Carbon Fiber Weight Loss

[OneFastBMW]

OK guys, My car is a pig, coming from a small BMW E46, a 2004 M3, my car needs to drop some pounds, Mainly from the front. I feel i can get over 100lbs out of this car easy, just need some help sourcing parts.
Here is what I know i need:

OZ Wheels, Ultraleggera's
ECS 2 Piece brake rotors
Remove bumper supports
Remove Spare Tire and Tools, that is what road side service is for anyways
Carbon Fiber Hood
Carbon Fiber trunk

Here is what i need help finding:

Lightwieght battery and battery relocation kit to put battery where spare was
Carbon Fiber front fenders
a shop to build carbon fiber driveshafts toreduce rotating mass

[Silververtu]

If you just take out the spare tire and tools, you will lose about 62lbs. I am interested on relocating the battery to the trunk.

Good Luck and keep update your progress!!!

[maybachgt]

Make sure you dont get the GMG carbon fiber hood. It is one of the cheesiest products ever. I know a guy who has it one his RS4 and it looks like a giants sticker. When you open the hood it is one of the flimsiest things ever. As for the weight loss, get some light weight rims and tires should save you 10lbs per corner or more. Brakes will also make a huge difference in weight. I'd remove the tools spare ect and get a lightweight battery but the CF stuff will yield a negligable weight loss for a high price. A nice set of coilovers like Stassis/Ohlins and H-Sport sways will make your car feel a lot lighter.

[SleeperAvant]

Why remove the bumper supports? Wouldn't that decrease crash ability? Also are you driving the S4 or the RS4? They are both heavy but they aren't "pigs". The e46 M3 wasn't that much lighter...

[autoverruckt]

An aftermarket exhaust system should save you some weight too.

As for road side assistance, I have used them twice...they just put the spare tire on for you. Audi outsources just like AAA.

[OneFastBMW]

my m3 was not stock and was actually down to a little under 3200. The s4 needs to lose weight

[bunnn]

you gotta be on a huge diet to get the S4 to even close to that, just think about it, compared to an e46m3 you have 2 more doors, different drive system(rwd vs quattro).. and a heavier V8 compared to I6

and regarding the CF drive shaft, if your still under warranty is probably not a smart idea to do it...

oh our seats are dam heavy too...=)

[ParkerF1 B7S4]

Here is what I know i need:

OZ Wheels, Ultraleggera's
ECS 2 Piece brake rotors
Remove bumper supports
Remove Spare Tire and Tools, that is what road side service is for anyways
Carbon Fiber Hood
Carbon Fiber trunk

Here is what i need help finding:

Lightwieght battery and battery relocation kit to put battery where spare was
Carbon Fiber front fenders
a shop to build carbon fiber driveshafts toreduce rotating mass

You can have my black Ultraleggeras. $2k with almost brand new advans... or $1500 rims alone... sans TPMS.

[CARTEL]

Make sure you dont get the GMG carbon fiber hood. It is one of the cheesiest products ever. I know a guy who has it one his RS4 and it looks like a giants sticker. When you open the hood it is one of the flimsiest things ever. As for the weight loss, get some light weight rims and tires should save you 10lbs per corner or more. Brakes will also make a huge difference in weight. I'd remove the tools spare ect and get a lightweight battery but the CF stuff will yield a negligable weight loss for a high price. A nice set of coilovers like Stassis/Ohlins and H-Sport sways will make your car feel a lot lighter.

Sorry, I have to disagree with you on the GMG CF hood. I've seen and dealt with 3 different setups, and for a carbon hood they are great. I'm not sure how many carbon hoods you've dealt with in your life, but they are all fairly felxible due to the material, or rather lack thereof to reduce weight. It comes in at a scant 14lbs, and if painted, looks totally stock.... Just another mans opinion.
If you want to check it our for yourself go here

[heliskyr]

I haven't heard of anyone doing this, but if you wanted a lighter hood it may be worth looking into picking up the OEM RS4 aluminum one. It would be way lighter than the steel one on the S4 and would not require the hood pins that are usually recommended for CF hoods. I wouldn't expect it to be an inexpensive option, though...

As for relocating the battery, you may be able to use the OEM RS4 parts that relocate the battery to the rear spare tire well. I don't know what all of those parts would entail but since Audi already adapted the B7 body to do it on the RS4 my guess is you could probably pick up the parts from your Audi dealer.

[OneFastBMW]

thank you for the battery info. However, i am going to make a battery tray to bolt there using a lightweight battery.

Also, I all ready have the OZ wheels but thanks for the offer.

Lastly, does anyone know of a company that can mak plastic body parts like the new BMW 3 series uses. This would be better than carbon fiber as i do not need to strength or looks.

[OneFastBMW]

also, i do not think the aluminum V8 would be that much heavier than the Iron 6 cylinder. The new V8 in the new M3 is actually lighter than the I6 in the old m3

[maybachgt]

Sorry, I have to disagree with you on the GMG CF hood. I've seen and dealt with 3 different setups, and for a carbon hood they are great. I'm not sure how many carbon hoods you've dealt with in your life, but they are all fairly felxible due to the material, or rather lack thereof to reduce weight. It comes in at a scant 14lbs, and if painted, looks totally stock.... Just another mans opinion.
If you want to check it our for yourself go here

I've dealt with quite a few include one-offs for porsche turbo's gt3 ect. this just seamed to be on the cheap end of the scale and the price reflects that. After seeing the GMG hood I fully appreciate the price of the MTM hood. And it is still possible to have a stiff carbon hood that is light. As for weight loss what about stereo removal or making so sort of "quick release" bolt system for the rear seats that basically "pop" back in

edit: I forgot to mention the GMG hood did not fit properly immediatly. A new bracket was fabricated to make it fit properly

[ParkerF1 B7S4]

thank you for the battery info. However, i am going to make a battery tray to bolt there using a lightweight battery.

Also, I all ready have the OZ wheels but thanks for the offer.

Lastly, does anyone know of a company that can mak plastic body parts like the new BMW 3 series uses. This would be better than carbon fiber as i do not need to strength or looks.

anytime. I think i'd like to hang on to them for the new car anyway ;P

[V-8]

I've dealt with quite a few include one-offs for porsche turbo's gt3 ect. this just seamed to be on the cheap end of the scale and the price reflects that. After seeing the GMG hood I fully appreciate the price of the MTM hood. And it is still possible to have a stiff carbon hood that is light. As for weight loss what about stereo removal or making so sort of "quick release" bolt system for the rear seats that basically "pop" back in

edit: I forgot to mention the GMG hood did not fit properly immediatly. A new bracket was fabricated to make it fit properly

I paid just over half of what the current cost of the MTM CF hood is so I'm not condoning the price. However, it's a great CF hood--very stiff, yet only 12 lbs. PERFECT fit and ready for install, no adjustment or drilling of any kind was necessary. The owner of the body shop where I had it installed said he's done at least 100 CF hoods by just about every major manufacturer and this was by far the best he'd ever seen. I was on my way home in less than an hour...

[OneFastBMW]

can you please post some pics of the hood closed. I want a vented hood to help with underhood temps

[V-8]

can you please post some pics of the hood closed. I want a vented hood to help with underhood temps

Click on My Gallery Images under my username on the left of my post. There's a pic of it closed in there.

[OneFastBMW]

awesome, thanks. Since I have a DTM that is what my car will look like. Do you feel it does anygood with underhood temps? Also, does anyone else make a vented hood for the B7 body?

[V-8]

awesome, thanks. Since I have a DTM that is what my car will look like. Do you feel it does anygood with underhood temps? Also, does anyone else make a vented hood for the B7 body?

I think it does some good... I see plenty of heat haze rising out the vents when driving slowly or at a stop. I'm not aware of any others. I think $8.1K (unpainted) is too high for this hood though. You can save about the same amount of weight with the EuroGEAR hood for a small fraction of the MTM price, and I would think you could get a custom vented hood fabricated for less as well.