what the heck are these
- Southernboy
- Joined: Thu 07 Oct, 2010 12:39
- Posts: 6437
- Location: Johannesburg
Re: what the heck are these
They are weights which apparently are there to keep the back of the car stable. Often responsible for an annoying rattle / clunk noise when their rubber mountings break...
- Southernboy
- Joined: Thu 07 Oct, 2010 12:39
- Posts: 6437
- Location: Johannesburg
Re: what the heck are these
I read it was to reduce the butt lateral scuttle type movements and to keep the butt from being too bouncy in the vertical plane...
BMW originally called them "vibration dampers" in their brochures... Bottom line is they weigh around 65 lbs in total...like having an extra passenger on board...
BMW originally called them "vibration dampers" in their brochures... Bottom line is they weigh around 65 lbs in total...like having an extra passenger on board...
Re: what the heck are these
Hi all - has anyone tried removing these & what would be/was the effect on handling? Acceleration should be better?
- Southernboy
- Joined: Thu 07 Oct, 2010 12:39
- Posts: 6437
- Location: Johannesburg
Re: what the heck are these
Easy enough to find out...remove yours...you can always toss them in the boot corners if you felt they were needed, and toss them out when you go on a road trip and load the boot up anyhow...
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- Joined: Sun 28 Apr, 2013 18:06
- Posts: 683
Re: what the heck are these
65lbs, that's 30kg, almost a full tank of fuel in weight so what kind of vibration are they designed to dampen? the coupe doesnt have them.
Re: what the heck are these
to reduce convertible scuttle shake which the Coupe doesn't suffer from due to having a roof.
Z3 2.8 Progress Journal (Mine)
Z3 1.9 Sport Progress Journal (Wifey's)
I have an element of 'M-styling' on my car, If that's a good enough reason for the manufacturers to adorn a 320 with the M badge, then its certainly a good enough reason for me..
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- Joined: Thu 01 Oct, 2015 20:29
- Posts: 34
Re: what the heck are these
I first saw these on the convertible Triumph TR7, their purpose was to tune resonances in the chassis to prevent scuttle shake. It is delightful to see BMW copying from such a paragon of engineering excellence. Lesser engineers might have put some of the weight into extra chassis members for strength and rigidity, rather than going for the elegantly simple solution of adding great lumps of metal to the rear of a sports car.
Last edited by boustrophedon on Fri 09 Oct, 2015 12:01, edited 1 time in total.
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- Joined: Sun 28 Apr, 2013 18:06
- Posts: 683
Re: what the heck are these
surely adding dampers doesn't solve a problem, rather just masks it. never even knew they were there. some people are removing them, seems abit of a faf just to shed about 30kg, this is only equivalent to about 3 and a half ponies, but then free ponies is good, though bmw must have fitted them for a reason. could removing them lead to problems later down the line (not immediately noticeable but maybe fatigue due to the un-dampened frequency)
- Southernboy
- Joined: Thu 07 Oct, 2010 12:39
- Posts: 6437
- Location: Johannesburg
Re: what the heck are these
You'll probably notice the butt sticking up higher than normal, with extra clearance between the tyre and the wheel arch... might not look too pretty..
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- Joined: Thu 01 Oct, 2015 20:29
- Posts: 34
Re: what the heck are these
Where did the figure of 65 lbs come from? I have an old butchers' weight of 28lbs, it's huge and there is no way it would fit in the space behind the bumper.Southernboy wrote:I read it was to reduce the butt lateral scuttle type movements and to keep the butt from being too bouncy in the vertical plane...
BMW originally called them "vibration dampers" in their brochures... Bottom line is they weigh around 65 lbs in total...like having an extra passenger on board...
Edited to add, a post here: http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/showt ... er-Weights, reckons they weigh about 15lbs each, which is more realistic given their size.
- Southernboy
- Joined: Thu 07 Oct, 2010 12:39
- Posts: 6437
- Location: Johannesburg
Re: what the heck are these
Like you, I read it was a total of 65 lbs, but who knows, they may be half that.
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- Joined: Sun 28 Apr, 2013 18:06
- Posts: 683
Re: what the heck are these
had a looksie on google, total weight is 15kg, i figure some people have thought (like me) this was for each one. so 15kg isnt too bad, still 15 lt of fuel though to be honest i cant really see 7.5kg each side would really make much difference to scuttle