E30 Zone

Any guesses at how much weight would be saved by totally gutting a 325 touring?

I mean everything except the drivers seat and dash, carpets, headliner, window motors, etc etc.

Or to put it another way... Is it advisable to tow a completely gutted-for-track 325 touring on a trailer behind a normal loaded 325 touring?

is the trailer braked?
is it two wheel or four wheel

and best advise for weight saving mate


cut top 3 coils of the suspension springs

icompletly stripped mine, the rear bench alone was 20kg and the carpet is a fair weight also, all iv got left to do is get the sound deadening off the interior

heres a link to a parts site that lists every part on an e30 and its weight.you can add up the weight of everything you want to lose here.might take a while though.
http://bmwfans.info/original/E30/tou/32 ... M/1991/10/

datonyb wrote:is the trailer braked?
is it two wheel or four wheel

Dunno.... I'm pondering the fate of my car. It may end up as a trailered track car. So a trailer that matched my needs would be purchased... probably braked and 4 wheel.

and best advise for weight saving mate


cut top 3 coils of the suspension springs

fuzzy wrote:heres a link to a parts site that lists every part on an e30 and its weight.you can add up the weight of everything you want to lose here.might take a while though.
http://bmwfans.info/original/E30/tou/32 ... M/1991/10/

bugger that. I dont want to know that badly. Just a rough idea if enough weight could be saved to make it viable to be towed.

I know the rule about not exceeding thew weight of the tow car... what if I chuck a load of lead in the tow car when its towing... does that count?

munky30 wrote:

fuzzy wrote:heres a link to a parts site that lists every part on an e30 and its weight.you can add up the weight of everything you want to lose here.might take a while though.
http://bmwfans.info/original/E30/tou/32 ... M/1991/10/

bugger that. I dont want to know that badly. Just a rough idea if enough weight could be saved to make it viable to be towed.

I know the rule about not exceeding thew weight of the tow car... what if I chuck a load of lead in the tow car when its towing... does that count?

that would be worse wouldnt it? you would only increase the total weight to be braked.....admittedly it might make it a bit more stable up front

I guess, though I think the safety regs (not greater than the weight of the tow car) are there for stability rather than how much the car can physically pull. You can tow a massive amount behind most cars, but not safely at any kind of speed.

munky30 wrote:I guess, though I think the safety regs (not greater than the weight of the tow car) are there for stability rather than how much the car can physically pull. You can tow a massive amount behind most cars, but not safely at any kind of speed.

thats what i thought and adding weight like you say would probably sort that part but id be worried about the amount of total weight shifting onto the front brakes at high speed.....my uprated ones started to have trouble slowing me from 130 down a hill....that was hairy lol

yeah I imagine it would take some careful driving and getting used to, would probably use a braked trailer though so wouldnt all be on the cars brakes.

would make sense.

weighed mine tonight, 1260kgs...

its gotta fight the fat.

Ask Brianmooore about this. I seem to remember reading a scary tale of him towing an E34 behind an E30. Rather him than me.

yeah I remember the same... but a stripped e30 isnt the same as an e34.

munky30 wrote:yeah I remember the same... but a stripped e30 isnt the same as an e34.

have you weighed it at all along the way?

the point i was making mate

is the tow weight im sure is higher legally for braked than it is for unbraked

and a four wheel is a million miles better for anal retention than a two wheel trailer

whiteM3 - I havent even started stripping it yet. But a its a given that a stripped e30 will weigh less than a complete e34....

I'm considering the options for my car (see MOT post) The options are, frag it, fix it, or track slag it, the latter is winning so far.

I want a 325 tourer as a daily driver too, so it would be handy if I could legally and safely tow the track slag behind the daily driver.

Tony - anal retention

Yeah I see your point, I would want it to be braked for certain as its a lot of extra strain to put onto the cars brakes. Going for 4 wheels would be the inevitable next step too.