Bratwurst Weight Loss

Project: Bratwurst - Adding Lightness

It might seem a bit strange starting the modifications before fixing the faults with the car but as the main modification is stripping as much out of the car as possible in the quest to reduce it's weight, it makes sense to do this first. A lot of the cars faults may well then disappear as the faulty items are deemed surplus to requirements and removed. It'll also improve access to the parts that do need attention.

The plan is to remove anything that is not needed to make the car function, retain it's structural inegrity or to keep it within the requirements to make it road legal. Anything that cannot be removed will hopefully be either modified or replaced with a lighter alternative.

The Result

According to wikipedia, the BMW 525i had 187 bhp when it left the factory. The car has been weighed at 1.47 tonnes. That gives a power to weight ratio of 127 bhp per Tonne. Not a wholly unrespectable figure but one that will need to be improved upon if I've any hope of battling it out in the challenge or on the race track.
Now, the sensible thing for me to have done before I stripped the thing out, other than weighing it, would have been to take pictures of the wheel arch gaps and measure the ride height. Sadly I failed to do this. However, a member of the BMW5 forum has an identical model except for the colour and has kindly taken a couple of pics and some measurements for me.
Measurements have been taken from the wheel centre to the middle of the wheel arch and are with the vehicle unladen. The dimensions on the standard vehicle are:

Front: 370mm

Rear: 350mm

The stripped out stance at the front now measures 430mm, an increase of 60mm (2.3/8"), those front springs are going to need a fair bit of shortening!

Just as a point of interest, I moved the car to a new slot down the works car club and parked it next to a similar 530i. The eagle eyed might also notice the third 5 series to the left, that's my old daily driver the 518. For those who aren't familiar with older cars the cool looking white car on the right is a Rover P5B Coupe. These were the first cars that the famous Rover V8 appeared in. It's very cool but also pretty rusty.

Boot line now noticeably higher than its siblings.

Sadly I was unable to get the vehicle re-weighed following its weight loss plan so I do not know what the new power to weight ratio is. But it is now a lot more nose heavy than before as there was a lot less that I could actually remove from the front of the car and still keep it driveable.
The rear suspension now doesn't compress at all. All movement is taken up by the shock absorbers upper mounting bushes.
It's also a lot noisier inside it now.

The contents of this website are purely a reflection of my own experiences and knowledge gained whilst working on my various projects. Anything you do based on what you have read here is done so entirely at your own risk.
Personally I wouldn't trust someone like me with a lawn mower! You have been warned! Flapper-bat!

Project: Bratwurst - Adding Lightness

Doors

Windows, Mirrors & Sunroof

Cabin

Front Section

Rear Section

Electrics

Bodyshell

The Result

Front: 370mm

Rear: 350mm

Boot line now noticeably higher than its siblings.