff fluid, axle's much easier. I also rolled the BMW logo and sprayed a rattle can bedliner to clean it up a bit. The bead's also made it stronger

[White325is]

WTF.... I was just about to post that pic. :)

[e30trooper]

^^ looks clean

[evil_twin]

Very nice! I want to do this in mine, I'm just more worried about it looking shitty. I was thinking to plasma cut mine though.;

[lateracer]

I used an angle grinder with cutting wheels. $20 from Harbor Freight. I used masking tape to mark the line I wanted to cut. The metal is really thin, so it's an easy cut.

E30Idea, that looks pretty nice; basically what I'm aiming for in terms of a finished look.

[lifeiskaos]

I never thought about more road noise... I'd guess it's caused by wind hitting the rear valence. I wonder how hard it would be to make a rear diffuser to minimize that.

[StereoInstaller1]

Guys, that is NOT sound deadning: it is ballast.

4 bangers don't have it, and 57 pounds is not needed in the the floor of the trunk to kill road noise. That shit is all about keeping the balance of the car.

[nando]

late cars don't have trunk tar either (6cyl or 4 cyl)

[chadthestampede]

late cars don't have trunk tar either (6cyl or 4 cyl)

Are you sure? My '91 had it.

[whiltebeitel]

late cars don't have trunk tar either (6cyl or 4 cyl)

FWIW, my '89 325i had it.